HEALTH ACCESS AMERICA
Health Access America
From late 2007 to early 2010, the number of unemployed older Americans (age 55 and over) has spiked by over 60%, causing many to give up their job search after months of frustration and simply declare themselves retired. Exacerbating this trend is the fact that these older Americans have to spend on average eight more weeks job-hunting than their younger counterparts (36 weeks instead of 28), and older Americans are often the first laid off, due to their typically higher pay grades and not-necessarily-higher productivity.
If that weren’t enough, older working Americans typically have higher real estate or rental agreement costs than young workers, and often still occupy the same large suburban homes where they raised their children. Then there’s the fact that they are the most likely group to have to support a dependent parent or spouse, and are far more likely than young workers to develop their own career-hindering health problems. So, not only are their incomes under downward pressure, but their personal costs are often under upward pressure, and this squeeze has profound consequences for Americans both young and old.
Unemployed older Americans who are unhappily accepting early retirement typically start drawing on their Social Security benefits early, which affects both their income and the rest of the economy. The later retirees wait to draw Social Security, the higher their monthly income checks will be, generally in the range of an additional 6-7% for each year between ages 62-70 that they wait.
When an older American plans on working for an extra five years but is laid off, and they start drawing on Social Security (if they’re even old enough to do that), they’re hit with three simultaneous problems: First, their investments and retirement accounts are not yet ready, second, their Social Security income will be substantially lower than it would have been had they waited, and third, they haven’t had to time slash their expenses before their income suddenly drops to only $700-$1300/month, which is often not enough for them to pay their mortgage or rental agreement.
Which means, of course, that many of these sudden and reluctant retirees are ending up in foreclosure or evicted from their rental agreement, which of course adds to the high foreclosure rate and struggling real estate market. It also means that these reluctant retirees are paying drastically less income tax, while simultaneously draining money from the Social Security Administration, a double hit for the Federal government, which is already facing a record budget deficit. Finally, it means that Social Security’s “bankruptcy date” will be a lot sooner than forecast; all of these effects are causing serious damage to the rest of the workforce and the economy generally. Anyone who thinks Generation Y will have access to the same quality of Social Security benefits is going to be either be dead or very disappointed when it comes time for them to collect.
What can you do to prepare for the possibility of unemployment and unwanted retirement? First and foremost, recognize that it CAN happen to you, so start setting up your contingency plan now. To do that, the two most important things you can do are to slash down your expenses and maximize your retirement investments. For older Americans in particular, making the transition towards a low fixed-income lifestyle is extremely difficult, but critical so that when and if your career ends suddenly, you’re not hemorrhaging money each month, but are already living frugally and inexpensively.
The most effective place to start is with your real estate: start the search for a small, manageable, inexpensive home for your retirement, preferably on a single story, and with easy access to services and amenities. When you find a comfortable, affordable rental agreement or home for sale, you’ll already have made a huge dent in your monthly expenses.
For younger Americans, contributing more towards your retirement investment accounts than you think necessary is absolutely critical, since you may not have Social Security to help out, and you may not be able to work as long as you desire. Living frugally is important for freeing up your income for investments, but of course your budget need not be slashed like people preparing for retirement. Make sure your mortgage or rental agreement is easily affordable even if your income suddenly dropped, and with the proper planning, you can expect to retire early by choice.
Brian Gregory is a real estate investor and writer who contributes to dozens of online ezines, and manages EZ Landlord Forms, an online real estate resource that provides state-specific rental agreement forms and hundreds of other landlord forms for investors.
Which travel insurance is better: Access America or Travel Guard?
I will be traveling outside US soon and want to purchase an international health insurance. Which one is better, Access America or Travel Guard?
Neither are very good, the best option in my opinion would be a TravelEx “TravelMax” plan or if on a budget, “Travel Light”
http://www.travelex-insurance.com/index.asp?location=07-0018
Access to Care in Rural America
Health Access America
When My Harvest America opened their doors in late December of 2009, I was told that their food was 40%-60% cheaper than a grocery stores food so I thought I would join to find out first hand if this kind of savings was really possible. After all, if an American family can save that kind of money on their non perishable groceries which make up 70%-80% of their groceries, that’s a huge financial boost in this economy.
In late December I subscribed to My Harvest America. I was immediately given access to the shopping area where I was able to see first hand the products and pricing. I was floored to say the least. I saw pricing that was hugely discounted even when compared to the world’s largest discounter that have taken over the planet. You know who I mean.
What surprised me even more is that in the My Harvest America online shopping center these weren’t generic brands. These are brand names that everyone recognizes and uses every single day. While My Harvest America is based on a new business model of wholesale direct to the consumer, it’s still hard to imagine that anyone in this day and age can offer these kinds of savings to the consumer.
Upon a more detailed look at the superstore I found a huge selection of baby products like baby food, formula and diapers. How perfect for those struggling young families just starting out. For the health food junkies they have over 160 organic items as well.
I found everything about their selection and pricing was way beyond my expectations and frankly I was a little stunned and excited. For a monthly subscription of $39.95 I we calculated our savings at just shy of $200 per month, so a net of $160. That’s just under $2000 per year. I don’t know about you, but that’s a whole heck of a lot of money that the average American family gets to keep in their pocket and you can’t say that about much these days.
Here’s a kicker that I didn’t expect while placing our first order. Shipping is done using FedEX ground and it’s FREE. That’s where I thought they’d get me because our package was going to be heavy. My order was about half a month of groceries which is $200 at the store and our cost was $98 and shipping was free.
When the package arrived, it was two large boxes delivered to the door. I was actually outside in the barn when it arrived so my wife took the packages in and opened them and to her amazement, the products were actually packed with care. In fact, they actually included a six pack of toilet paper, albeit cheap toilet paper, in the box for extra padding.
Needless to say, the whole experience with My Harvest America was impressive. More than that, I’m an advocate of this program for anyone who wants to save serious money on groceries. Why waste time packing up the kids and going to the store or clipping coupons for miniscule savings? It doesn’t make sense anymore.
Just as impressive, is that My Harvest America is a home business opportunity as well. Imagine offering people this kind of experience with these kids of savings in this economy. The two things on everyone’s mind is saving money and making money and you don’t have to convince people to use the service. It just makes financial sense and the cost of the business itself is more than offset by the savings on your grocery bill making it a zero cost business on a net monthly basis. As a twenty year business owner, that’s something I never thought I would see in my lifetime.
Chris DeVincentis is a real estate entrepreneur that lives in the Wisconsin in the country. He enjoys meditation, exercise, golf, fishing and spending quality time with friends and family. He’s been a real estate company owner and is currently a sales manager, trainer and coach in real estate and home business success. To find out more about My Harvest America, the huge cost savings and the opportunity to share this incredible gift with people you care about, visit: http://www.TiredOfTheScams.com
Which travel insurance is better: Access America or Travel Guard?
I will be traveling outside US soon and want to purchase an international health insurance. Which one is better, Access America or Travel Guard?
Neither are very good, the best option in my opinion would be a TravelEx “TravelMax” plan or if on a budget, “Travel Light”
http://www.travelex-insurance.com/index.asp?location=07-0018
Health Access America
Why doesn’t america have a national healthcare such as the NHS?
I live in England and I have to say that my health care is fantastic. Thanks to the NHS. Now, through my years of being a health adviser, the main problem with americans seems they don’t have access to a national health care. They have to see private doctors. Having a NHS is great! So why doesn’t america have one? Please reply with your thoughts and don’t be nasty.
Because it is a lucrative big business, and the medical practiltlioners want as much profit as possible. Also the greedy pharamceutical industry would not be able to impose their pharmaceuticals on the public if national healthcare was adopted.
Consumer, Health and Family
Health Alert is a summary of the critical judgments, legislation, press releases and news items which have come to our attention each week.
Access to Care in Rural America
