So Baby Boomer: Life Tips

Greenspan on Baby Boomers

Dr. Alan Greenspan – U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman (1997-2006) – encourages Baby Boomers around the world to take more responsibility to prepare for their retirement.

“We have to recognize that what we’re going through is unique in world history,” said Dr. Greenspan. “Retirement is a relatively new phenomenon. As a society we’ve dealt with it successfully in the past few decades but we’ve never had such a huge group of individuals going into the system at once and then living so long in their retirement years.”

Greenspan said the government will find it increasingly difficult to keep all the financial promises it has made through Social Security, Medicare and other programs in coming years. He added that the longer we collectively wait to deal with these key issues, the more difficult they will become to address.

Greenspan added that, as life expectancy continues to increase, Baby Boomers will likely look for additional ways to remove the financial uncertainties that will come from a longer retirement by analyzing their lifestyle, determining the resources at their disposal, and ultimately making decisions to best prepare for their future.

Source: Business Wire, April 24, 2007

Be sure to visit the Blogging Boomers Carnival #20 this week.

Giving Men More Life

At every stage of life, a man is at far higher risk for getting sick and dying than a woman.

The average life expectancy of a man is 75 years which is more than five years shorter than that of a woman.  On average, men at any age are 40% more likely to die than women.  And when diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension are diagnosed in men, they tend to be at a far later stage in the disease process, after extensive damage has already been done.

One survey found that three times as many men as women hadn't seen a doctor in the past year.  And one out of four men says he "waits as long as possible" before seeking help for a health problem, according to Harvard Men's Health Watch.

Men on their own can take a few simple steps to boost their health.  Doctors say that by focusing on a few key areas--blood pressure, cholesterol, waist size and sexual function--a man can make dramatic improvements in his overall health.  One recent study in the medical journal JAMA found that preventing weight gain and alcohol abuse in midlife were two major factors in determining whether a man lived and stayed healthy until the age of 85.

Doctors say men have the most power to improve the state of their health with just a few simple steps.  First, be aware of your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, and take active steps to lower both if they reach an unhealthy range.  Next, men need to be aware of their waist circumference.  Abdominal fat has long been a risk factor for heart disease.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2007

The Appointment is a brief video illustrating the importance of doctor-patient communication.

Giving Women a Lust for Life

Testosterone patches can do for women what Viagra does for men - only better.

Testosterone may be inextricably linked to masculinity, but in fact women have 10 times more of the hormone than estrogen. A testosterone patch promises to restore the sex drives of women with low libido, a decade after Viagra was made available for the male population.

The female testosterone patch Intrinsa is the first treatment for women with low libido to be available on prescription.  Where Viagra increases blood flow to the sex organs, Intrinsa is more subtle: by releasing a low, measured dose of testosterone into the bloodstream it stimulates thoughts about sex and increases a woman's energy levels.  In short, it makes her feel sexy.

Up until now, the only female libido treatment available was a testosterone implant, and these were only given to women who had had their ovaries removed. The treatment had its drawbacks - dosage problems meant some patients experienced excess hair growth and acne.  But Intrinsa's low-level hormone release represents a breakthrough that could, in theory, be prescribed to boost the sex drive of any post-menopausal woman.

Some doctors are concerned that Intrinsa could be seen as a lifestyle drug. But consultant gynecologist Professor John Studd believes it could have a wider use among women with sexual problems.  He claims that hormone treatments can be much more effective - and cheaper - than lengthy psychosexual counselling and therapy sessions.

"Libido is not just due to hormones," he says. "I always say it's a mixture of heart, head and hormones. We can help the primary cause of a poor relationship by increasing energy levels, and I know patients who have never had orgasms in their lives who suddenly begin to have them regularly. There may be young women who for some reason do not have adequate libido or sexual response.  Now, this can be corrected. [Intrinsa] does work, it is safe and easy to administer and I have no doubt it will be used by good doctors off-license."

Source: Independent News and Media Limited, April 17, 2007

Check out the Blogging Boomers Carnival #19 today!

Classic Boomer Wheels

Boomers continue to love the cars they grew up with and drove in their teens.

The 1956 Chevy Nomad station wagon had mighty fine lines for a family car.  Click here for Boomer Jay Leno's take on this classic automobile.

With kids out of the house, tuitions paid, weekends free of family obligations.  Boomer men and women start thinking about freedom ... about the open road ... about a new car or an old one that's cool.  The aging Baby Boomer generation is ready to plunge deeper into their hobbies.  At Barrett-Jackson classic car auction in Arizona, the growing interest in owning wheels from the Baby Boom Golden Age of the 1960s and '70s brought some astonishing sales.  Imagine paying $36,850 for a 1972 Plymouth 'Cuda, $58,300 for a 1971 Ford Mustang -- or $880,000 for a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Donald and Terry Lundberg's dogs might never set a paw in the couple's brand-new old car: a completely restored 1971 Buick Skylark GS.  The year this vehicle took to the road, Phyllis George reigned as Miss America, Rod Stewart sang "Maggie May," and Don Lundberg turned 13.

Now awaiting the birth of their first grandchild, the Lundbergs, of Pasadena, Md., have given themselves a $29,990 birthday-anniversary-birthday gift: a classic muscle car for special jaunts, for displaying at car shows and for dazzling today's lackluster world of Sunday drivers.

Today, the median age of passenger cars, excluding light trucks, has moved up over the past decade to 8.9 years from about 7.5 years in 1994.  This suggests a lot of Boomers put a high value on classic styling that lasts.  Personally, I am way above average in owning two 1989 Merkur Scorpio's (they were only imported to the U.S. in 1988 and 1989 by Ford who makes them in Germany).  The winter-driven Scorpio has 170,000 miles and the in-better-body-condition summer Scorpio has 130,000 miles.  Since I drove a 1988 model Scorpio for over 235,000 miles before transitioning it to a "parts car," these automobiles have plenty of life left in them.

Sources: The Detroit News, March 10, 2007 and JayLenosGarage.com

Blogging Boomer Carnival #17

They're here!

This week, Cafe Glam hosts our fellow bloggers at The Blogging Boomer's Carnival # 17.

Click here for a rundown of this week's top posts from some of the net's best Boomer Blogs!

Boomers facing job discrimination

A lawsuit by three older Circuit City employees, alleging the retailer violated California age-discrimination laws by laying them off because they were earning too much, is part of a surge in age-bias complaints from Baby Boomers.

The lawsuit also reflects employers’ contrasting attitudes toward older workers, experts say. Diana Scott, a Santa Monica lawyer who represents employers, said she has seen a 50 percent increase in age-bias cases during the past three years.

Plaintiffs Daniel Weidler, 57, Michael Yezback, 59, and Eloise Garcia, 66, all from Circuit City’s Oxnard store, were laid off among 3,400 workers nationally.  Those employees were earning “well above the market-based salary range for their role,” according to a company statement, and will be replaced with lower-paid new hires.  Valued for their skills and abilities to connect with customers, these more-experienced employees tend to earn more than younger, less-seasoned workers.

Some employers are going out of their way to retain these veteran workers. “These characteristics translate quite directly into important business outcomes,” said Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, director of the Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. And “there’s a little bit of a bellwether of change in that employers are taking a second look at older workers.”

Other employers, such as Circuit City, are letting them go to cut costs — prompting lawsuits from employees contending they are being picked on because of their age.  Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents the workers and is seeking class-action status for the case, said Circuit City’s decision had an “adverse impact on older employees.”  That, she said, opens the way to the age-bias claim under California law. Allred said she doesn’t know how many of the 621 laidoff California workers are 40 or older.

For the complete story from The Gazette in Colorado Springs, CO, go to: http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20974&template=article.html 

Leaping into our Second Life

Life as Sara Davidson thought she was living it has disappeared.

Her lucrative jobs in television have dried up, because she's no longer perceived as young and edgy.  A cowboy she fondly labeled as the love of her life left her without notice.  Her teenage daughter takes deep offense at everything she says.  She applies for a job teaching writing at a university, and nobody's ever heard of her.  She bitterly complains about all this to a friend who replies: "Oh, honey, you've got money problems and no sex.  That's not good."

On impulse, Davidson decides to move from Los Angeles to Boulder, CO, where she strives to put together a new life.  And she begins to write, Leap!, an amusing and truthful story framed as a personal journey.  A personal journey that many Baby Boomers follow while attempting to answer the question, "What will we do with the rest of our life?"....now that the kids are out of the house, our original spouses have either died or wandered off somewhere, and our careers have come to a grinding halt.

Source: Review by Carolyn See in Washington Post Book World, March 2007

Super Girl in Trouble

Supergirl or Boomer Girl, as we in the Boomersphere refer to her, is in trouble and only the experience of visiting the Blogging Boomer Carnival #16 can save her....

An estimated 78.2 million Baby Boomers populate the U.S. today, and more than half are women.  27.7% of the total population is made up of Boomer women with a combined spending power of $2.2 trillion a year.

Our fearless heroine battles mood swings, dishonest car mechanics, hot flashes and boomerang children in a single bound, fighting the good fight when it really counts.  A natural chameleon, Boomer Girl conceals her identity to ward off the evil forces in her world.

Source: Boomer Girl, Fighting Midlife, one crisis at a time.  www.BoomerGirl.com