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Beginning with the next issue of Senior Voice, I will contribute a monthly article on veteran health care in Alaska. As a current consumer of VA, Medicare and Tricare, I am in a unique position to report from the ground on the quality of care afforded our senior veterans. Over the course of this year, I will highlight new services, funding (or the lack of) and the delivery of long-earned veteran health care benefits in the hopes of empowering this large and deserving segment of our Alaskan senior family so they may enjoy the health care they...
Advocacy efforts for AARP state offices cover national, state, and local issues in accordance with AARP’s established policy guidelines. While the national office sets priorities for all state offices, each state also has flexibility to define priorities for local issues. Advocacy also goes beyond policy and lawmaking to include development of community coalitions, organized for specific purposes and shared goals. Most significantly, AARP Alaska advocates with the voices of its more than 90,000 members in the state. National priorities S...
Well, we made it through another chaotic year and I wish you all a new and happier year to come. There is some good news to report, although it is not earth-shaking. Social Security is giving all its beneficiaries a 1.5 percent COLA (cost of living adjustment) increase for 2014. And the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax will be increased to $117,000, up from last year’s $113,000. Just as a note to myself, if there was no limit on the amount of earnings that could b...
When an aging parent begins to fail, adult children often must step in to make arrangements for care. The opportunities for family conflict are enormous. Old rivalries between siblings are re-ignited. Disagreements about financial and practical matters flare up. Resentments boil over and before you know it, the adult children are hurling insults at one another in the assisted living or nursing home. I wish I could say this was uncommon, but ombudsmen regularly receive calls from home...
Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) is offering free Landlord/Tenant legal clinics in Anchorage on the first Thursday of every month from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fairview Rec Center, 1121 E. 10th Avenue. There is no fee or pre-registration required, and anyone having a problem with their rental property, landlord, or tenant may attend. The next Landlord/Tenant legal clinics are Jan. 2 and Feb. 6. A local volunteer attorney will facilitate these clinics and will also answer general questions from attendees about their particular situations. Both...
Many hardy gunslingers and prospectors who made Tombstone a household word in the late 1800s, landed in Alaska and the Yukon after the demise of the Arizona city. One of the most famous was Wyatt Earp. Earp arrived in the north during the height of the Alaska gold rush in Nome. But he didn't go there to mine for gold. He'd fled Arizona under indictment for murder after the notorious massacre of the Clantons at the OK Corral and the shooting of Frank Stillwell. A letter found in the basement of...
"Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson." When NASA honored June Lockhart last October, it would have been quite fitting to borrow the above lyrics from a popular Simon and Garfunkel song to salute the 88 year old actress. Best remembered by sci-fi fans for her role of TV space mom Maureen Robinson in the 60s series "Lost in Space," June told me recently that the NASA recognition was a highlight of her long career, which includes a Tony Award, an Emmy nomination and a couple of stars on the Hollywood...
If your money situation is a mess or, worse, you don’t know your money situation, here are some bad habits to break and some baby steps to get started. Head in the sand. Do you know where your finances stand? You don’t have to be a financial wizard, make charts and graphs, or read the Wall Street Journal every morning. But you do need to know your balances. If you have been ignoring your finances, bite the bullet and take a look. Then check your bank accounts every single day. Whether you look online or call the automated bank teller, you nee...
People who are self-confident, who have power or status, tend to use the word “I” more frequently than those with less power or less sure of themselves. Right? Wrong. A study done at University of Texas at Austin found that people who often say “I” tend to be less powerful or sure of themselves than those who refrain from using “I.” James W. Pennebaker, chairman of the Psychology Department at the university, and his colleagues, have pioneered research on the vertical pronoun and its manifestations and uses. Your use of “I” says more about...
Dear Jonathan: What is the annual gift tax exclusion amount for 2013? Jonathan Says: The annual gift tax exclusion amount, which is the amount a person can give to another without incurring a gift tax, is $14,000 for 2013. Dear Jonathan: What is the federal estate tax unified credit exclusion amount for 2013? Jonathan Says: The federal estate tax unified credit exclusion amount, which is the amount of a person’s estate which is exempt from federal estate taxes, is $5,250,000 for 2013. Dear Jonathan: I am in the fortunate position of having a r...
Felix Pedro joined the Klondike rush in 1898 from the Carbonado coalmines in Washington state. But his lucky number failed to come up, so he and Frank Costa, another Italian prospector, wandered over into the valley of the Tanana to prospect its streams and creeks. Deviled by mosquitoes, and forced at times to eat some of their dogs, they traveled through the wooded valleys, climbed the rugged hills and faced moose and grizzly bears. In July 1902, Pedro struck gold on a small stream just 24...
It's been called one of the most influential programs in the history of television drama. "The Twilight Zone," an anthology series that aired in the early 1960s, was created by Rod Serling (1924-1975), a veteran of radio and World War II. Both influenced his career as a writer. "When he returned from war in the Philippines, he went to college and wrote for the campus radio station," daughter Anne Serling recently recalled to me. "He later wrote plays for commercial radio, then television. He sai...
Dear Jonathan: Several years ago I purchased a 20-year term life insurance policy on my life with a death benefit of $3 million. The premiums were reasonable and since my wife and I had saved very little for retirement, I wanted to make sure that she was taken care of if I died first. Unfortunately, my wife passed away last year. Rather than let the policy lapse, I thought I would keep it in place for my children. I recently read an article, however, that said life insurance is taxable when the insured on the policy dies. What does this mean?...
Q. How can I upload a video from my iPhone or iPad to YouTube? Do I have to save it to my computer first and if so, in what format? A. If you create a video using your iPhone or iPad, you do not need to save it to a computer in order to place it on YouTube. Simply tap the Send button (the square with a little arrow), then tap the YouTube option. Q. Sometimes I long for the days of the floppy disc because they had labels on which I could write the disk’s contents. These days I use several USB flash drives which are too small to write anything o...
We seniors are natural scam targets and very susceptible to fraud. As we get older we are less likely to consider the downside of the financial risks – we are more apt to look at the upside. We are less critical in our decision making, which makes us vulnerable. The scammers are perceived as trustworthy helpers. They may be a family member, financial advisor or another senior. The National Council on Aging, AARP and OPAG suggest you watch out for the following scams: Prescription drug scams. Seniors often take a myriad of prescription medicatio...
Another fall arrives and with it comes proposed regulations from the State of Alaska that will again put at risk our seniors and residents with disabilities across Alaska. We could spend our time getting upset and angry over this same old situation again, but we will instead mount up and fight for those that are not able to fight for themselves. They have spent their energy building and maintaining this wonderful state over the years, and are therefore tired and in need of care themselves. If the purpose of the new regulations is to get people...
I bring you some details about the Medicare Part D drug program for 2014. Enrollment started October 15th and will continue until Dec. 7, 2014. The lowest premium is $12.50 per month but there is a deductible of $310 with that plan, which you must pay before the insurance kicks in. There are 25 different plans with the prices for the monthly premium running from the aforementioned $12.50 up to $136. You can see a chart of the Alaska Medicare Part D plans for 2014 on page 10 of the November...
Mount Saint Elias, the first point sighted by white man on the mainland of Alaska in 1741, has proved a mighty challenge to mountaineers. The second highest peak in the United States, behind Mount McKinley, and the fourth highest peak in North America, it is 18,008 feet high. Situated on the Yukon and Alaska border, only a handful of climbers have conquered it in the 261 years since Vitus Bering discovered and named it. The mountain's name in Tlingit is Yaas'éit'aa Shaa, which means "mountain...
Half a century ago, the country was embroiled in civil rights conflicts, a war in Asia and mourning the loss of a president. When released in the midst of this social turmoil in 1963, Stanley Kubrick's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," must have seemed appropriately titled. In reality, the film was an epic comedy featuring one of the greatest casts of comedians ever assembled on film. "There was a pall on the whole country and not a lot to laugh about," recalled Marvin Kaplan, who appeared in...
Dear Jonathan: My parents are coming out to visit me next month. One of the reasons for the visit is to prepare durable power of attorneys for financial and health care matters because they want me to act on their behalf in the event they are unable to act for each other. I have no problem being named as their agent, but shouldn’t those documents be drafted by a lawyer in the state where they live? Jonathan Says: Yes, you are absolutely correct. Every state has its own laws regarding durable power of attorneys for financial and health care m...
Q. I have approximately 100 pictures from a recent vacation that I’d like to send to others. Any suggestions for a program I should use for this? A. “Sending” photos to me means transmitting them, in which case it would be via email. One word of caution, if I may: Unless you know your intended recipients very well, that’s a lot of photos to inflict upon anybody. In photographic circles, 100 vacation photos equal 400 non-vacation photos to anybody who did not accompany you on the trip. It’s been my experience that the level of viewer interest...
“Mom? Hey, Mom? Watch me!” We three little girls implored her to pay attention. She distractedly glanced at us, as we pumped high on the backyard swing or pedaled madly on our trikes. “Mom? Hey, Mom?” as Mom multi-tasked frying bacon and vacuuming and talking on the phone with a friend (and did none of it well). Joanie at 35 had a full-blown case of ADHD, and had probably been suffering since her teens. She was the high schooler who got sun poisoning because she never kept track of the hours s...
John Clum, the colorful editor of the widely known “Tombstone Epitaph,” made his mark on Alaska in the late 1890s. He was appointed post office inspector for the territory in March 1898. He and his son, Woodworth, traveled 8,000 miles around Alaska and the Yukon setting up new post offices and equipping others. It was no job for a weakling – one of his inspection trips was made on “foot and in a snowstorm” to Chilkat, and a second trip, according to his diary, was via reindeer and “lap” sle...
If ever an actor was recognized by one career role, it was Donna Douglas with her portrayal of ‘Elly May’ in the highly popular CBS 60s comedy, “The Beverly Hillbillies.” In the four decades since the series ended its nine season run in 1971, the drop-dead gorgeous blonde native of Pride, La., is still strongly identified with the show wherever she goes. Rather than distancing herself from the connection to Jed, Granny, Jethro and the Clampett clan, Donna has embraced her sitcom heritag...
