July 12, 2018 – 5 Good Boomer Reads
The 5 Good Boomer Reads for the week of July 12, 2018:
- Retire early or keep on working? How to prepare for either choice
- Americans 85 and older working longer
- Vacationing baby boomers take the grandkids along
- Transforming Health Care from the Ground Up
- My Journey Into Medicare
Welcome to 5 Good Boomer Reads July 12, 2018 A podcast for men 50+
Host: Mike Mathews
Retire early or keep on working? How to prepare for either choice.
Not the usual retirement story, this recognizes the recently illuminated fact that many older Americans, 85 or older, are continuing work.
Partly this is caused by the cascading numbers of recessions over the last 40 years that successively wiped out gains, and the loss of pensions. But another reason is that we simply live longer and in a generally healthier condition than our parents and grandparents.
This story has many twists and turns, as every retirement story has, so it’s an interesting read and very thought-provoking.
Americans 85 and older working longer
The decision to retire early or keep on working is not new and many people already have their answer: A record number of folks age 85 and older are working. This story goes on to outline what they’re doing.
People who are still working at age 85 or above are, as you might guess, unusual, but 255,000 of them were working the past 12 months, the highest ever recorded. That’s double the number working since 2006, just 12 short years. The opposite holds true for workers age 30 and younger, they are staying on the sidelines at rates not seen since the 1960s and ’70s.
You won’t find these seniors concentrated in any particular race, ethnicity or region, but they hold very different jobs than their younger peers and rivals do.
Workers age 85 and older are more common in less physical industries, such as management and sales, than they are in demanding ones such as manufacturing and construction. But between 1,000 and 3,000 U.S. truckers age 85 or older, based on 2016 Census Bureau
Most of the oldest workers are concentrated in just 26 of the 455 occupations tracked by the Census Bureau data. Those same 26 occupations are home to less than a third of the total workforce.
Are you retiring early or thinking of working longer? Let us know in the comments below.
Vacationing baby boomers put new spin on grandparenting by taking grandkids along
It turns out traveling together builds the intergenerational bond. More grandparents and grandchildren are discovering the joys of being on the road together.
Intergenerational trips, known as “grandtravel” in the industry, are experiencing a sharp increase, with resorts offering special packages, travel agencies booking trips, church camps designating grandparent-grandchild weeks, and some grandparents taking a do-it-yourself approach.
The trend is driven by baby boomers who are redefining grandparenting, said Rebecca Kolls, senior analyst for consumer advisory firm CEB Iconoculture, now part of Gartner.
“They want to instill their values into the next generation; they want to live their legacy, not just leave their estate to their kids and grandkids,” said Kolls. “What better way to do that than with time away together? And many of them can afford these vacations.”
Are you planning vacations with grandchildren? Let us know in the comments below.
Transforming Health Care from the Ground Up
We’ve heard the horror stories on the U.S. healthcare system. Now Harvard Business Review takes a look at how to break the logjam in reforming the system and–surprise!–it starts on the front lines with nurses, doctors, and administrators.
While federal policy changes are required, the industry needs bottom up transformation from entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs—the typical study of HBR. Two examples of bottom-up innovation are studied in this article:
- The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) created a homegrown telehealth network to increase patient access to care
- Iora Health developed a new business model that doubled down on primary care to reap large savings in secondary and tertiary care.
The results of these two initiatives were astonishing. Mississippi’s telehealth network has saved lives and money and revived struggling rural hospitals and communities. Ten years out, satisfaction is high among patients (93.4%) and local hospital administrators (87.5%).
Over seven years, Iora has reduced hospitalizations of its patients by 35% to 40% and lowered its total health care costs by 15% to 20%, while improving patients’ overall health.
This study is important to you because we are all going to be affected by the outcomes and that effect needs to take place rapidly.
My Journey Into Medicare
A little later this year I’ll be joining the ranks of Medicare recipients.
No, I’m not retiring–read story #1–I’m merely moving from the individual insurance market I’ve been using for the past 12 years and moving into Medicare.
Why announce this and why right now? Well, it’s something we all go through at 65, it’s even required by law that we sign up and there are financial penalties that begin to accrue if we don’t sign up.
So, it’s the above and the fact this morning I got a call from my insurance broker giving me the news that she wanted me to sign up on the Medicare website, fill out a few forms, and then we will talk in August. The process begins and I’m taking you with me.I promise to dutifully and faithfully record the process, give you my impressions, and let you see how it works for me.
As an average Baby Boomer, I sit right in the middle of the boom, some of you have trod this path already and the rest will follow obediently when it’s their turn. Maybe I can give the latter of you some preparation tips and the former of you a chuckle.
We’ll see.
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