Baby Boomer Insights

The Volunteering In America report notes that boomers still give, even in tough times

The flood waters are starting to recede in Atlanta (thank goodness!) and now the real work begins. Volunteers are spilling forward, eagerly looking for ways to help neighbors. And leading the way are boomers, whose reputation for volunteering continues, despite the fact that many face their own issues brought on by this rising tide called a recession.

It's not just my observation that informs this opinion. According to the latest Volunteering In America report, boomers continue to give their time, energy and money to volunteerism.

The report even breaks down volunteers by age groups and includes some interesting statistics about boomers, such as:

>      In 2008, 29.4 percent of Baby Boomers volunteered, with 22.6 million volunteers giving 3 billion hours of service. 

> The volunteer rate for Baby Boomers remained relatively stable from 2007 to 2008 despite an increase in unemployment, a rise in home foreclosures and the largest decline in charitable giving in more than 40 years.

> Baby Boomers’ top volunteering activity was fundraising, with 29.4 percent of the volunteers contributing through that. 

> Of the states, Utah had the highest rate of Baby Boomers volunteering, with a volunteering rate of 48.4 percent for the group.  Of the large cities included in the report, Minneapolis-St. Paul had the highest rate, with 41.8 percent of Baby Boomer residents volunteering.

The report enables you to check the state of volunteerism in your own state and my review shows that in Georgia, a little more than 1 out of 4 adults volunteer. So, we have some work to do to push our ranking above #41 of the 50 states. Looks like the $250 million-plus damage left by rising waters may just give us a chance to show what we're made of!

The fact is boomers have always been quick to volunteer, but we also are particular about what we do. We want to apply the considerable skills we've acquired over the years to make a difference in our own communities. That's why organizations that want to tap us need to understand our thinking process about volunteering. One group that helps boomers find a good partnership is Volunteer Match, an online site that matches people with causes in a way that benefits both. (There are many similar groups - Google some in your area.)

The Serve America Act, which generated a lot of buzz when proposed by President Obama in the spring, will do doubt light a fire under many boomers. That's why I was glad to see 10% of AmeriCorps funds set aside for organizations that engage people over 55. Boomers are even being asked to consider new careers in the nonprofit world and some money is being set aside to fund the transitions.

Companies that want to attract or retain boomers would do well to consider how closely the company's civic involvement matches the desire of boomers to give back.

Boomer readers - how are your own expectations changing regardng volunteering? Do you feel welcomed and useful to your neighborhood organizations?

World Alzheimer's Day a good time for boomers to reflect, plan

Monday, September 21, is World Alzheimer's Day, named by a federation of 71 Alzheimer's associations around the world in conjunction with the World Health Organization. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the important work being done at Alzheimer's Disease International.

I always get a bit wistful this time of year anyway because I lost my maternal grandmother to Alzheimer's, also 15 years ago. She had a September birthday, though by the time she died, she could not have told you when her birthday was. It's really hard to accept seeing someone you love so much ravaged by a disease that robs the memory bank into which they've been making deposits for life.

Grandma Mary ("GrandMary" to the great-grandchildren) once had a remarkable memory. She and my grandfather owned a successful real estate company together and she always amazed me with her ability to recall the most minute details of transactions that happened many years ago. Since her death, I have lost friends to Alzheimer's and my friends have lost loved ones. I've learned the disease doesn't respect age, so it's not something only the "elderly" get. In fact, the early onset of Alzheimer's is found in people under 65 (that would hit us boomers right smack in the face).

My own parents are in their 80s and blessed with sharp minds and good memories, but like many seniors, their physical health is quickly declining. So the challenge has become trying to figure out the right thing to do to ensure they get the care and support they need beyond what our family can provide. I used to bemoan the fact they live in a small rural town, figuring it would be especially difficult to get good support outside a major metro area.

That's why I was so encouraged to learn about The Lakeview Ranch in Darwin, MN, hardly the kind of town you'd go looking for a model organization serving Alzheimer's patients. At this facility, the focus isn't on keeping patients drugged and comfortable; on the contrary, they strive to keep residents as active as possible and communicating as well as they can. One secret, say the owners, is doing extensive research into each individual to understand their backgrounds beyond their medical conditions, getting to know them as people with a future, rather than a patient with little memory of the past. I hope while our country is going through health care reform more attention will be given to how we "house" our elderly, especially when they aren't able to be independent.

We boomers owe it our parents' generation, as well as ourselves, to do what we can to influence the way the elderly are cared for in this country. We need to get off the "youthful forever" mantra and realize the reality is that a good percent of us will one day suffer from a form of dementia. One way to prepare is to learn as much as possible through things like this Life Transitions Toolkit, offered by Great Places.

As much as I hate the expression "aging boomers" (isn't every generation aging?) I confess that this time of year, even I start to reflect more on the fact that I, too, will some day probably be elderly and in need of help.

What solutions have you found to caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's? What resources would you like to share with the readers of this blog? I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. After writing this on Sunday, September 21, I saw a new report on CNN that said the number of people with Alzheimer's is likely to double every 20 years. Wow.

Practical holiday gifts for boomers

Some people know it's fall by looking at a calendar, others by the feel of the air. Me? I just look in my mailbox. I know it's fall when I start seeing Christmas catalogs. This year, though, I'm getting as many pitches to my blog and into my e-mail as I am in my snail mail box. Most of them I toss as irrelevant or uninteresting, but I have come across a few that I thought were worth looking into. Check these out:

> FastPencil lets you write that memoir or children's story or family history you've been meaning to get around to and then publish it. Would-be authors can collaborate with others, upload pictures and solicit feedback until they get it just right, then publish an e-book or a hard copy. Since everyone involved in a project uses the same editing tools on the site, the process goes more smoothly and quickly than the typical back-and-forth of book publishing. The basic service is free, but the site makes its money from offering premium services, such as enabling you to sell your book through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and over 2,000 additional channel partners. They also offer authoring services. What a great gift it would be for boomers and their parents to document their stories for a family legacy!

> Of course, if you're going to write that book, you may need a little help boosting your memory. I subscribe to Bill Cosby's philosophy that our memories are actually in our butts. Think about it. How many times do you go into a room to get something, then find yourself standing there wondering why you're in that room? Just go back to where you were, sit down, and it'll jog your memory! Or... another way would be to follow a 4-week program designed to boost your memory through a combination of food, moves and games. It's called the Brainpower Game Plan and it was created by Cynthia R. Green, PhD, founder of Mt. Sinai's Memory Enhancement Program. She has teamed up with Prevention Magazine to offer a book outlining ways to increase your everyday brain power and prevent  age-related brain disorders later in life. According to Prevention's web site,  readers who tried the plan boosted their everyday memory by up to 78 percent. I plan to check this out, especially after realizing I had to look up the name of the program and the author's name twice while writing this blog!

> Just in time for flu season comes a web site that solves that problem of wanting to provide a hot bowl of chicken soup to your parents, kids or friends who are too far away for you to just drop by. SpoonFulofComfort.com will deliver homemade chicken soup to anyone in a 64 oz jar (4-6 servings) that is reusable and recyclable. A portion of the profits are donated to the American Cancer Society. According to Dr. Steven Rennard, a specialist in pulmonary medicine, chicken soup does in fact provide actual health benefits. I can't tell you how often I've wanted to send chicken soup (one of my favorite comfort foods) to someone and yet, incredibly, it never dawned on me to see if I could actually do that on the Internet!

> If you're one of the 34 million people in the sandwich generation caring for your parents and your children, you can probably appreciate - and learn from - Gloria Barsamian's new book, "Sustenance and Hope for Caregivers of Elderly Parents." She offers tips and advice on how to deal with such a major life change in a way that preserves your sanity and relationships. Barsamian's insights are drawn from 28 years as a social worker helping families deal with catastrophic illness.

I'd love to hear some of your suggestions for gifts to give boomers this holiday season. I'll write another column soon with the collection of ideas.

How to make sure your heirs know how to execute your will and file claims against your insurance policies

Like so many boomers, I'm a member of the sandwich generation, caring both for my parents, who are in their 80s, and my youngest daughter, who is in college. I also have an 89-year-old mother-in-law. That means my husband and I have a lot of papers to keep up with... insurance papers (life, auto, home, long term care, you name it)... medical papers (who goes to which doctor and what meds are they on?). Then, there are financial papers (checking, savings, CDs, safety deposit boxes) to track. It can be absolutely maddening trying to stay on top of our own records, never mind those of our parents.

And yet, it's important to do so. The fact is insurance companies and financial institutions in particular have no way of knowing when someone has passed away, so they aren't likely to reach out and let beneficiaries know what claims can be made. As a result, billions of dollars go unclaimed each year, simply because nobody knew benefits were available and how to file for them.

So I was delighted when I received a note from Tej Shah, 24, co-founder of a new web site that goes live this week called www.WeRemember.org ("So your loved ones don't have to"). Shah said he and his partner, Joe Palmer, 27, started the site to help people have a central place to identify all their important papers to enable people to know exactly where to go to get copies of everything from insurance documents to wills upon the death of a family member or friend. (Some people put all their papers in a safe or a safety deposit box at the bank, but unless the appropriate paperwork has been filed and a beneficiary has access to a key, beneficiaries won't get very far.)

Users of the secure online site can set up a profile detailing what policies s/he holds, where the will is held, and who to contact to arrange claims. To further ensure security, the site does not request Social Security numbers or even account numbers of insurance policies. Anyone can set up a profile for free and give www.WeRemember.org permission to contact (for free) their beneficiaries upon their death. For an upgrade fee of $29.95, www.WeRemember.org will even send the appropriate claims forms to be filed.

Here's how the site works: the company's database regularly connects to the Social Security Administration Death Index, which is where all deaths in the United States are officially recorded. When a match is found, www.WeRemember.org verifies that the match really is one of its profile users. Then, the site contacts the user's third-party verifier (who is not a beneficiary nor family member, but someone who can verify that the user has actually died). Upon third party confirmation of the death, www.WeRemember.org contacts the beneficiaries to tell them how to execute claims against policies and accounts.

The site makes its money from users who upgrade to the $29.95 service, as well as from companies that sponsor educational modules on the site. The sponsors answer questions for users and when someone clicks through to explore options, the site collects a referral fee.

I predict www.WeRemember.org will be a hit with boomers in particular. After all, many of us have a pretty diverse portfolio of insurance policies, 401(k) contributions and complex wills that often entail multiple homes, and  trusts. Oh... and children spread all over the country who are left to deal with it all. What a great example of a site that understands our needs and appreciates our desire to use technology as a tool to help us accomplish something that's important to us.