I've run 3 marathons, all after the age of 40, and I've known women, many older who continue to inspire me with physical activity.
AARP Bulletin this morning, 8-15 has a video clip of the oldest woman marathoner in the country, Margaret Hagerty, 85 who has run 80 marathons, all after 64 years of age!
Check out her video at http://bulletin.aarp.org/ Scroll down the page a little to the multimedia specials. Sorry I can't add it here, not tech savvy enough.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Boomers changing this last phase of life
I met with an individual at our senior center today that is wanting to change the living arrangements for our older population. She would like to be able to build a cottage on her property to house her parents with an upstairs space for a live in caregiver. Problem is our zoning. When I inquired about doing so through the "granny flat" legislation, she informed me it has to be an attached addition, cannot be detached. She's unable to build the cottage because of land use, zoning restrictions. What? I thought the granny flats were to help our parents and grandparents.
Anyway, while it's a slow process changing city hall and of course there are concerns about housing here, because of the possibility of additional areas being overtaken by students (being as we have 2 universities and a community college) and while I love the students for their help in our local economy, I understand homeowners concerns with renters and cars and noise and oh my, you get the picture.
Still, I applaud her desire to change things. We all hear that we, the baby boomers don't want to ultimately be in nursing homes, or even assisted living, we want to change the environment to something else that works better for us. Question is what is that? This person is wanting to take the steps to do that, change how we age. It starts slowly and with momentum from us, those boomers, we will get it changed for when we get there. How do you wish to live in your old age? If you think you know, email me. We'll all be part of the momentum!
Anyway, while it's a slow process changing city hall and of course there are concerns about housing here, because of the possibility of additional areas being overtaken by students (being as we have 2 universities and a community college) and while I love the students for their help in our local economy, I understand homeowners concerns with renters and cars and noise and oh my, you get the picture.
Still, I applaud her desire to change things. We all hear that we, the baby boomers don't want to ultimately be in nursing homes, or even assisted living, we want to change the environment to something else that works better for us. Question is what is that? This person is wanting to take the steps to do that, change how we age. It starts slowly and with momentum from us, those boomers, we will get it changed for when we get there. How do you wish to live in your old age? If you think you know, email me. We'll all be part of the momentum!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
New legislation by Congress
In a networking group last week, there was mention of the bill recently passed by congress to help the burdened homeowners and to entice first time homebuyers to "get off the fence" and buy.
In talking with bankers and mortgage lenders, the bill is so convoluted (typical of Congress, isn't it?) that most are not even mentioning it to buyers and if they do they recommending they talk with a tax specialist to understand it to eliminate any liability. There's a $7500 interest free loan to first time homebuyers, that has to be repaid within 15 years and it's of course has some income guidelines as to how much one gets.
I also understand the bill increases the reverse mortgage cap for the mature property owner, raising it to $625K, allowing seniors more equity from their homes. Perhaps there are some good points to the bill, but there seems to be lots of splainin' to do.
In talking with bankers and mortgage lenders, the bill is so convoluted (typical of Congress, isn't it?) that most are not even mentioning it to buyers and if they do they recommending they talk with a tax specialist to understand it to eliminate any liability. There's a $7500 interest free loan to first time homebuyers, that has to be repaid within 15 years and it's of course has some income guidelines as to how much one gets.
I also understand the bill increases the reverse mortgage cap for the mature property owner, raising it to $625K, allowing seniors more equity from their homes. Perhaps there are some good points to the bill, but there seems to be lots of splainin' to do.
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