So Baby Boomer: Life Tips

Blogging Boomers Carnival #69

Visit the Blogging Boomer Carnival #69 and discover what's new in the world of the Baby Boomer Generation at Contemporary Retirement!

Can't Sleep, Boomer?

Experts recommend trying nondrug means to combat insomnia--such as exercise, stress reduction and avoiding caffeine.  But if you must resort to pills, there are ways to minimize the risks:

Get into bed immediately.  Sleeping pills can work in 10 to 15 minutes.  Never take more than the maximum dose.  Never mix sleeping pills with alcohol.  And never take them if you are planning to drive.

U.S. sleep-aid prescriptions grew 10% last year, according to IMS Health, thanks in part to Lunesta and other sedative hypnotic drugs, like generic Ambien.  Now, an analysis of adverse-event reports filed with the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that some side effects of this generation of sleep medication may be nearly as problematic as the older generation, including Halcion, which was banned in some countries.

Doctors aren't certain what prompts some people to eat, walk, make phone calls or get behind the wheel in their sleep.  But some speculate that sleep drugs may act on brain circuits unevenly, leaving the parts that govern automatic behaviors running while shutting down the centers of judgment.  "It's like the parents are away and now the little kids can do whatever they want to," says P. Murali Doraiswamy, chief of biological psychiatry at Duke University Medical School.  "We still don't have a good handle on how common these events are--some people may be particularly vulnerable," he says.

As with most dreams, the events aren't stored in the brain's memory circuits, hence the amnesia.   

Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2008

Boomers' Nest Egg

The middle Baby Boomers is 52 or 53, with 13 to 15 years of work left.  Some get the fact that your lifestyle will be a heck of a lot better if your forgo some consumption in the next 10 to 15 years.  Many do not get it.

"A number of people are contacting me saying, 'I'm continuing to watch my money evaporate.  Should I stop contributing for now?'" says Gregory Ostrowski, a specialist in advising 401(k) participants on a flat-fee-basis.  "It's one of the most counterintuitive things in the world, but these are relatively the best times to contribute new money because you're taking advantage of a sale," says Mr. Ostrowski, who has helped several participants move into more conservative funds.

Jittery 401(k) investors are trying to plan the next move.  Just as the federal 2006 Pension Protection Act is pushing more employers to automatically enroll new workers, the subprime mortgage crisis is making many savers anxious and leaving others struggling to pay bills.  Some participants are dumping stocks for cash or decreasing 401(k) contributions from their paychecks.

As Blogging Boomers present a variety of the best information on The Baby Boomer Generation in their blogging carnivals, be sure to visit this week's Blogging Boomer Carnival #68 today!

Boomers benefit on new zero% tax rate

A "0" percent tax rate on long-term capital gains and most dividends is effective this year through 2010.

The basics on qualifying for the 0% rate: In 2008, a couple with ordinary taxable income of $65,000 or less, or a single filer with ordinary taxable income of $32,500 or less, falls in the 15% income-tax bracket and thus qualifies for tax-free capital gains and dividends. 

At first blush, those numbers would seem to exclude many boomer taxpayers.  But remember, the key is that those totals are for taxable ordinary income, which is the figure you arrive at after deductions and exemptions.

Consider a boomer couple with a spouse (the sole  wage earner) who makes $90,000 in 2008.  Let's say this individual makes contributions of $15,000 to a 401(k).  That lowers the couple's taxable income to $75,000.  And, let's say this couple takes the standard deduction of $10,900 on their tax return and personal exemptions of $3,500 each.  The deduction and exemptions (totaling $17,500) are subtracted from the $75,000 resulting in total taxable income of $57,100.

"This break was created to help the little guy, mostly middle-class people," says Alan Sumutka, a tax accountant and associate professor of accounting at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.  "But it can be significant for anyone," he says, especially retirees, who are particularly concerned about preserving wealth.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2008

Boomers Working Past Retirement Age

It is no secret that more Americans are working past retirement age.  And as economy pressures mount, the decision to remain in the workforce might be less about choice and more about necessity. 

Social Security

Without understanding where the financial time bombs lie, many older workers could find their Social Security payments reduced.  Those who retire and draw Social Security before 65 years old (or later, depending on your birth year) and then return to work face benefit reductions when taxable earnings top $13,560 a year.  Benefits are docked $1 for every $2 of income earned if you are under your full retirement age.  The only thing to do is abstain from drawing Social Security benefits until full retirement age.

Medicare Coverage

You are eligible for Medicare and over 65, but if you continue to work for an employer that offers medical insurance, Medicare coverage and supplements won't be available to you since your employer is required to insure you.

"This policy is a tremendous disincentive for companies to hire older workers, because they end up paying the full cost of medical bills," says Anna Rappaport, an actuary and retirement strategy consultant and senior fellow at the Conference Board. 

Continuation of retiree medical benefits that some companies offer could be lost if you go back to work, and you could end up losing this coverage when you retire for good.  That is why you need to investigate your company's retiree-benefits policy before you agree to come back to work.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 29,2008   

Blogging Boomers' Carnival #67

Visit the Blogging Boomer Carnival #67 and discover what's new in the world of the Baby Boomer Generation at Don't Gel Too Soon!

Executive Women's Dress Style

Boyfriend jackets are big: long and roomy, cut to look like they're on loan from a man.

Borrowing from the male wardrobe is hardly new--menswear fabrics like tweeds cross over into women's wear every few seasons.  But the prevalence of mannish jackets represents a real shift from the girly dresses.  Judging from fashion history, masculine styles often signal a moment when women are looking for clothes that assert authority.

In the past, gender-blending styles have emerged at points when women pushed for more power.  When women entered the workforce en masse in the 1970s, the masculine "power suit" became the uniform of choice for women trying to break into male-dominated professions.

"It's when women need to prove that they're equal that they don't dress in an overly feminine way," says Beth Dincuff Charleston, a professor and fashion historian at Parsons, the New School for Design in New York.  "The shoulder gets stronger, and the borrowing from menswear happens." 

Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2008

Big Bad Belly

Having a big belly is even more closely correlated with health problems than obesity in general.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School reported that in a study of 44,636 women, those with waists larger than 35 inches were 79% more likely to die prematurely than those with waists less than 27 inches, even if their weight was normal.

For men, the danger point seems to be 40 inches or more.  "These guys with small behinds but big 'beer guts' are at greater risk for health problems than men with higher Body Mass Index, but relatively less fat in the abdominal region," says Rudolph I. Leibel, co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

The recent report that having a pot belly in your 40s roughly triples your risk of dementia in later life is just the tip of an ominous iceberg.  The connection with dementia is not well-understood; it could be that belly fat is linked to high blood pressure and poor vascular function, which then leads to Alzheimer's disease; or it could be a more random association, like gray hair going hand in hand with heart disease.

Belly fat--the visceral kind that accumulates around internal organs--has been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke, heart disease, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and numerous cancers. 

Gut Check: The good news for both sexes is that visceral fat is often the first to go when someone loses weight in general.

Source: Health Journal, The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2008

Blogging Boomers' Midlife Carnival #65

BloggingBoomers enters a new era with our 65th weekly collection of the best blog posts relating to midlife living.  Why not visit the carnival and discover what's happening in the lives of Baby Boomers, like you?