Wealth and seniors two views

Two different views on wealth amongst seniors, one from an academic, right view, drawing on stats and information that is current to 2006. The past ten years have changed the landscape but this is ignored in the first report. The second is from the BC Senior’s Advocate which highlights the reality of seniors in BC.

There is a tendency to view seniors as a vulnerable population”, write Lee and Speer. “The facts tell a different story”. Ian Lee teaches strategic management at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, and Sean Speer is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Of course, the authors aren’t actually proposing a Seniors Tax. Instead they are attempting to highlight the contradictions of federal policy by taking arbitrary and vague concepts like fairness to their logical conclusion.

Not only are seniors wealthier than younger Canadians, they are the disproportionate beneficiaries of government programs and spending. A Seniors Tax would therefore go a long way to offset the “reverse ageism” – that is, a bias in favour of older rather than younger Canadians – inherent in government spending and taxation policy.

It was only a few decades ago that Canadian seniors fared poorly relative to seniors in other countries according to key indicators such as income replacement, accumulated wealth and poverty rates. But that is not the case now. Consider that:

• Canadian seniors’ wealth has grown much faster than younger Canadians', nearly quadrupling since 198
•  Incidence of low income among seniors fell from 21.3 percent to 5.4 percent between 1980 and 2006.
• The federal government is increasing spending on seniors at a rate of $12 billion per year.
•  Canada has been ranked as one of the least “intergenerational just” jurisdictions in the world.
• The evidence would thus suggest that the government’s redistributionism should have focused on transferring income and wealth from seniors to younger Canadians.

Instead, Ottawa doubled down on helping out seniors in its most recent budget! Returning the Old Age Security eligibility age to 65 will add significant cost over the long term for a group that barely needs it.

Another point of view:

There is no denying that many seniors in this country are thoroughly enjoying life on middle or high incomes, but this is true in the population at large as well.  

In fact, looking at the objective data of Statistics Canada, the median household income for seniors is in fact the lowest of any age cohort over the age of 25.  In Canada, single people over 65 have a median income of $26,000 (StatsCan 2013 Canadian Income Survey).  

This means that fully half of single Canadian seniors are living on less than $26,000 a year.

These are 26% of single seniors in British Columbia who are living in poverty. These are people who have no expectation of increases in income with new jobs, no mobility to move to more affordable rental markets (20% of seniors in BC are renters) and 35% do not live in urban areas where house values provide potential significant equity to access. Some may question entitlements offered to seniors based solely on their age with no consideration of income.  However, in fact, almost all government subsidized entitlements for seniors are income tested.

The social spending bias against seniors continues to be expressed by other media and some academics who cherry-pick data and offer gross generalizations that take the economic conditions of some seniors and apply it to all seniors. Perhaps the most offensive part of these often hyperbole laced arguments is when medical costs are considered.  The argument above advance is that we should be counting the money we spend on fixing hips, knees and hearts as part of looking at government expenditures on seniors, and lump it in with OAS and cinema discounts to conclude that we spend disproportionately more on seniors than the population under 65 on a per capita basis. 

Not to let facts get in the way of a good story, but we could slice out any number of discrete populations and show similar healthcare dollar disparities. Conveniently missing from the conversation on health care costs for seniors is the value of the contribution that seniors make to caring for their spouses. 

Before we go blaming seniors for the fact they need a new hip or bypass surgery, we should first thank them for the billions, yes billions of dollars they save the health care system by taking care of each other. 

Indeed I find it hard to believe that those who support these arguments have spent any time with seniors living in residential care or receiving home care – the flip side of seniors on the tennis courts and golf courses of Toronto.

It will be very difficult to have a rational adult conversation if we keep trying to whip up generational warfare with incendiary statements such as one generation is “robbing” the other of their future. 

Currently seniors represent about 17% of Canada’s population and this is expected to rise to about 24% by the year 2031 at which point it will stabilize.  By any estimation 24% is a minority of the population. Please let us give the respect to this minority that we would give to any other when we are discussing needs and entitlements, in other words, let us remain Canadian in our discourse.

The brown bag test

As part of the workshops I do on memory and aging, we recommend the participants do the brown bag test. We recommend that the participants make an appointment with their pharmacist (or their doctor) to review all of the medications they are taking. 

In this review we recommend they take both their non-prescription and prescription drugs with them to the appointment. We recommend that they ask the pharmacist to review how the medications and over the counter drugs interact and what, if any, long term affect they may have on the individuals health. 

According to a CBC story  the wrong mix of medications causes dementia

Larry Chambers, a scientific adviser with the Alzheimer Society of Canada, says up to 20 per cent of dementias could be due to a bad mix of medications.

"Some of the anticholinergics and antihistamines are very dangerous for cognitive impairment. The other really big one is benzodiazepine that is used for helping people sleep," he says.

It's not just prescription medications that can lead to cognitive issues — over-the-counter ones can too.

"Three really big ones are omega 3 fish oil, Aspirin, and garlic," Chambers says.

"These are known to be contraindicated and cause problems with cognitive functioning and lead to dementia if taken with some heart medications that a physician might prescribe."

In these cases, says Chambers, the dementia can be reversed once the medication is stopped or adjusted.

That's why he encourages seniors and their families to track all prescription and non-prescription drugs and share that information with their doctor and pharmacist.

If you are taking more than one type of prescription, don’t delay take the brown bag test as soon as you can.

How Music Affect the Brain?

Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Music stimulates various parts of the brain, making it an effective therapeutic or mood-altering tool. Music’s pitch, rhythm, meter and timbre are processed in various parts of the brain ranging from the prefrontal cortex to the hippocampus to the parietal lobe. Rhythm and pitch are primarily left brain hemisphere functions, while timbre and melody are processed primarily in the right hemisphere. Meter is processed in both hemispheres

What is interesting is that spatial-temporal tasks (2-D and 3-D manipulation of physical objects and spatial reasoning needed for building structures, etc.) are also located in the same areas of the brain that are stimulated by music. Listening to music stimulates the areas of the brain concerned with spatial reasoning – although studies have determined that this effect doesn’t last more than 15 minutes after the music has stopped.

You may have heard of stroke victims learning to talk again using music, or stutterers learning to speak fluently by learning to sing their sentences. It’s not clear yet exactly how this works. Anyone can experience the benefits of music on the brain; the type of music matters less than the listener’s personal preferences. If you don’t like a particular type of music, it will actually have the opposite effect than its intended use! The heightened mental arousal brought about by music can be used every day to enhance your life experience. Here’s how:

De-stressing and healing: Just the right soothing music decreases stress, including lowering the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Personal preference is important: obviously if smooth jazz makes you angry, it’s not the right music to listen to for relaxation! Soothing music is also beneficial in a healing situation – again, by decreasing stress, and also by elevating the patient’s mood.

Immune booster: Upbeat dance music boosts your immune system. This may be partially due to the hypnotic beat of the music that causes the brain to go into the alpha state where the brain begins releasing endorphins (a natural painkiller) and healing hormones. Stress reduction plays a big part here as well.

Enhanced exercise: You probably already know how music makes a boring workout seem much more fun. There’s a correlation between upbeat, fast paced music and the effectiveness of your exercise. It serves as a point of focus, taking your mind off your aches and burning muscles; and it motivates you. This may go back to the caveman days, when rhythmic drumbeats were used to put people into a trance, or to pump them up before a hunt or battle. Not much different than the beats we hear at a dance club… the heart also entrains to the beat of the music, making it easier to exercise to fast-paced music because the heart is already in sync with the tempo. Using dance music for exercise will not only make the workout fun, but will improve your immune response!

Meditation aid: rhythmic drumming and chanting have been used for many thousands of years to put people in a trance-like state of altered consciousness.

Memory recall: Some studies have shown a substantial increase in memory recall while listening to classical music, especially Mozart. The famous “Mozart Effect” doesn’t actually promise increased intelligence, although studies have shown that children who are brought up learning musical instruments or singing are better at spatial-temporal reasoning.

Anti-anxiety: Music is very good at promoting self-soothing: have you ever hummed a tune to decrease anxiety or to remain calm under pressure? If you have a theme song you like to play before competition or some big event, you know exactly how helpful this is – and it can be anything you really like – anything to distract you from the stress of the moment and get you pumped up.

Anti-fatigue, anti-boredom: Music helps keep you energized and productive – but be careful here; blaring metal or fast dance music just to stay awake might not be something your co-workers appreciate. The best music for focus doesn’t have words or a complex melody, to avoid distraction.

Heightened spiritual experience: Music has been a part of religious and spiritual traditions since the dawn of mankind. It enhances the feeling of unity with a higher power/source energy, and many spiritual practices employ rhythmic chanting to create an altered state of consciousness.

Improved mood: Research has shown that music generally improves mood. If you’re slogging through a boring day at work, forcing yourself through a tough workout, trying to motivate yourself to mop the floor… music will help!

It’s a well-known “fact” (unsubstantiated) that your favorite music makes house cleaning go twice as fast because you tend to move along with the music and dance your way through your cleaning chores. And even if it doesn’t actually make time go faster, you’ll enjoy what you’re doing more. In the case of cleaning the house, that’s a great thing!

Music is the universal language. Humans are hard-wired to appreciate and need music – so find some music you enjoy, and let its good vibrations stimulate your brain in wonderful ways!

Source: http://www.omharmonics.com/blog/how-music-affects-the-brain/ 

To all of the strong women in my life

The One Flaw In Women
Author Unknown

Women have strengths that amaze men.

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they
think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what
makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

However, if there is one flaw in women, it is this;
they forget their worth and how remarkable they truly are!