The 5 Good Boomer Reads for the week of September 27, 2018:
- Top 5 Ways to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew
- The Social and Political Costs of the Financial Crisis, 10 Years Later
- For baby boomer couples, synchronize or stagger is the new retirement dilemma
- The new heart-monitoring capabilities on the Apple Watch aren’t all that impressive
- My Journey Into Medicare
Top 5 Ways to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew
Here in the Pacific Northwest we enjoy our wines (along with the requisite coffee, tea, and craft beers). During this weeks wine marketing Tweet Chat, Avina Wine Accessories proposed their Top 5 Ways to Open a Bottle of Wine Without a Corkscrew. Reader LindaVino @ScottsdaleToDo contributed a sixth method that caused much concern and laughter.
I’m not sure but do the have corkscrew for my #wine ? I’m having issues 😝 pic.twitter.com/Uqi38pDhqH
— #LindaVino 🍷🍷 (@ScottsdaleToDo) September 24, 2018
We don’t suggest using Linda’s method and have our doubts about some of the methods Avina Wine Accessories suggests. We’ll stick with the proper tools or our handy Swiss Army pocket knife.
The Social and Political Costs of the Financial Crisis, 10 Years Later
Many baby boomers and other generations are still feeling the results of the 2008 economic collapse.
The financial losses are staggering, over $2 trillion in increased expenditures and decreased revenues for the U.S. government. A 2018 Federal Reserve Board study estimated the collapse cost each American citizen $70,000.
Now Harvard Business Review takes a look at the social and political losses reverberating from the event. The before and after differences are striking, both within the U.S. and globally. Also, there a wide swath of population that feels they have not attained justice in a common sense definition, which explains some of the decisions being made and actions being taken today.
For baby boomer couples, synchronize or stagger is the new retirement dilemma
The Financial Post looks at new schemes for retiring baby boomers, including staggering the retirement dates to take advantage of healthcare, age differences, and other variables.
With baby boomers living longer the retirement years can get costly and a younger partner may now work years longer to finalize their retirement plan contribution. At the same time, the retired partner may become bored or even jealous of the working partner. There may be some truth in the apocryphal tale about the husband retiring and staying home all day, so the wife gets a job just to avoid the husband at home.
In Canada, 33% of partners retire within a year of each other, while in the States the synchronized retirement rate is only 20%, possibly due to the differences in the retirement benefits packages. Comparing divorce rates at ages 55-59 between the 1980s and 2011, Canada discover a 3x growth in divorces for women in that age range and a 5x growth rate for men in the same age group.
So more than ever before, retirement takes communication and thoughtful planning, and maybe putting off retirement time for a later date.
The new heart-monitoring capabilities on the Apple Watch aren’t all that impressive
Thinking about buying the new Apple Watch to monitor your ticker? Think again, carefully.
The ECG capabilities built into the watch are fantastic and the system has a good record of alerting on poor conditions. But think of the watch as an assisting technology, not as a substitute for regular physician visits and a hospital-grade ECG. This is the advice given in a review from Quartz.
First off, a hospital grade ECG uses a dozen leads, whereas the Apple Watch uses a single lead, so a variety of important measurements are not taken. The Watch has received FDA medical device clearance, but at a lower level than medical facility equipment.
The good news is that during testing with an admittedly small universe the Watch identified problems existed at a significant rate. With the rate of technology advancement and growth, expect to eventually see the detail and quality necessary for physicians to make diagnostic decisions from devices like this.
A secondary measurement in the Watch is using the accelerometer and other sensors to determine if the wearer has fallen, stumbled, or collapsed, which accounts for many of the most dangerous situations for aging populations. The Watch can send alerts, reports, and open communications with specific people or monitoring teams. This capability may become a real boon to baby boomers.
In the meantime, do not depend on the Apple Watch as a primary medical device.
My Journey Into Medicare
Nothing new to report on the shift to Medicare, except tat it does go into effect on October 1 and I’ll know more in the coming weeks.
Enjoy the beginning of autumn, the change in weather is almost immediate with cool days and a few random blasts of summer poking through.
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