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22 Oct A Drug-Resistant, Deadly Fungus Is Plaguing Nursing Facilities

Posted at 17:03h in Blog, Health

Called candida auris, this fungus is highly contagious, drug-resistant, and it’s plaguing nursing facilities. Half of the patients who contract this disease die within 90 days. It’s so difficult to eradicate that many facilities have stopped accepting patients infected with it. Public health officials struggle to contain the pathogen, while...

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22 Oct The Fed: Helping Us Save for Retirement

Posted at 16:50h in Blog, Business and Finance

The government is responding to statistics showing that current generations are not saving for retirement. Unlike their thrifty parents, many baby boomers are alarmingly ill-prepared for retirement. Many other employees are more focused on present financial needs than future ones. The implications of generations of people who are unable to...

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22 Oct Divorce and Pets: Who Gets the Dog?

Posted at 16:39h in Blog, Divorce

A recent New York Times article tells the story of a divorcing couple who amicably divide all community property. The problem was Zoe, a Jack Russell terrier, that “Jim” brought to the marriage. Technically, Zoe belonged to him. In North Carolina, a community property state, pets are classified with “stuff”,...

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24 Sep Initiating Difficult Family Conversations About End-of-Life Planning

Posted at 10:05h in Blog, Wills And Revocable Living Trusts

The reluctance or downright unwillingness to talk to parents and grandparents about the difficult topic of end-of-life planning is one that frequently arises in our offices. It ranges from “Mom’s a terrible driver and shouldn’t be behind the wheel, but nobody will confront her” to “Dad’s health is deteriorating, and...

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23 Sep The Early Days of the Opioid Crisis: How It Might Have Turned Out Differently

Posted at 03:59h in Blog, Health

An article in The New York Times tells the tragic story of addiction and its effect on a Virginia coal mining town that has already seen its share of hard times. But it’s more than that. It’s about the lawmakers who had a chance to do the right thing to make...

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23 Sep Who Will Care for the Caretakers?

Posted at 03:42h in Blog, Health

Many of us are caring for–or know someone who is caring for–a family member, often an aging parent. With 10,000 baby boomers turning 70 every day, caring for this demographic is a growing health care matter, and it’s only time before it becomes a political issue. Let’s take a look...

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20 Aug Drug Prices: Finally. Something Everyone Agrees On

Posted at 11:54h in Blog, Health

Anyone who relies on prescription drugs or cares for someone who does knows that drug prices are soaring. The average annual cost of a brand-name drug has more than tripled in the past decade. Older adults take an average of 4.5 medications each month, which can add up to a...

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20 Aug An Aid in Dying Update: More Available, Yet Few Will Choose It

Posted at 11:41h in Advance Healthcare Directive, Blog

On August 1, New Jersey became the eighth state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients who want to end their lives. On Sept. 15, Maine will become the ninth. By October 2019, 22% of Americans will live in states where residents with six months or...

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20 May Blended Families: Estate Planning Gets a Lot More Complicated

Posted at 15:15h in Blog, Wills And Revocable Living Trusts

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who has divorced and remarried, you know that estate planning with your blended family gets a lot more complicated. Without a carefully crafted Will or Living Trust, your children could unintentionally be disinherited. The stakes are higher for those who’ve remarried There’s...

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20 May Drowning in Data, Yet We Can’t Get Our Own Medical Records

Posted at 14:56h in Advance Healthcare Directive, Blog

Oliver was visiting his son in San Francisco when he had a seizure. He was hospitalized at one of the area’s premier medical institutions where he underwent testing and treatment. Oliver had had a stroke several years before, so as a precaution, he always carried his medical records when he...

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24 Mar Living–and Thriving–with Alzheimer’s

Posted at 21:03h in Blog, Senior Services and Hospice, Wills And Revocable Living Trusts

Laurie Scherrer, 55, a hardworking sales executive, found herself forgetting customers and unable to perform simple math calculations. She was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, which causes deterioration in behavior and ability to understand language. Ms. Scherrer gave herself some time to feel sorry for herself, then...

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25 Feb Baby Boomers, Age Discrimination and a New Court Ruling

Posted at 09:10h in Blog, Business and Finance, Wills And Revocable Living Trusts

Older workers who feel threatened by millennials in the workplace just received more bad news. A federal law barring age discrimination in employment applies only to those currently employed–not those new applicants who may be applying for a job. Seeking candidates with no more than seven years of experience The plaintiff...

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