Should you re-examine your priorities?

This has been a difficult time so on this Sunday in May,m perhaps it is time for some reflection. Over this difficult time, you may have been in the process of re-examining your priorities. If you have not been doing that, maybe it is time to consider doing that, or if you have examined your priorities I invite you to reexamine them.  

When you look at what's on the list, and what priority you give it think about this question. What might you take off the list because it no longer deserves to be a priority?

Take a look at your checklist or to-do list and ask yourself:

“What isn’t on the list… but actually should be?”

I'll share some of the things I think are important in my life
Regular exercise
A meditation practice
More time with my family
More time for ME (reading for pleasure, a long bath, working on a hobby…)
Getting enough sleep

Notice this is not a long list, nor should it be, if you have a list of priorities if it is short, then you can make sure you cover them all If you have a long list then you have a wish list rather than a priority list that you can focus on every day.

This week, why not pick one thing (just one) that’s important to you, but never seems to make it onto your list... and put it on the damn list!  

If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. (And it won't be the way you want it to be.)

Life Planning and Retirement 2

As I said yesterday, money is a tool that should enable its owners to live lives they love, create memories they treasure and establish legacies that express their deepest values. The problem is, most people do not have a clear picture of what they truly want.  What are your goals? I imagine that they are fine goals, but are they  enough to enable you to look back at the end of your life and say: “I have lived a rich life that was truly my own, and I would not have changed a thing.”

Retirement Planning Starts with the “Why”:

One of the most popular TED Talks of all time is Simon Sinek's  “Start with the Why.” In his talk, he explains that most companies market to consumers with messages explaining “what” they do, followed by “how” they do it. This is because “what” and “how” can be clearly communicated using the logical parts of our brains. The only problem is that humans are typically not motivated by logic, but by emotion. Mr. Sinek makes a compelling case that the most important place to start is with “why.” Why we do what we do reveals what is in our hearts, and that is where true motivation and fulfillment lie.

NYU psychologist Jonathan Haidt uses a lovely analogy to explain both the logic and the emotional side of our nature: the emotional side is the elephant, the rational side is the rider. The rider of the elephant looks like he or she is in charge, but when there's a disagreement between the elephant and the rider, the elephant usually wins. The point here is emotions – positive and negative–are powerful, and you discount them at your own peril. 

As you are now retired or thinking of retirement it is important that you take the time to explore your own story. Telling your life story is important because your story has the power to inform, inspire, guide, persuade, entertain, educate, open hearts, create laughter/tears, heal and transform.

I was recently at an Elders Indigenous gathering in Vancouver and was struck by the range of experience and the collective wisdom of these people. Elders in traditional communities, through stories, fairy tales and myths, passed down through the generations their customs, culture and wisdom to ensure the survival of the community.  

Today we have lost the idea that Elders have wisdom, the industrial age undermined our connection to nature and the individual is now left to fathom out by themselves how to transition through never-ending change.  The ecological crisis, climate change, ethnic conflict, global warfare, financial debt crisis are all examples of immediate challenges for today’s communities.  Rituals and stories help us as individuals to see the world more clearly and equally make sense of our ‘place’ within it, so we owe it to our children and grandchildren to tell our stories so they can learn to navigate the complexities of their new reality.

Are you Prepared 3

In the case of an emergency, it may be necessary to evacuate quickly from your home. In this case, you probably will not have time to search for supplies. As a result, you should assemble an emergency kit in your home which is portable (easy to carry) and easy to find. For example, you may want to use a knapsack or suitcase with wheels.

Recall, that in the case of an emergency, help may not be available right away. As a result, it is important for you to plan for supplies to help you survive at least 72 hours or 3 days. The kit should contain enough supplies for each person in the household to survive at least 3 days (72 hours).  

The kit should be readily accessible within your home and easy to transport. Each person could use an individual backpack for personal items and a larger wheeled container for bulky items

Before I list what should be in a basic kit some general guidelines, your water should be easily carried (I.e. in small bottles); food bring canned food that you enjoy and make sure you have a can opener as part of the kit; your flashlight/radio either a wind up or batter operated should have extra batteries for each too; cash - only small bills and change - due to the fact that it may be difficult to receive change for bigger bills ($10 bills); extra Keys - house and car; and finally your medications, it may be worthwhile to speak to your physician with regards to obtaining an additional supply (if possible) of medications to keep with you in case of emergency for emergency kit.

Here are the basic contents of a kit:

·       Water (minimum 2 litres/person/day)

·       Food (canned, energy bars, etc.)

·       Can-opener

·       Flashlight (battery or wind-up)

·       Radio (battery or wind-up)

·       Extra batteries and solar charger

·       Extra keys

·       First aid kit

·       Cash (small bills & change)

·       Special items (medications)

·       Copy of emergency plan

·       Photocopies of essential documents

In addition to the above, the following could be included in your kit:

·       Candles and waterproof matches

·       Change of clothing and shoes

·       Blanket (thermal) or sleeping bag

·       Whistle

·       Garbage bags

·       Toilet paper, wet wipes and paper towels

·       Hand sanitizer gel

·       Basic tools and duct tape

·       Kitchen utensils, plate, cups and pot

·       Small safe stove with fuel

·       Tarp or plastic sheeting

Perspectives on age and death

Death is something we are all afraid of and for good reason. Death is the end of life, it is the end of our adventure, it is the unknown, it is the end and we don't know what follows. Many have a belief in a god who has prepared a next step for us, and in that they find comfort and those left behind find solace.

Because we don’t know what will happen to us when we die, our will to live is very strong. As Ronni, at As Time Goes By says in her blog, “Somewhere among the tiniest twists of our DNA, we are programmed to fear death, to avoid it at all costs and to live.”

But many of us, as we age, forget how to live. We start to prepare for death by retreating into ourselves and we lose the enthusiasm we had for live as we were growing up. We forget the sense of awe and adventure and the newness of life that we had as grew up and many of us become afraid as we move into our later years.

It takes courage to face death and greater courage to recognize that when we die  we will no longer be able to contribute. As seniors we need to remember how brave we really are, so that as we face death, we continue to live with enthusiasm and a zest for life. Making our time while we are here meaningful for ourselves and others should be one of our top priorities as we age.

Here are some interesting perspectives on age and death.

On no subject are our ideas more warped and pitiable than on death. Instead of the sympathy, the friendly union, of life and death so apparent in Nature, we are taught that death is an accident, a deplorable punishment for the oldest sin, the arch-enemy of life, etc.... 

But let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blending’s and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory for, for it never fights. All is divine harmony. ~John Muir

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. Aldous Huxley

Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing.  People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.  Albert Einstein

To die, to sleep -

To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub,

For in this sleep of death what dreams may come...

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? ~Khalil Gibran,

People living deeply have no fear of death. ~Anaïs Nin

If we face the reality, at 63 or 70, 75, 80, or 90, that we will indeed, sooner or later, die, then the only big question is how are we going to live the years we have left, however many or few they may be? “What adventures can we now set out on to make sure we'll be alive when we die? Anatole Broyard

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

John Barrymore

Pass, then, through this little space of time in harmony with nature and end thy journey in contentment, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew. Marcus Aurelius.

Every time someone dies, a library burns. The experiences, skills, and relationships painstakingly built across a lifetime disappear forever. We cannot prevent any particular library from eventually having a fire, but we can make sure the fires are rare. Humans are precious, and that is why we should not wish them to age.   Anders Sandberg

I don't want my life to be defined by what is etched on a tombstone. I want it to be defined by what is etched in the lives and hearts of those I've touched. Steve Maraboli

I suppose each of us has his own fantasy of how he wants to die. I would like to go out in a blaze of glory, myself, or maybe simply disappear someday, far out in the heart of the wilderness I love, all by myself, alone with the Universe and whatever God may happen to be looking on. Disappear - and never return. That's my fantasy. Edward Abby

Thanks to Ronni at As Time goes by for the idea.

Living Up to the Promise

I recently read a report called Living Up to the Promise which looked at housing options for seniors in BC.  The report is called Addressing the High Cost of Underfunding and Fragmentation in BC’s Home Support System it was written byh By Marcy Cohen & Joanne Franko and published by the Integrated Care Advocacy Group and the BC Health Coalition in May 2015

The intent of this report is to examine whether the basic services offered through the publicly funded home support system are currently meeting the needs of the senior population, and how these services could be organized and delivered in future to better support seniors to remain at home for as long as possible. I will share some of what I think are highlights of the report, but if you want to see the full report go here (it is a pdf file)

I have talked about the need for us to be around people and this report touches on this need. The World Health Organization and the Public Health

Agency of Canada recognize social support as a key determinant of health. When seniors have meaningful social connections, they “develop their resilience and ability to bounce back after adversity, as well as an ability to gain strength from stress rather than be diminished by it. ”In contrast, feeling isolated from others can “disrupt sleep, raise blood pressure, lower immunity, increase depression, lower overall subjective well being and increase the stress hormone cortisol.”

In addition to experiencing poorer emotional and physical health, socially isolated seniors are also at a higher risk of over-consumption of alcohol, falling, and suffering from poor nutrition. The risks of social isolation are highest among poor and visible minority senior populations.

Researchers recently quantified what they refer to as the effects of the ‘loneliness disease’, warning that lonely people are nearly twice as likely to die prematurely compared to those who do not suffer feelings of isolation.

In a similar vein, a 2011 report from Vancouver Coastal Health’s SMART Fund highlights the key findings from a number of studies on the health benefits of social support for an aging population. In these studies social support proved effective in slowing cognitive decline, the onset of dementia, and the progression of physical disability

Related to this is the growing recognition – from clinicians and older adults alike – that the primary goal of health care interventions, particularly for older seniors with significant and/or multiple chronic conditions, should be to optimize the person’s function and comfort rather than to treat or cure a specific disease.

This is often referred to as restorative care or reenablement and is most often recommended after an acute illness or hospitalization when older adults are at particularly high-risk for functional decline. There are, in addition, many other situations where a restorative approach to care could be beneficial (e.g. following the death of a spouse, when the individual moves to a new setting, etc.).

A restorative care philosophy differs from regular home support in some specific ways. Instead of simply having the home support worker do specific tasks for the individual, the older adult is supported by an interdisciplinary team to be as independent as possible. The goal is to support the older adult to develop or redevelop the skills and confidence needed to do things for themselves (perhaps in new ways) and to build connections with new networks of social support. 

For people living with dementia and their families, there is very compelling evidence that appropriately delivered early interventions can extend the time that a person living with dementia can remain in their own home. To be effective, these early interventions must be multi-pronged, include psycho-educational support, active engagement and specialized training for home health services staff, and comprehensive monitoring by a case manager.

With these elements in place, it is possible to alleviate symptoms and behavioural problems in persons with dementia, and reduce the negative effects of caregiving (e.g. depression and social isolation)

The stated goal of BC’s Ministry of Health is 

“to help individuals 

to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible.” 

In reality, access to home support services have declined significantly in recent years. From 2001/02 to 2009/10, access to support home services for people 75 and over declined by 30 percent and services were increasingly restricted to those with higher, more complex needs. 

In 2013-14 the number of clients receiving home support was virtually identical to the number receiving services in 2001-02 and yet, over those 12 intervening years in BC, there was a 40 percent increase in the number of seniors 65 and over, and a 49 percent increase in those  80+ years. 

Moreover, people are now discharged from hospital ‘sicker and quicker’ and access to residential care is more restricted, contributing to the increased reliance on home support services.

To cope with growing demand for limited resources, eligibility criteria for home support services are becoming increasingly restrictive and seniors with moderate needs are much less likely to be able to access publicly funded home support services.

As a result, an increasing number of seniors, particularly those with low income, end up waiting until they have a health crisis and/ or are admitted to hospital before they are offered access to home support services.

 Key Findings from the Five Focus Groups

One: Person-Centered Care is Not an Option 

The increased pressure on the health authorities to provide more services with limited resources has resulted in a system of very rigid protocols for the community health workers, who are authorized to perform only a very limited number of prescribed tasks. 

These tasks are outlined in the care plan developed by the case manager. The community health workers are informed of the specific tasks that they are authorized to perform and if they engage in activities not on the care plan, they will not be covered for liability or injury and may be reprimanded by their supervisor. 

Access to the care plan itself (which includes the client’s health history and diagnoses) varies considerably from one area to another. 

Two: Social Support No Longer Part of the Community Health Workers’ Role.

Despite all of the evidence on the importance of social support in ensuring that seniors can continue to live healthy and active lives in their own homes, providing this support is no longer part of the community health worker’s role

Three: Meaningful and Trusting Relationships between Workers and Clients Less Likely

It is broadly acknowledged that continuity is important to good quality outcomes for the person receiving care. Continuity makes it possible for CHW – like other members of the primary and community care team – to get to know their client, establish a relationship with them and monitor and report on any changes in their health status.

However, continuity is more difficult to achieve with a rotating, short-term schedules and a high proportion of casual workers. Many visits are very short (some visits are less than 30 minutes depending on the task) so as to maximize the number of clients that can be served on each shift. The result: today’s community health workers are less likely to have the opportunity to develop a meaningful and trusting relationship with their clients. 

Four: Family Caregivers Are Not Recognized or Supported

At present our community health care system provides little support for informal caregivers, even though family caregivers play a crucial role in maintaining at-risk older persons in the community and should to be viewed as part of the care team.

The participants in the family caregiver focus group talked at length about the lack of recognition of the needs of family caregivers by the health authorities and home support agencies

The physician, nurse and community health worker focus group participants commented that increasingly, instead of being part of a proactive plan to support seniors to live well in their own homes for as long as possible, care is usually put in place in response to a crisis. 

They also noted that there is very little focus on restorative care for people who are at risk of functional decline but who, if supported to develop their skills and confidence to do things for themselves could be more independent, would have better health outcomes and reduced service costs

The report made the following two recommendations that the Ministry of Health: 

1. Provide the funding for home support that is required to increase staffing levels, teamwork and training, and to increase the number of case managers, community rehabilitation staff, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses available to support community health workers in providing care to older adults at home with chronic, acute and palliative care needs. 

The funding should be based on a plan that includes significant targeted yearly increases over the next ten years tied to the system improvements outlined in the second recommendation below. 

From 2009-10 to 2013-14, the number of clients receiving home support services from the health authorities increased from 32,768 to 38,802, and costs increased by $49 million, an increase on average of 3.25 percent a year.65 This increase effectively meant that the same number of home support clients received services in 2013 as in 2001, and yet over those 12 years, there has been a 49 percent increase in the number of seniors over 80.

2. Develop a plan for how to align BC’s home support delivery system with current research on what is needed to provide high quality, cost effective services that are inclusive of family caregivers, support seniors to bettermanage their chronic physical and mental health challenges, and ensure that seniors can remain as independent and socially engaged as possible.

The plan would include the following key elements:

·       An advisory committee to guide the change process with representation from: family caregiver groups, seniors’ organizations, community agencies providing social supports to seniors, health policy experts, and front line providers (i.e. nurses, family doctors, community health workers).

·       A priority focus on early interventions and prevention to ensure that seniors’ need for social support, good nutrition, exercise and other basic services are addressed by both the home support system and through better co-ordination and linkages with community agencies providing social support services to seniors.

·       A restorative team-based model of care for seniors following an acute illness and/or hospitalization to restore independence and reduce functional decline, and training for community health workers to ensure they play a lead role in providing this care.

·       A process for ensuring that all community health workers have access to information on their clients’ medical history prior to their first visit, and that this information is regularly updated and available to the family physicians as well as the home and community care staff supporting the client.

·       Systemic recognition of the role of community health worker in preventing health crises including the expectation that their input will be acknowledged and appropriately addressed, and a protocol developed to inform the family physician/ nurse practitioner in case of a crisis or acute medical issue. 

·       New opportunities and training for community health workers to work in teams with case managers, nurses and/or family physicians in caring for clients with advancing dementia, severe and/or multiple chronic ailments and/or in need of palliative care. 

·       Inclusion of the family caregivers as full members of the care team with access to respite care, social support and education as needed

Decluttering is worth it

When my daughter was on her way, my wife and I started spring cleaning, in the process we went through each room and sorted and made decisions about what to keep, throw away or recycle. 

As a result, we are feeling the joy of accomplishment today along with the serenity of returning zen to our surroundings before a  busy visit.

While enjoying my results this morning, I thought I'd share with you some tips that will allow you to declutter your own life in no time at all.

If you’re like most of us, at some point you’re likely to come to the conclusion that your life is too cluttered. You have too much to do and aren't able to handle your schedule optimally. You probably own too much stuff and just keep adding more every day.

Most people would probably be better off with at least a little decluttering. But how do you go about it? When you’re under a pile of clutter, commitments, personal files, and a load of digital information, how do you even get started with decluttering?

Follow these 4 simple tips for decluttering your life:
1. Simply get started. Pick a room, a closet, or a shelf and get started. Pick up each item once and ask yourself, “Do I use this regularly? Do I love this item?” If the answer to both questions is “no” then the item needs to be sold, donated, or given away. Have a box for each of those categories to put your discarded items in.

• Put away the items that you’re keeping in their proper place.
• If you have a lot of stuff, it might seem overwhelming. Try setting a timer and just work for 10 minutes. Limit your decluttering to one small area for those 10 minutes. That way, you’ll really be able to see some progress.
• Try not to get carried away by spending too much time. Working on decluttering for 10 minutes a day for a month is a lot better than overloading yourself and quitting after 2 days.

2. Go a little further each day.  It took us two weeks from start to finish, but it was worth it. Once you've gotten started with your decluttering, keep moving forward. Finish one area and then move on to the next. Your enemy is perfection. It doesn't have to be perfect. Simply do a good job in a reasonable amount of time. Any work you’re putting into this will result in progress. 

• Make it easy on yourself.
• Get some help. Some of us really are pack rats and can’t seem to let go of anything. If that sounds like you, get a reasonable friend to help. The ideal friend will have a clutter-free home that you envy.
• Take the time to enjoy the new clutter-free spaces you've created in order to help keep the momentum going.

3. Declutter your calendar and digital life. Your living environment is only one aspect of your life. Simplifying how you spend your time and handle your digital life is important, too.

• Decluttering your calendar is about learning to say “no” to commitments that aren’t important to you. Make a list of commitments and put them in order from most important to least important. Keep the top few and remove the rest from your life.
• Start decluttering your digital life. Prioritize the blogs, newsletters, social networks, emails, and so on. Only keep the things that really matter.

4. It’s important to include others in your home. If the other people in your home aren't on the same page, decluttering is much more challenging.

• Focus on telling them about the benefits they’ll receive if the home is much less cluttered. Share the benefits of decluttering their space.
• If there’s too much resistance, keep your focus on decluttering and maintaining your own space.
• Getting rid of things can be contagious. You’ll likely find that everyone else in your household will jump on the bandwagon when they see how great your personal space looks.

Decluttering your life is more beneficial than you probably realize. It’s not only easier to find things, but you’ll have adequate space to put everything away in its proper place. Clutter weighs on your mind 24/7, whether you realize it or not. Avoid letting it stress you out or
take over your life.

I Give Up!

Thanks to Tiffany for the idea

As a teacher I worked with many special kids, and the biggest frustration I would get is when I heard them say "I give up".  As a teacher and as a parent I hated hearing those words, and I suspect as a parent you hate hearing those words from your children or from your friends.
How many times have you said those three little words, "I give up"? It's amazing to watch the body language when I see a person say those words. The head slumps down, the shoulders roll forward, the back arches, the face elongates,and the intonation is one where you can hear the hopelessness. 

People give up on many things and for many reasons. They give up on their job. They give up on relationships. They give up on love. They give up on life having any meaning. And, they give up on themselves.

What I find, many times, is that the people that give up are asking the wrong questions. For instance, when a person is going through divorce, loss of a job, loss of money, etc., I often hear questions, like:

"Why is this happening to me?"
"Why wasn't I good enough?"
"What's wrong with me?"
"Why can't I find true love?"
"What is going to happen to me now?"
And, many more questions like these

But, these questions are the very thing that cause people to allow their emotions to take over and begin to snowball.

When a person's brain is distressed it begins to spin in a circle, the circle then becomes a spiral, the spiral gains centrifugal force and then takes on critical mass, which leads it to going out of control and into depression, anger, resentment, and even suicide!

Every time a person asks questions like these, they have started on the journey to self-fulfilling prophecy of a negative outcome, because the person has given away their power to someone else, something else, or to their circumstances.  Self-fulfilling prophecy can also be positive and the spiral can be stopped.

Lets take a closer look at these questions and the possible answers behind them.

1) "Why is this happening to me?"

Right away, the person asking this question is assuming this situation or circumstance is a bad thing, whether it be divorce or some other situation they find themselves in. It may not be a bad thing. But at this moment in their live it is a change and they see the change as a bad thing.  Lets fully consider the entire picture and ask some tough questions such as these:

If things were really that good, then why is the divorce, loss of job, or other circumstance, taking place? 
If things went on another 10 years, what would it be like? 

10 more years of the same "stuff" going on with your significant other. 10 more years of the same job and same boss.

You may have to work at getting the person to answer the following but if you are a true friend you will work at it until you can get them to consider answering this question:

Just imagine that, if you think it's bad now, what it will be like in 10 more years. Even if you think things were "OK", can what is happening now, this change you are going through, be an opportunity for things to be better? 

For every challenge there is a door of opportunity that is  opening up... right NOW! And, you'll only miss out on the opportunity if you keep your head down and aren't looking for it!

2) "Why wasn't I good enough?"

This question squarely places all the responsibility, accountability, and blame on the person asking it. It also assumes any other party involved was totally, or mostly, in the right. 

First, a person never lose value. If  I pull out a $100 bill and ask you how much it's worth. The reply is "$100".

If I  then wad the bill up into a ball and then open back up all  wrinkled and ask, "How much is it worth now?" the reply, "$100".  If I  then wad it up step on it and throw it  into a mud puddle and have a bus run over it.  I'm then going to pick it up and open the $100 bill back up. "How much is it worth now?", I ask. Once again, the reply is "$100". 

Just like the $100 bill, no matter what happens to you in life  will change the value you have as a person. So, what happened? The loss of a job can be due to numerous reasons that are out of your control

A significant other may have their own head-trash they are dealing with and made decisions that badly affected your relationship. So, it's not a matter of not being good enough, it's a matter of things many times being beyond your control.

3) "What's wrong with me?"

In order for you to have a wonderful relationship with your significant other, or anyone else, you must love yourself, first. If you have gone from relationship to relationship and can't seem to find the "right" person,  it's probably you. Not that there's anything wrong with you it's how you see, value, and love yourself. When you truly love who you are when you're being just you, then you will naturally attract the "right" person into your life. The same is true for other areas of your life.

If you're not having the success you want, then first fully consider what thoughts are going on in your mind each and every day. if you keep a diary of your thoughts for a week, you probably won't be surprised that your life isn't what you want it to be.

The answers to the last two questions I posed are contained in the answers I've already shared, so it would be redundant to answer them. 

I want to move on to the positive now and ask the question, "What are the questions you should be asking?" Great question! 

"What else can I accomplish?"
"Who else can I help?"
"What opportunities is this change in circumstance 
opening up for me?"
"How can I change to get the results I want in life?"
"What resources do I have within me that the challenges
I'm facing is wanting/requiring me to show now?"

It's amazing that asking the right questions makes all the difference in the way we look at life and our current circumstances. 

So, get your mind in the right place and start asking!

Understanding Baby Boomers Aging Minds

As the Baby Boomer Generation grows older there are progressive changes in how we process information.

With the Baby Boomer market at 76 million people and representing 34% of the market, Baby Boomers are a serious target population for lots and lots of products and services. However, the key to our pocketbook is in a better understanding of our minds.

Baby Boomers first impressions are emotionally based rather that fact and benefit based as younger generations are. We are more resistant to absolute propositions with less reliance on reason and more on intuition to determine what is of interest to us. We effectively respond to images that promote strong positive emotional responses.

As Baby Boomers grow older our perceptions are more holistic are respond better to nonverbal symbol. We are becoming more receptive to narrative-styled presentations of information and less responsive to information presented in expository style. After a matter qualifies for our interest and further attention, Baby Boomers tend to want more information than do younger consumers.

Gerontologists tell us that as Baby Boomers age, we develop:
• A superior perception of reality
• Less interest in material things
• More interest in having experiences
• Increased acceptance of self
• Increased wisdom
• Higher capacity for humor
• Increased spontaneity
• Increased appreciation for friendships
• Increased desire to do for others
• Increased sense of fair play and fairness
• Increased creativity
• Changes in our value system

Therefore, any business that wants to win Baby Boomers as customers has to constantly create new and different ways to enable us to realize value. Source for this article is the Baby Boomer Magazine

The longest study of human development ever undertaken

SINCE 1966, George E Vaillant, Pro­fessor of Psychiatry at Harvard, has followed the lives of several hundred men in the Grant Study. They are now aged around 90. The latest installment in  the study is called Triumphs of Experience

The longest study of human development ever undertaken, it began in 1938 to chart the physical and emotional health of more than 200 US men. Vaillant says there is some welcome news – our lives go on evolving in our later years, and often become more fulfilling.

Some are unsurprising. Alcoholism has a devastating effect on family and professional life. If a lifetime of achievement is your goal, then it is better to have had an emotionally supportive childhood than a socially privileged upbringing. Pragmatic and practical men are more likely to be politically conservative, while sensitive and intuitive men lean liberal. Other findings upset conventional wisdom (Republican men are no less altruistic than Democratic men) or proved to be just downright confounding: The longer-lived a man's maternal grandfather, the more likely it is that he will enjoy mental health.

“So out of control does the whole process of ageing often feel that I was relieved when our wealth of data revealed that some aspects of successful ageing – or lack of it – are in fact negotiable,” he writes. The study said recovery from a lousy childhood was possible and memories of a happy childhood were a lifelong source of strength.

Mar­riage brings more contentment after 70, and ageing after 80 is determined less by heredity than by habits formed before 50. Ageing with grace and vitality depends more on us than on our genes. In addition, what what a man thinks at a late stage of life much depends on how successfully he has come to terms with life's regrets.

Mr. Vaillant concludes that personal development need never stop, no matter how old you are. At an advanced age, though, growth consists more in finding new hues and shades in one's past than in conceiving plans for the future. As the Harvard Study shows with such poignancy, older men treat what lies behind them much as younger men treat what lies ahead. The future is what young men dream about; they ponder the extent to which it is predetermined or open; and they try to shape it. For old men, it is the past they dream about; it is the past whose inevitability or indeterminateness they attempt to measure; and it is the past they try to reshape. For the most regret-free men in the Harvard study, the past is the work of their future.

Sources: http://www.thesenior.com.au/News/The-Senior-News/Seventy-year-study 

Getting Ready for Overtime

Confidence in the Mortgage Market

Many of my friends have not yet paid off their mortgage, and so are concerned about what will happen with mortgages and reducing household debt. So this report shows that many of us are moving in the right direction to reduce our debt load.

Canadian homeowners are comfortable with their current mortgage, focusing on reducing their mortgage faster by making lump sum payments, reducing amortization periods and refinancing with lower interest rates, according to the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professional’s (CAAMP) most recent survey report released May 30th – Confidence in the Canadian Mortgage Market.

Following are just a few key highlights from the report:

• 74% of mortgage borrowers who renewed in the last year saw their new interest rate decrease. On average, the interest rate was reduced by one-half percentage point
• Borrowers are making significant efforts to accelerate mortgage repayment, such as voluntarily increasing their regular payments (23%) and making lump sum payments (19%), with some borrowers (10%) doing both Approximately 50% of borrowers pay $100 per month (or more) above their required payments
• Recent buyers indicate that their expected amortization period will be about 20% shorter than their contracted length
• Mortgage brokers account for 26% of all mortgages. For borrowers who took out a new mortgage in 2011, 31% obtained it from a mortgage broker
• 83% of Canadians have at least 25% equity in their home
• “Despite daily warnings in the media about mortgage indebtedness – or maybe because of them – Canadians are making responsible decisions about their mortgages and they’re exhibiting confidence in their own situations,” said Jim Murphy, AMP, President and CEO of CAAMP. “We should feel encouraged by this behaviour – it means Canadians are well positioned to weather a potential rise in interest rates”

Rather than move, many of us may decide to renovate.To help you make more informed decisions about doing this, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) offers a number of tips, tools and resources like the Before you Renovate: Renovation Guide. Consulting these resources before you begin can help you save time, money and a lot of frustration – resulting in a better overall renovation experience.

First, always take the time to thoroughly plan your renovation before you pick up a hammer (or the phone). Mistakes on paper are much easier and less expensive to fix than mistakes on the job. Taking the time upfront to identify your priorities and how you want to achieve them can save you a great deal of expense (and more than a few headaches) further down the road.

Next, decide whether your planned renovation is practical. For instance, that addition may look great, but can your home’s systems handle the additional heating, lighting and plumbing

Learn to draw the line between what would be nice and what’s really essential, and consider hiring a qualified professional early in the process to help guide you toward what’s practical for your home.

It’s also a good idea to think about the long-term impact of your renovations. For example, renovations that make your home more energy efficient could pay for themselves through years of lower monthly utility bills. In addition, think about your family’s future needs by making sure your design is flexible enough to adapt to changes as time goes by.

To avoid going over budget, have a clear idea in advance of how much your renovation will cost. CMHC’s Household Budget Calculator is designed to help you understand what you can afford. Get written estimates from at least two reputable local renovators, architectural firms or materials suppliers and, if they ask for a deposit, make sure it’s a nominal amount and request a signed receipt.

Pension formulas derived hundreds of years ago

Posted by Moshe A. Milevsky  Mon Jun 4 2012

York University professor Moshe A. Milevsky teaches at the Schulich School of Business. His latest book is The 7 Most Important Equations for Your Retirement: The Fascinating People and Ideas behind Planning Your Retirement Income (Wiley, May 2012).

It is interesting to note that the issue of pensions and the risk involved in planning were thought of over three hundred years ago.

In the 17^th century, the state was facing problems not unlike the ones faced by Ford and other companies and governments today. The King awarded pensions for service to the Crown and many members of the clergy, as an example, had been promised lifetime payments. 

In 1672, the government established a pension for retired Royal Navy officers and by then British insurance companies were offering annuities to people of all ages, but were charging a flat price, regardless of age.

The City of London was the centre of business in the British Empire and it gradually dawned on the business community that these promise to pay involved risks. But nobody had an accurate idea of exactly how much risk and so they turned to the scientific establishment for help.

The problem made its way to the Royal Society — think of it as a supreme council of scientists — and then to Edmond Halley who spent most of his life gazing at the stars. 

He attacked the problem in a careful and novel way. And much to his credit he came up with the first known procedure for properly valuing a pension or lifetime annuity. 

He wrote an article which was published in 1693 by the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions and provided the equation he had used, along with the first reliable mortality table.

His equation is still used and taught to insurance actuaries today. More, importantly, it is an equation every Canadian should be aware of as they approach their retirement years.

Halley’s main scientific insight was to combine interest rates, mortality rates and age, to arrive at an equation for the value of a pension annuity. 

He properly established that the younger you are — all else being equal — the more valuable and expensive is the corresponding pension annuity. More importantly, the lower the prevailing interest rates — such as they are today — the more valuable is your pension. In fact, you might be surprised to learn how valuable that pension can be. 

Think about it. If you can retire on a full pension paying 80 per cent of your salary at the age of 55, the value of your benefit can be in the millions of dollars.

Here is yet another application of Halley’s methodology and equation, which is relevant to all Canadians. 

Although Old Age Security might only pay $550 per month, its present value at the age of 65 — and in today’s ultra low interest rate environment — might be as high as $115,000. There is much at stake in the debate around reforming OAS.

Halley’s equation and methodology for valuing pension annuities is now ubiquitous and intertwined with all retirement decisions. In my opinion, it is one of the seven most important equations for retirement planning.

So, when it comes to the Ford plan (In order to lighten its pension load, the Ford Motor Co. announced recently that it is offering 90,000 retired engineers and office workers the choice of continuing to receive a monthly pension or take a lump-sum buyout from the Ford plan)  pensioners, I would suggest that every one of them find an actuary — or at least an astronomer — who is familiar with Halley’s equation, so they can figure out whether the deal is worth it or not.

The other six minds behind calculations for retirement and the questions you need to consider

In addition to Edmund Halley’s equation for valuing pension annuities, here are the people behind six other important retirement calculations.

Present and future value: If I have $1,000,000 in my nest egg, earning 5 per cent per year, for how many years can I afford to withdraw $100,000 before the account is emptied? It’s obviously more than 10 years because of the interest rate, but how much longer? 

Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci (circa 1170-1250) derived the equation still in use today. He also wrote the world’s first financial mathematics textbook.

How long will I live? The odds of a 75-year-old living to 80 are obviously greater than an 18-year-old living to 80. British actuary Benjamin Gompertz (1779-1865) figured out the exact ratios and the law of mortality underlying this calculation. 

Gompertz was a self-taught mathematician, because at that time as a Jew he was not allowed to attend university. He eventually became president of Britain’s prestigious Royal Society.

How much can I spend? Yale University economist Irving Fisher (1867-1947) was the first to properly factor inflation into the equation, as well as the notion that you spend less as you age to help answer the question of how much to spend.

How much risk can I take? MIT professor and Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson (1915-2009), whose economics textbook is well known to undergraduates, described the optimal asset allocation between the risky stock market versus safe cash, taking into account all your capital.

What am I worth? Wharton business school insurance scholar Solomon Huebner (1882-1964) pioneered the technique for properly measuring and insuring human life value and he emphasized the role of legacy in financial planning. So, you want to leave $100,000 to the grandkids. How much will that cost you today?

Will my plan work? Russian mathematician Andrei N. Kolmogorov (1903-1987), state hero of the communist Soviet Union, created the mathematical framework that determines the probability your retirement income plan is sustainable.