Activities in the Fall to help keep your energy

As I write this it is two days before the Fall Equinox, which means summer is just about over and Fall is coming fast. What is your favourite season, I am torn between Spring and Fall? I love the colours of the Fall, as the leaves turn and drop off the trees, the warm days, and the cool nights. In the Spring I love the new colours as the flowers and trees start to emerge from their winter sleep. We need to embrace the change in weather and all the beauty and fun it brings. We also need to stay active and with most public recreational facilities starting to open there are some possibilities with some of these fall activities that can boost your energy and sense of well-being.

Get active and try yoga

Many fitness classes are starting to open while some are still being offered virtually, which makes it easier and more accessible. If you had not thought of doing something new, you might want to think of yoga. Yoga has many benefits including the potential to improve aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. For older adults with type 2 diabetes, it can also help manage blood sugar and blood pressure. Yoga is an activity you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, as it requires minimal equipment and can be modified, allowing you to work at your own pace and comfort level.

Explore your creativity through the arts

Are you someone who enjoys expressing themselves artistically? The changing scenery provides a perfect opportunity to pull out your paintbrushes and create something inspired by the colours of autumn. If painting isn’t your thing, artistic activities like dancing, singing, or creative writing can also have a positive effect on your health and well-being, and help with things like memory, problem-solving and reaction time.  

Grab your apron and head to the kitchen

Thanksgiving is coming, and pumpkins are soon-to-be in season! Get creative in the kitchen by trying a new recipe. Food activities improve self-esteem and promote a more positive experience of ageing.

Cozy up with a good book

Finally, consider indulging in a good book, or joining a fall book club. Reading can relieve symptoms related to depression and dementia and is a relaxing activity that can help reduce feelings of isolation.

Create fond memories this fall and unlock potential benefits for your health and well-being by trying out some of these activities. 

Phone Buddies

 The organization that I lead, has started on a new program where we contact our senior members to see how they are. As in most communities, recreational programs for seniors have dropped off considerably, in fact down zero in my area. As the lockdown orders became longer, as a board we knew we needed to keep in touch with our members. So at one of our meetings, some members of the Board who had been longterm members talked about a program the Board ran in the early 2000s. We examined the idea and asked the City if it would work with us. They agreed and our Phone Buddies pilot was started in July. 

We started by getting a list of our members who were over 80 and then three of us divided them up and created a standard script and started phone them. We asked how they were doing if they had a social circle, and what programs they wanted to have open first when we moved back to a new normal. We had over 140 members in that age group so we had about 40 plus members to phone. The pilot went well, the seniors were happy that we had phoned and gave us some good ideas. I was certainly impressed by the positive attitude of this group.

We have now expanded the program to our 70 to 80-year-olds and have recruited three new volunteers who are phoning that group. If this phase is successful we will expand it to the 60 to 70-year-olds. That will require some work as we have over 1000 members and the majority are in the 60-70-year-old age group.

We are excited about the program and how it is impacting the seniors we contact. For the majority, they have a social network that they can rely on to help them, but there is a small group that needs to be put in touch with agencies that can help them. Without our program, they would have been lost in the shuffle.

Facebook post that is all wrong, but still circulated as the truth

Very Misleading (Wrong) Viral Post About CPP Thanks to Stacey for this. The original rant is in Italics and the correction is normal font

Some guy wrote a thing about CPP, but he thinks CPP is OAS or something and about 80,000 people have shared his post. Everything he claims in his rant is incorrect, so I figured I would set the record straight and like 8 people will share it and I will make a huge difference. My comments and correct figures are in BOLD.

OLD AGE PENSION QUIETLY CHANGED TO FEDERAL PAYMENT BENEFIT

The Old Age Pension cheque is now (or soon will be) referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment?" This is what Social Security (USA) changed its name to and has nothing to do with Canada. I'll be part of the one percent to forward this. I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you. Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.

Your note being shared 80,000 times and your complete lack of correct information in your post touches a nerve in me.

The government is now referring to our Old Age Pension cheques as a "Federal Benefit Payment." This isn't a benefit.

It is our money paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to our pension, but our employers did too.

It totalled 15% of our income before taxes.

Old Age Security is a benefit for all Canadians who live in Canada for at least 10 years after 18 and has nothing to do with how much you paid into it. He is talking about CPP (The Canada Pension Plan) and employees and employers paid 4.95% of their salary, so a total of 9.9%/year. This year (2019) it is going up to 5.10% (10.2% Total)

If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in a pension.

You don’t pay anything on the first $3,500 you make, so if we assume a working career is 40 years and the person made $30,000/year, then the number is now $104,940.

If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in a pension ($375/month, including both you and your employer's contributions) at a meagre 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved!

So, now the savings for this person are $219/month for 40 years and the actual value if that person got a 1% rate of return would be:

$219/month = $129,293

$375/month = $221,394 (he’s just a little off)

Unless he thinks a meagre interest-rate is above 12%/year. I’d be pumped if I could find a way to make it so my clients could easily turn a small monthly investment into $1.3 million so easily.

This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year or $3,277 per month.

Now, let’s use the real numbers and keep his sweet rate of return of 1% and assume a person needs money from 65 – 90.

$221,394 = $834/month (not indexed to inflation, which CPP is)

$129,293 = $487/month (not indexed to inflation again)

That's three times more than today's average Old Age Pension benefit of $1,230 per month.

(WHO AKES $1,230 MONTH??) NOT MY PENSION!!

Someone who made over 30,000 for the years between 18 and 65, minus their worst 8 earning years would get CPP of $1,230/month.

Once again, he is talking about CPP. OAS pays out $601.45/month to anyone who has lived in Canada for 40 years after turning 18.

It is not even close to 3 times what CPP pays. Someone who made $30,000 their working life would get about 55% CPP due to not fully funding it, so they would be entitled to about $677/month, but that would go up every year as their dollars become worth less over time, plus they would get $601.45/month from OAS.

And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.

No it wouldn’t

Instead, the folks in Ottawa pulled off a bigger "Ponzi scheme" than Bernie Madoff ever did. They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot (oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn't have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they've told us that the money won't support us for very much longer.

CPP is not invested or managed by the government. A private team of portfolio managers invest this money on our behalf and try to make safe, but good returns in order to keep the plan solvent. The government can’t just borrow money out of this fund. It is well invested and there were concerns after the 2008 financial crisis, but the plan appears to be in good shape for the time being. You can google it and find out how and where the money is invested and who handles the money.

But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they're calling it a "benefit", as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.

Again, that’s an American term and when and where did they misuse our Pension Fund?

Just because they borrowed the money doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!

Let's take a stand. We have earned our right to our pensions. Demand that our MP's bring some sense into our government.

You will get the CPP amount you are entitled to and if you’re destitute in retirement, you will get GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement) too.

Find a way to keep Old Age Pension going for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it.

It is still going, and they are enhancing it because most Canadians don’t save enough for themselves.

Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income.

It’s called the “Canada Pension Plan.”

99% of people won't SHARE this. Will you?

0% of people should have shared your message, because it was full of completely incorrect information. However, I think like 80,000 shared it, so that’s good news.

Just because someone goes on a rant on Facebook about something that makes you feel anger, doesn’t mean that person has their facts straight. Unfortunately, this person’s message got a lot of traction and it would have been a lot better for Canadians if it didn’t.

Thanks for reading.

In a time of a Pandemic how do we celebrate Remembrance Day?

 As we move into October, we are busy planning for Thanksgiving and Halloween, but what about Remembrance Day? The Legion has been thinking about this and they put out the following information to help you plan for the day.

The global pandemic has directly affected the execution of this year’s National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. However, The Royal Canadian Legion is still planning for a much smaller yet heartfelt ceremony, which will include a maximum of 100 participants.

“The importance of a live ceremony honouring our Veterans and their sacrifices is considered paramount by the Legion, especially during the 75^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War,” says Danny Martin, National Ceremony Director. “At a time when we have all been isolated for months by the pandemic, ensuring the symbolism of the Legion and community leaders paying homage to our Veterans are more important than ever.”

For the first time, spectators will be discouraged from attending in person, due to the limited space and requirement to physically distance. The smaller number of people participating will be required to remain 2m apart and will need to wear masks unless performing certain duties related to the ceremony.

Anticipated significant changes to this year’s commemoration include:

·       No Veteran’s parade

·       No Canadian Armed Forces parade

·       A reduced colour party

·       Wreaths pre-positioned such that no wreath bearers or assistants will be required

·       No members of the Cadets or Junior Rangers present

Similarly scaled back ceremonies will be organized by many Legion Branches across the country, to the best of their abilities given the current restrictions. Please contact your local Legion Branch for updated information as the weeks progress. The Legion’s National Headquarters will also continue to release national updates as more details become available.

The Legion will offer a Facebook Live presentation of the National Remembrance Day ceremony and additional broadcast plans are under consideration.