Posts

Showing posts from August, 2011

Baby Boomer retirement is in constant change

http://boomersberg.com/baby-boomer-retirement-planning-is-in-constant-change/ Also I have added a newspaper compilation to boomersberg.com of who I follow on Twitter "The Snarky Boomer Express".  Look for a page in menu of Boomer helpful links. These are sites on the net that address baby boomer interests. Adding more as I come across good ones.  Trying to make it easier to navigate through the blog posts by having similar post links after each new post. If you use Firefox, IE, Safari (not Chrome) you are able to highlight words or phrases that will search the net for more info in a pop up window while you stay on the blog.  Helps you to learn more. Say you want to know more about Betty Friedan, you highlight her name and information about her will come up.  Also have a contact me form now up in menu. Thanks for following my blog and just because I went to my own domain, you know you are just as welcome on boomersberg as here (really more so) as I make my investment of ti

I am a baby boomer anomaly, are you?

I'm a Baby Boomer anomaly, are you?    posted on boomersberg.com and daily quotes.

Baby Boomers depressed, overweight combo, can I super-size that?

  This article is posted on the boomersberg.com   blog and all future posts will have a link to it.  http://boomersberg.com/baby-boomers-depressed-overweight-combo-can-i-super-size-that/ Please follow me there as I am adding more as fast as the brain will allow.  Everyday is a learning curve as I try to do this solo and learn from articles and postings on the internet. My relationship with my blog: It’s complicated .

Maxine–my alter ego

Image
I must have my daily dose of Maxine.  I have found her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/maxine When I really want to express my snarky side I get a card that has Maxine on it.   She brings it home with humor, spread with quick wit, between two slices of truth. Her real home is here at Hallmark http://www.hallmark.com/online/maxine/animation/ Drop by and see her on facebook, she really enjoys hearing from her fans.  She is certainly good for a laugh or a smile. Another day floating on my iceberg.  See you in cyber space friends.

Betty Friedan Vs. Warren Jeffs

Image
Betty Friedan, Legacy -In 1966, Friedan founded and was elected the first president of the National Organization for Women, which aimed to bring women "into the mainstream of American society now [in] fully equal partnership with men ". Warren Jeffs, Legacy In 2003, author Jon Krakauer published Under the Banner of Heaven , a nonfiction book that explores some of the history of both the LDS church and its spin-off sects, focusing largely on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The book describes illegal activity in the (Fundamentalist) Church, mainly polygyny, statutory rape, murder, and rape. Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer is a personal account of the deterioration of human rights (especially women's and children's rights) and institutionalized abuse in the FLDS organization under Warren Jeffs' leadership. Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer is an autobiography about a girl inside the F

Boomer Bashing, why not?

Image
In a previous blog post Will boomers ever admit their to blame .  Today I picked up this off the net   Showing no empathy Quote from the article: The lack of empathy for others confirms what psychologists have reported about the implications of baby boomers treating their kids like royalty, raising them to think about themselves and their success above anything else. In The Narcissism Epidemic . Baby boomers have destroyed every cultural institution in America they have touched: marriage, family, public education, government, financial markets, healthcare, and more, say some critics, whose views may be supported by a Personality and Social Psychology Review study.  Read more: Baby Boomers lack empathy, ability to care . When I first saw the title of the blog article above, Baby Boomers lack empathy , ability to care, of course I was curious as to what it had to say.  Then as I am reading the article it goes on about how we (boomers) have created all the current social ills in o

Word for the day - proactive

Image
Korean baby boomer delima   This was enlightening for me on at least two fronts. 1. We are not the only country with “Boomer Problems” near retirement and 2. as quoted from the article “The ministry this year launched a pilot program that offers “civic engagement jobs” such as managers or advisors at welfare facilities and mentors for young students to former salaried workers.” It is a Korean problem and they are taking steps to address it, it is called being proactive .  I commented earlier today on another blog about our current countries financial woes that the focus needs to be on education and training.  Those on any subsidized program should be enrolled in SOME KIND OF EDUCATIONAL, TRAINING/RETRAINING PROGRAM .  If you get money from anything other than a job it should be mandatory that you are taking some classes or retraining program.  Those hiring, need incentives to take a person in for mentoring or job skill training.  Only the most severely physically and mentally challen

Discouraged workers- not in the unemployment stats

USA today discouraged workers Quote from article: It's a product of something the government calls "discouraged workers," or those who were unemployed but not out looking for work during the reporting period.  Word for the Day-Week- Month- Next two years - Discouraged- Merriam Webster online definition- : to deprive of courage or confidence : dishearten <was discouraged by repeated failure> Another dirty little secret that is a part of the jobless stats is ageism.  As the numbers continue to stay high, those that are hiring, get to pick from the best of the best.  Like grading a young bull, the owner looks at the characteristics of the bull to determine whether he will remain a bull (get the job) or become a steer (stay unemployed). For those of us not blessed with the “optimism gene”, the current daily dose of bad news makes for extra effort to smile and put one foot in front of the other. I take extra b12 just so I will have energy enough to think positive

Boomer Health Issues- Scary Future

Image
But a person's health, attitude, genetics and situation can make a big difference. "You can't assume everyone's average," says Fronstin. "Because they're not." Carolyn McClanahan, who is both a Certified Financial Planner and a medical doctor, agrees. Regular exercise, a good diet and healthy habits not only can prevent, but reverse a host of health problems. And that gives consumers a financial advantage, too. McClanahan tells her clients, "The best way to take care of your health care costs is to take care of your health." Read more: Health care a huge retirement factor A healthy couple at age 65 in 2018 will need $511,000 for health care. And you thought the National Debt was bad. The best way to control health care costs is to take care of your health. One-third of people will need some type of long-term care. Where is my alert button?  Can’t remember where I put it. For some, those health care bills (and rising co

Boomer Health Issues- Scary Future

Image
But a person's health, attitude, genetics and situation can make a big difference. "You can't assume everyone's average," says Fronstin. "Because they're not." Carolyn McClanahan, who is both a Certified Financial Planner and a medical doctor, agrees. Regular exercise, a good diet and healthy habits not only can prevent, but reverse a host of health problems. And that gives consumers a financial advantage, too. McClanahan tells her clients, "The best way to take care of your health care costs is to take care of your health." Read more: Health care a huge retirement factor A healthy couple at age 65 in 2018 will need $511,000 for health care. And you thought the National Debt was bad. The best way to control health care costs is to take care of your health. One-third of people will need some type of long-term care. Where is my alert button?  Can’t remember where I put it. For some, those health care bills (and rising co

Hasn’t changed in 27 years

Copyright 1984- excerpt from a book “This is the Age in which nobody believes anybody, in which claims of superiority are challenged just because they’re claims, in which consumers express surprise when something they buy actually performs the way it was advertised to perform. What has changed for the worse, is that customer support now is non- existent.  Throw a product out there and give them an automated menu for help press “go to H!!”. I keep a lot of my books, I have had to purge over the years, but do so very reluctantly. I was looking at the afore mentioned book yesterday and the information seemed just as relevant to current trends as it did in 1984.  If anything, the degree of skepticism has continued to increase, just like the temps for the Mid-West this summer.  I think about these things and reflect back and then look at current attitudes. I ponder how or why we continue toward a total distrust of everyone, each other and even your own self.  You cannot even trust you

OMG- who the heck is that?!!!

Image
Boomer reaction after passing by the full length mirror coming out of the shower.  Space aliens have landed and taken over my body!!  As a boomer, having memories is great.  We get to reminisce about the good old days. Unfortunately, I can remember (only yesterday wasn’t it?) when I was slim, trim, toned and everything in its place.  I used to fight with a pimple, a little cellulite on the thigh or the thought of my boobs being too small.  Now, the thoughts are more about, where did that age spot come from overnight (age spots take the place of pimples), the extra roll on the midriff (used to have a stomach so flat and tight you could bounce a quarter off it)  don’t try that now or you will lose the quarter.  I stopped worrying about the thighs and watch in horror as my stomach (that I never had before continues to inch forward).  The boobs thing, I just try to collect them and corral them into my wonder bra. I know, not every boomer will appreciate the honest humor, but fighting g

Intelligence Lost: The Boomers Are Exiting

Intelligence Lost: The Boomers Are Exiting - BusinessWeek . The author goes on to give eight steps to ensure that boomer retirement doesn't leave a knowledge vacuum On the top of my resume' was a quote "Experience that works".  Alas, living in a small town and the current job market   only served to fuel my frustration.  That’s another blog already covered http://goo.gl/IwiBr   Boomers are retiring. Years of hard data and soft know-how  is preparing to leave your organization. Are you prepared to avoid the vacuum? – stated in article In my humble opinion (uuhhmm, clearing of throat) the vast majority of boomers have been devalued by the younger generation for the most part.  The soft know-how mentioned above is something that is either intuitive or takes years of practice.  I understand that computers, data, technical knowledge is fueling the future, I use and appreciate the advances made.  The things we do not learn from previous generations are mistakes we m

President Obama is a boomer-Turns 50 August 4th, 2011

Well, Mr. President, how does it feel to be a boomer?  I feel confident that your view of being a boomer is nothing like mine.  But then again I wouldn’t want yours either.   I am sure your current job has put a few extra wrinkles in your brow and probably whittled a year or two from your longevity genes.  "Being at the top may not be all it's cracked up to be," said Thore Bergman, a biological psychologist.  Researchers from Princeton University and the Institute of Primate Research in Nairobi, Kenya discovered that a baboon's stress level dropped as his rank rose — except for the alpha males. The top baboons had 10% more glucocorticoid than their runners-up, and matched those of the lowest-ranked baboons. (Testosterone levels, predictably, rose with rank.) The findings were published online last Thursday in the Journal of Science. So, there is a sunny side to being in the middle of the pack, you are not picked on (translate-ignored) nor are you looked to for l

Boomers- 10 steps to landing that job!

Image
Get a face lift Get a really buff body Buy a new tailored business suit Ooze confidence (you can leap tall buildings in single bound- you have done so in the past-without your red cape) Have your Doctorate Degree Carry your portfolio of achievements Wow them with all the knowledge you have about the inner workings of their company Make sure you are a personal friend of the most admired person on staff Drink a cup of coffee (pop a mint) and have a “5 Hour Energy Drink” just before the interview –you want them to think that your energy never stops Hint that you have thought of ways that you can help them improve their bottom line Bonus!! tell them you really work cheap, they will get a lot of ROI from you. Now, sit back and wait, because they will be busy interviewing 150 plus other individuals for the position of “short order cook”.  Good luck Just another day floating on my iceberg.  See you in cyber space friend.

There will be more than 70 million boomers retiring

over the next 19 years. Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/08/01/hey-boomers-get-grip/#ixzz1TofiR2Xe My take on this article: He has his view from his side of the street and I have mine (from my floating iceberg). Comments like retiring (a strong probability that a greater number will not have the privilege of accepting retirement ). A lot of us have already felt the bitter insult of current economy cut backs on the nearly retired. Things like plan, invest- we did !!!!  In our real estate mostly and it’s value has gone backwards.  Social Security was our backup plan, it would let us eat and cover the essentials.  They want to snatch that out from under us too.  I can prepare for a hurricane, because it forms out in the waters many days before it reaches land and projection models are pretty good about predicting its path.   Just don’t attack me in the dark with a razor and not expect me to scream!  This boomer can thank her childhood for one thing, I never