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How to Plan a Funeral Service for Your Departed Loved One

Having a memorial for a loved one after their passing is an important part of the grieving process. It’s a time to honor them, share memories with family and friends, and say goodbye. Some families find that there’s no better place to hold this personal event than at home, but knowing exactly where to start the planning process — especially amid the grief of a loss — can feel overwhelming. This guide will help you plan a beautiful, meaningful home memorial service for a recently departed loved one. Proceed with patience and plenty of support. With a little time and the right planning, you can hold a service that will allow your family to come together and say goodbye. Choosing a kind of service: Memorials vs. Funerals The services and…

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Indiana “The Talk of a Lifetime”

Indiana "The Talk of a Lifetime"is Taking Funeral Planning to the Next Level... For the founders of The Talk of a Lifetime (TTL), it was becoming more and more evident that people were just not that into funerals anymore. The TTL council wanted to tap into this growing demographic  – the “I don’t want anyone to make a fuss when I die” group of people, who obviously could not see the value in memorialization. So, they did some serious market research. They assembled focus groups made up of people who said they did not want to be memorialized after death. The research behind why people don’t value memorialization They started by asking these people to produce images they associated with funeral homes. Time and time again, the respondents showed the…

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Top 10 Financial Scams Targeting Seniors

Financial scams targeting seniors have become so prevalent that they’re now considered “the crime of the 21st century.” Why? Because seniors are thought to have a significant amount of money sitting in their accounts. Financial scams also often go unreported or can be difficult to prosecute, so they’re considered a “low-risk” crime. However, they’re devastating to many older adults and can leave them in a very vulnerable position with little time to recoup their losses. It’s not just wealthy seniors who are targeted. Low-income older adults are also at risk of financial abuse. And it’s not always strangers who perpetrate these crimes. Over 90% of all reported elder abuse is committed by an older person’s own family members, most often their adult children, followed by grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and others. Review…

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I’m turning 80 Am I too old to buy life insurance?

Like most insurance, life insurance is cheaper to buy the younger you are when you buy it. This is great news if you’re in your 20s or 30s, but what if you’re a little older and in the market for a new life insurance policy? How old is too old?The answer depends on the type of life insurance you’re shopping for, but one thing’s for certain — no matter what your age today, it’s better to buy a life insurance policy now rather than waiting a year. The price goes up as you get older Premiums for term life increase by about 8% per year in your late 40s, and that rate of increase continues to climb to 9-12% per years after age 50.To illustrate this, we used Policy Genius Life insurance…

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How to Apply for Medicare Without Claiming Social Security…

THE SOCIAL SECURITY full retirement age is 66 for most baby boomers, and you receive a smaller monthly payout if you sign up at a younger age. Some retirees further delay signing up in order to qualify for monthly payments later in retirement. However, the Medicare eligibility age remains 65. So, if you want to wait until 66 or later to claim Social Security, you will have to sign up for Medicare separately at age 65. Here's what you need to know about signing up for Medicare before claiming Social Security: Social Security and Medicare are separate decisions.Some people are automatically enrolled in Medicare.Remember to sign up for Medicare on time.Signing up for Medicare after you missed the Initial Enrollment Period can trigger penalties.Beneficiaries who work can avoid the Medicare late enrollment penalty.Be…

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Medicare Out-of-Pocket Costs You Should Expect to Pay

MEDICARE PROVIDES  Valuable health insurance for individuals 65 or older and certain people with disabilities who are under age 65. But it also comes with complex rules and sometimes significant out-of-pocket costs. Here's what you can expect to pay for Medicare: Premiums.  Most beneficiaries pay the standard Medicare Part B premium of $134 per month in 2018. However, some Medicare beneficiaries pay different amounts. Medicare Part B payments are prevented by law from reducing Social Security payments, so some Social Security beneficiaries pay lower premiums because their Social Security payments have not increased enough to cover the current standard Medicare premiums. High-income retirees bringing in more than $85,000 ($170,000 for couples) pay higher Part B premiums, ranging from $187.50 to $428.60 monthly, depending on how high their income is. Most Medicare beneficiaries don't…

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Retirees Should Expect to Pay More For Prescription Drug Costs…

MEDICARE PART D HELPS retirees pay for their prescription drugs. But these prescription drug plans have a variety of out-of-pocket costs that vary based on the policy you select. Here are some of the medication costs you can expect in retirement. Premiums.  The average Medicare Part D premium was $41 per month in 2018, up 11 percent since 2015, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. However, premiums vary significantly based on the plan you select. Among widely available Part D plans, premiums ranged from $20 to $84 per month. Some Part D plans increased their premiums by more than $10 per month in 2018, and a few plans had slight decreases in premiums. Deductibles.  The majority of Medicare Part D plans (55 percent) have a deductible…

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65 Retired Taking Meds, 5 Most Expensive Prescription Drugs for Retirees…

RETIREES SPENT $92.8 billion on prescription drugs in 2010. The majority of this money (68 percent) was paid for just five types of medications that cost Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older $63.4 billion, according to a recent analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Here are the five most expensive types of medications retirees use: Metabolic drugs. Simvastatin, Metformin, Lipitor, Pravastatin and Crestor are among the metabolic drugs that senior citizens spent $22.5 billion on in 2010, the most of any type of medication. This calculation includes out-of-pocket, private and public insurance costs for Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older, but does not take into account over-the-counter medicines or drugs administered in a clinic or physician's office. Over half (59 percent) of Medicare beneficiaries use metabolic medicines, and the…

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Reasons to quit smoking Over 50 that you might actually care about

Q: Yeah, yeah, yeah… smoking might give me lung cancer when I’m like 80.  So why should I worry about it now when I can just quit when I’m old? A: Sure, lung cancer is one of the main reasons to quit, but we know you college (and graduate) students are invincible and don’t really care about little things like mortality, so here are a few other good reasons to quit smoking that might hit a little closer to home: Tooth Loss It is well known among dentists that smoking dramatically increases your chances of “edentulism” (i.e having no teeth). Smoking causes gum disease and plaque build-up which lead to tooth decay and loss. One study showed that the risk of tooth loss in smokers is more than 4 times…

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Stress, run above It With Runner’s High…

The sedative effects of nicotine, paired with the ritualistic activity of sparking upmakes for a temporary and dangerous escape from the pressures of the moment. For smokers, cigarettes are frequently used as a form of stress relief. But there are other sources of stress relief available, many of which can positively impact your overall health. Moderate physical activity, especially aerobic exercises, can make an immediate difference on your mental wellbeing. The psychological benefits of aerobic exercises — walking, jogging, biking, swimming — are grounded in your neurochemistry research shows exercise has the power to reduce levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, while stimulating the production of feel-good chemicals called endorphins. When your friend mentions how they get a “runner’s high” after jogging a few miles — that’s the…

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