Social Security / Retirement

How does the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) impact Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) elders?

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The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is the only job training program focused exclusively on helping older Americans return to the workforce. The program assists low-income unemployed adults aged 55 years and older by providing job training through temporary paid work experiences that can lead to unsubsidized employment. Older workers are critical to the American economy, making up 35 percent of the U.S. labor force by 2020. While employers view older workers favorably for their experience, knowledge, professionalism, work ethic, and loyalty, older Americans struggle to return to the workplace once they’ve.... Read More

             

The Painful Struggles of America’s Older Immigrants

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by Chris Farrell. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

America’s immigrant community is aging along with the rest of the population, and in many cases, with great financial difficulty.

Some 15 percent of adults 60 and over were foreign-born in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Older immigrants represent a larger proportion of the elderly in major gateway cities and states. For example, in New York City, they comprise 46 percent of older adults; in California, one in nearly three older residents is foreign-born. Late-life immigrants are contributing to rising ethnic populations in rural areas and small towns in the Midwest and South, such as in Minnesota and Georgia, according to.... Read More

             

Medicare Open Enrollment: Are You Ready to Pick A Plan?

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This post originally appeared on Medicare.gov.

It’s picking season—pumpkins, apples, Halloween candy… and a Medicare health or drug plan. Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15–December 7!

Picking a plan is an important and personal decision. Each person has a unique set of priorities. When you sit down to review your Medicare health and drug plan choices this year, keep track of the things you may want in a plan, and pick one that’s right for you.

Here are some things to keep in mind while you consider your choices:

Does the plan cover the services you need?

Future health care needs can be hard to predict, but changes happen. Make sure you understand what services and benefits you’re.... Read More

             

Aging with Purpose

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Elders, on average, are living longer now than ever before. While aging does bring new challenges, it also provides new opportunities. As another stage in the cycle of life, we look toward our Elder years with the understanding that while some doors will have closed, others are now open to us.

nicoa01For American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Elders, growing older has provided us with a lifetime of valuable experiences and lessons learned. Through struggles and successes, we have gained wisdom about many different subjects. Elders are looked to for this wisdom, for guidance, from the younger generations. It is both a privilege and.... Read More

             

Financial Decision Making Tips for Elders

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April is Financial Literacy Month, and we’re commemorating the occasion with a series of blog posts from DEC members about economic security and financial resources for our elders. Today’s blog post originally appeared on the NICOA blog.

by Christine Herman

Making good financial decisions isn’t easy. Despite the fact that we gain knowledge over the course of our lives, as Elders it actually becomes more difficult to make sound financial choices. As part of the aging process some may experience a decline in decision-making ability. Cognitive impairment and conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease can accelerate the decline of decision-making ability.

But it’s not just our ability to understand financial situations that makes it difficult. The world is increasingly.... Read More

             

Financial Literacy: Tips and Tricks for LGBT Elders

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April is Financial Literacy Month, and we’re commemorating the occasion with a series of blog posts from DEC members about economic security and financial resources for our elders. Today’s blog post originally appeared on the SAGE blog.

It’s critical for LGBT older adults to become more financially literate as they age. According to the SAGE report, Out and Visible: The Experiences and Attitudes of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Older Adults, Ages 45-75, nearly half of all LGBT older people fear they will outlive the money they save for retirement, as compared to a quarter of non-LGBT older people; 1 in 2 single LGBT older people believe they will have to work well beyond retirement age, as.... Read More

             

Latinos and Retirement: 6 Things Dallas Taught Me

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By Maria F. Mata. This post originally appeared on Medium.com.

Last summer, a group of colleagues and I went to Dallas to coordinate a series of activities for Latino older adults that included an open forum with seniors, local leaders, and representatives from private and government agencies that work on aging issues. Dallas welcomed us with warmness and kindness from residents, ample sunshine, and many stories that touched my soul.

Part of my research work was to collect data and testimonies to be included in a final report on the status of Hispanic older adults in Dallas, focusing on retirement security and other related topics. It is.... Read More

             

It’s Never Too Early To Start Retirement Planning…Is It?

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Sometimes I wonder if I’m being a bit too morbid, spending as much brainpower as I do thinking about end-of-life experiences. I’m not that old yet. People older than me who are smart and thoughtful about their lives are not thinking about post-retirement life yet. Actually, sometimes when I bring this up, friends will look at me like, “Vega. You’re 50. I think you’ll be working for maybe a year or two still.”

It’s not that I don’t know that I’ve got some employment time ahead of me. It’s that when I witness the stories of my elders, what keeps haunting me is premature death. And let’s be honest: every death is premature.

I think about my father-in-law, Raj: a.... Read More

             

Social Security at 80: Behind the Policy and Beyond the Politics

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One of the things I’ve found as I tell people that I work on aging policy, is that even though the issues are complex and the policies are never clear-cut, people connect to them in a very personal way. There’s almost always a reflection about someone’s own aging process, or a caregiving story about a loved one, but it invariably hits home in a particular way. My own family has not often understood the advocacy work I do, but when a family member approached me and, in her mix of English and Tagalog, thanked me for her Social Security, I knew it was personal for her on a number of levels: both as someone who came to the U.S. to.... Read More

             
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