crylam

The latest upward push of cyber assaults have come to be a top notch problem for all the influential corporations world wide. What is a cyber assault? It is an try and benefit manage to the pc and song the movements of an person or a collection with out their permission. This may be the brand new shape of weapon to combat towards a country. Why waste bullets and money when a country can be close down in only mins with the aid of aiming the energy grids, country wide banks and so on. This is referred to as cyber warfare. The Economist describes cyber-conflict because the 'fifth area of conflict and america Defense Department lately categorised any extreme cyber assault as an act of conflict.

This will be Betty's last year to endure the swampy water of the Healthcare Marketplace. Ever since 2011 she has had to put up with the same crap....misinformation, provider lists that are wrong, fewer choices. and higher prices.  In 16 months she will be Medicare-eligible....we can hardly wait. Like last year, there is one company in Arizona offering plans for the individual market through the marketplace. Predictably, prices went up 20%. That included a higher deductible, lower hospital cost coverage and a switch to a different hospital system. Whether her primary care doctor or any of the specialists she sees will be under contract for next year is impossible to know until sometime in January, or too late to do anything about it.  We do qualify for a monthly subsidy from the government that keeps the total affordable, even with the large monthly bump in price. But, this turmoil every year is taking its toll on my wife. With lawmakers in Washington unable to either kill...

I have been lucky. Throughout my life I have had few health problems. I went to a doctor for checkups and an occasional medical bump in the road. Even spending 150 days  each year in airplanes and hotels rarely resulted in more than a cold or occasional case of food poisoning. Things started to change about three or four years ago. Slowly, I began to notice strange pains, OK , strange to me. Some of my fingers seemed a bit stiff when I first woke up. A twinge in my lower back wouldn't go away after a hot shower. I had some shortness of breath after a bit of yard work. Two summers ago things got a little more serious during a trip to Portland: I ended up in the hospital for a few days with a cardiac episode. It wasn't a heart attack, but a small vein was blocked, resulting in pain and a small area of dead heart muscle. Scary for me, my wife, family, and friends, but eventually under control. A year later, sharp pains in my lower left side wouldn't respond to my normal treatm...

When I retire do I need insurance is a  question that I am asked with some regularity.  Well, that should be simple.  You have retired. Your need for anything other than Medicare, auto, home or other health insurance is over, right? Not so fast.  There are at least five different insurance products that may be important to your retirement financial planning. Let's take a look at each one: Medicare Supplemental Insurance Medicare is a tremendous health insurance program for those 65 and older.  It is a blessing after years of dealing with the complicated mess that is the American health insurance system. Even so, you must be aware that Medicare does not cover some important expenses. The Original version usually covers only 80% of your expenses. While that seems quite generous, an expensive hospital stay or operation could means you are responsible for thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars in costs. Medicare does not pay for most drugs. I...

Almost six and a half years ago I wrote a post about how we exhibit  love when we care for our parents as they age. Just last week I re-read that post and felt a twinge: I still had both of my parents when it was written.  I wanted to share this with you again since this is something virtually all of us must deal with at some point. I haven't changed the original text which was written while both were still alive. For many of us, One of the toughest things we face is dealing with our parents as they age. Watching someone you love decline is not pleasant. My mom and dad are struggling so I am learning as I go. Since they live in town that makes my wife and me the primary caregivers, though my brothers do what they can by long distance. Almost 4 years ago, my parents had the foresight to move into a retirement community. It offers independent and assisted living options as well as a nursing care center. They wanted to avoid the situation where one or both became unable to c...

The following is a guest post Social Security might be seared into your mind as an iconic symbol of American retirement. That’s for good reason, with 43 million people counted in 2015 as receiving $56 billion in retirement benefits. But people over 50 should also realize there’s another side to Social Security. It’s a major support program for people whose disabilities leave them unable to work.  Another 11 million workers with disabilities and their dependents collect more than $11 billion in Social Security Disability benefits.  And the Social Security Administration (SSA) predicts that your odds of needing the program will increase as you age.  Among people who are 20 years old today, the SSA estimates more than a quarter of them will develop disabilities before age 67. Applying for Social Security Disability (SSD) is a complex process, but it’s another element you might need to understand as part of your retirement planning. Understanding Social Security Disability Fi...

On Web sites FAQs are  Frequently Asked Questions . They are the inquires that occur often enough to be predictable. The questions are followed by short, to-the-point answers that sometimes actually answers the questions. Here are my responses to the most common  satisfying retirement FAQ over the past 6+ years. Each also has a link to a post that deals with that subject in more detail: 1) How much money do I need to retire?  Enough to live comfortably and handle most emergencies. You will probably end up needing more than you think. If you live in Scottsdale, La Jolla, or West Palm Beach, a lot more. Don't believe all the "rules" about how much you have to save or how little you can withdraw each year and not risk running out of money. Life is a constant adjustment to situations. No one can predict what the future will be like or how you will want to live. Stay flexible. But, I will say that the oft-used $1 million figure isn't necessary.  ...

No, it is not the massive increase in ACA premiums for those who must buy on the individual market. Nor is it the similar increase in deductibles and copays for the health insurance that the 80% of us who get coverage through our jobs must face.  No, it is not the consolidation of the industry, where a handful of companies control our options. Nor, is it the immoral increases in life-saving drug costs. No, it is not the inability of our political "leaders" to arrive at a solution that works for those in need. Heavens, they refuse to even talk with each other, preferring threats and slurs instead. Nor  is it the slow acceptance by most of us that our health is primarily dependent on choices we make in diet, exercise, and lifestyle.  The Number One problem with our health care future is.....uncertainty. Retirement is a period in our lives when we welcome many changes, new opportunities, new directions, a new sense of the possible. We take back control of the clock...

I received the following press release about caregivers and those who are cared for.  I found the results both encouraging and distressing. I' welcome your reaction. SAN FRANCISCO – October 31, 2016 – As part of November’s National Family Caregivers Month, Honor™ ( www.joinhonor.com ), the fast-growing tech-powered home care company, surveyed ove3r 1,000 men and women ages 18 and older across the U.S. and found a surprising discrepancy in opinions and perspectives related to caring for aging loved ones. The 2016 Honor Family Caregiving Survey revealed that age and experience have a strong impact on attitudes. In particular, a larger number of Americans within the consumer sampling who hadn’t yet been exposed to the caregiving process or personally tasked with the related responsibilities viewed caring for an older loved one as a “burden.”  This same group also expressed far greater concern over the financial impact of providing care. Ironically, those who were already deep i...

One of my brothers is fast approaching decision time about Social Security and Medicare. While visiting him during our just-concluded RV trip, he asked if I would give him an overview of what his choices are. Not only was I glad to do so, but his questions seemed like an excellent topic for this blog. The questions are paraphrases of his concerns: Question 1: " I want to wait until I am 70 to start receiving monthly Social Security checks. Do I have to notify anyone when I reach my full retirement age?"  Answer: You are allowed to sign up for Social Security three months before  you want to start your benefits. Your first check (actually a direct deposit to your bank account) will not arrive until the fourth month, but that is how the system works. This timing applies whether you want to start at the earliest age of 62, full retirement age (66 for most of us), or any time after that. The size of your monthly check depends not only on earning credits built up during y...

For many of us, a satisfying retirement follows a pattern that seems almost preordained. We work for several decades. We live a "normal" life, spending more than we should at times, but careful to set aside money for the future. We try to control our human urge for instant gratification and do our best to live within a budget. Eventually, we leave the world of work and begin to experience the freedom of this new phase of our life. Social Security starts. Medicare eases many of our worries about health expenses. We travel some, spend more time with family, satisfy our creative urges, volunteer in a way that gives back some of our blessings, and often see growth in our spiritual life. In short, our retirement is what we hoped for. Unfortunately, not everyone lives this picture. A post a month or so ago dealt with grandparents becoming parents. That topic generated some excellent comments. Most of us expect that the daily parenting part of our life is over as we approach re...

......The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Now, before you shoot daggers at me, I will add that the system we had before Obamacare was a dismal failure, too. Sick people were denied coverage. Life-saving tests were unaffordable for many. Insurance companies could decide a treatment was not warranted and people would die. Those without employer-provided policies who didn't have any dreaded "pre-existing conditions"  faced back-breaking premiums, deductibles, and limitations. Bankruptcies happened. So, where are we? The unfettered for-profit system prior to 2010 was a train wreck. The ACA is headed to a future where premiums are too expensive to pay because competition has disappeared. Health care companies have figured out they are better off walking away from customers if they are too sick. The fines for not have health coverage are so low that many younger people are better off paying the penalty rather tha...

Being single and retired brings some special issues that face folks attempting to navigate a  satisfying retirement  journey. As someone who has been married for 40 years I barely remember what it was like to be single, so I can only pass along some general thoughts gleaned from Internet research and life experiences. But, I am sure there is helpful insight and feedback from readers who are in this position. So, I will be asking for your participation in the comments section. For purposes of this post, I am defining a single person as someone who is living alone and has never been married, or if divorced or widowed, did not receive enough financial support to eliminate most worries. That all goes to say the single person is on his or her own to make retirement work. Single Person Disadvantages Research shows that a single retired person tends to save less for retirement than a married couple. That makes common sense. With the majority of marr...

This is a guest post from Kendal Perez that first ran four years ago. The information remains relevant and helpful as our retirement planning must include our beloved pets. Please add fresh comments to the end of the post if this helps you. According to a recent article in USA Today, Americans spent over $50 billion on their pets last year, up from $10.1 billion just four years earlier. That's a lot of money for Max or Fluffy, but still nothing compared to the unconditional love they shell out for you every day. As the proud owner of two Labrador-Australian Shepard mixes, I'm no stranger to the rising cost of pet care. In addition to frequent exercise and annual check-ups, my husband and I save hundreds of dollars on pet care by adopting the following savvy strategies. 1. Create an Emergency Fund There are at least nine reasons for an emergency fund, according to Kiplinger, including the ability to offset a costly vet bill should your beloved animal need expensive treatmen...