We recently discussed this ‘roller coaster ride’ in the stock market here. Now how do you like the 936 points to the upside on the Dow Jones Industrial Average? At least it was on the positive side of things. So should be better to handle. As the U S federal government moves to buy a stake in the banks and makes other moves, the confidence in the market appears to have been restored. Though this is at a huge cost to the taxpayers, most people were itching to see a halt to the market’s downward death spiral.

We are hearing a lot of what’s happening in the media. Yet, not much is being discussed about any alternatives, root cause of the problem or can we solve this problem in other, hopefully more permanent ways. Well, our freindly trustee, Daniel Davis of Beyond50Radio is ready to share with us the other side of the ‘coin’ on this subject.  In his recent interview with Harley Schlanger of the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (PAC), Harley and Daniel discuss the genesis of this issue, the more recent developments, alternative ways to solve this malaise. This is an in-depth, no-holds barred, alternative view discussion. In this interview Harley Schlanger reveals some surprising information about the bailout bill and a possibility of our president imposing martial law if the bailout bill was not passed in time.  

Click here to access this lively Interview with Harley Schlanger of Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (PAC).

Our request is that you consider all views, opinions and be your own judge.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Last week we discussed about the current financial crisis and the resulting economic situation in the country. Since we last discussed a lot has happened on this front. It appears that the country’s legislative bodies have agreed to a deal in principle and have written the draft legislation. It is widely expected to be passed by the Congress this week.

Also, one of the greatest investing legends of our times, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway decided to invest $5 Billion in one of the two last standing investment banks, Goldman Sachs last week. In light of this ground breaking investment, CNBC recently interviewed Warren Buffett over a telephone call. The complete transcript of the interview and the audio/video of the interview can be accessed here. This is a very interesting, no holds barred interview. It gives the listener a very good opportunity to peek into the legendary investor’s mind at such a critical juncture in our nation’s economy. Mr.Buffett also shares his outlook, his rationale for this investment and more. So we wanted to spread the news about this interview to our readers. Hope you’ll like it. Please do post your comments and let us know your thoughts.

Note: The audio/video of the interview is in 3 separate parts. Be sure to go to the transcript of each part to access the audio/video of that part.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Today, continuing our series on interviews with people serving our community, we are delighted to present to you our interview with Judith Auslander of Wise Heart Coaching. Judith is a seasoned life coach and has helped many a people rediscover their calling and helped them make their lives meaningful and their relationships satisfying. We are delighted to have Judith on our panel of distinguished ‘Boomer411 Trustees’. You can find Judith’s recommended articles on Boomer411 under the user name WiseHeart. So here is our interview with Judith…

Q: We hear a lot lately about coaching, so, what exactly is a life coach?

A: Coaching is much like the sports coach you had in school – but I don’t yell at you. Basically, coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps people achieve extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses or organizations.

Q: How does coaching work?
A: I ask lots of questions – most of them requesting that you go deep inside to find a response to. Afterward I offer honest feedback as to what I heard or felt. My job is to inspire you with new ideas, concepts, strategies and frameworks that help reorient you around the success you are looking for. I am there as your friend, mentor, supporter – and most importantly – treat you with honesty and respect.

Q: So is coaching the same as mental health therapy such as counseling?

A: Well, yes and no. Coaching is a different and separate profession from counseling or psychotherapy in that it focuses on the present and on what you can do to create the future you want – NOW!!! Counseling may take years of therapy, where coaching usually produces immediate results. This does not mean that coaching is for everyone. If you have really serious issues, you may need a doctor who is trained in those areas. But for most people, a coach will help you find the happiness that eludes so many of us.

Q: What kinds of things do you generally coach people about?

A: Actually, a lot of things. It depends on what their particular hiccup in life is. It may be about setting goals – which by the way I wrote a book on – or finding romance or rediscovering the romance in your relationship. I have coached people on finding a new career, rediscovering their passion in life, organization, getting unstuck – it is amazing the things that pop up in a life that create a feeling of disorientation and loss that can be taken care with my program.

Q: Does coaching take years of work?

A: Again, much different from your standard therapy, coaching only takes about 3 to 6 months depending on the things we are working on.

Q. Is it expensive?

A. No, since it takes so much less time than counseling, the cost is significantly less.

Q. What is your main focus as a coach?

A. Recently, I have started to focus on boomers and being sexy. It seems that many boomers have forgotten what it is to be sexy. Being sexy, by the way, has nothing to do with sex. It is about how you feel about yourself, how you dress, how you operate or move in the world. With the rapid changes that seem to occur in our body after turning 50, it is easy to stop thinking of ourselves as sexy. My feeling is that we are still sexy – and that we should still have fun. With this concept in mind, I am starting a new market called “Shift2Sexy.” How do we make that “shift” is what I am starting to write articles about, creating workshops, and planning on my second book to be about. Boomers are not like their grandparents – we are living longer more active lives. Boomers have always been the movers and shakers and we will reinvent what getting older is all about.

Judith Auslander, MA, PCC, is the owner of Wise Heart Coaching. You may find out a lot more about coaching and about Judith at Wise Heart Coaching.

You can also read her blog here.

Popularity: 25% [?]

You have probably seen the user name ‘Beyond50Radio’ next to many articles on the www.Boomer411.com website. Some of you sent in comments that you like the wide array of topics covered by this trustee. (Definition: A “Boomer411 Trustee” is a person selected by Boomer411 board based on his or her expertise in the field;  a trustee selects articles and recommends them to be included in the search engine called, Boomer411, based on their working knowledge with Baby Boomers. So you can be sure that any article you find on Boomer411 is already reviewed and recommended by an expert). We are delighted to present you a closer view of the person behind this user name you often see on Boomer411, Daniel Davis and his amazing work on the ‘Beyond 50 Radio Show’. We thank Daniel Davis and his team for doing such a wonderful job in bringing interesting material to Baby Boomers through his radio program and for sharing their intriguing collection (click this link to access the complete listing of articles tagged by Beyond 50 Radio, to date) of valuable resources with our readers on Boomer411.com.

Boomer411: What is the “Beyond 50 Radio Show” and what makes it so unique?

DD (Daniel Davis): So many people think the name “Beyond 50” refers to age.  It actually means to get beyond half-way thinking toward solutions. At the heart of it, “Beyond 50” is not only an educational program for Baby Boomers (in their 40s – 60s), but also a socially and creatively-responsible one to bridge the generations in an inclusive way.  We like to regard ourselves as an alternative form of media that serves our growing audience with heart and intelligence. 
“Beyond 50” has been on-the-air for close to 5 years, getting our start in local radio stations in Portland, Oregon. We later moved the show online in November of 2007, which turned out to be an excellent move.  By offering the interviews as a podcast (in mp3 format), we’ve been able to syndicate our interviews on 125+ podcast networks and directories (like iTunes that has millions of listeners).  Every week, we have “new ears” from all over the world downloading past interviews from our archives.  It’s amazing to see the numbers of people tuning in double every 2 – 3 months and to interact with them during a broadcast. 

What makes our show a standout is our knack for seeking out and attracting exceptional radio guests who are innovative, cutting edge, top experts in their field, offbeat, and visionary leaders.  We’re constantly getting remarks from people wondering where we find these people because they’re so interesting.

Because of the high quality of our show’s content, we’ve got listeners who are young adults to seniors in age, but mostly those in their midlife who are listening regularly. 

Boomer411: Who were some of your favorite guests you’ve had on-the-air?
DD: To date, we’ve had over 700 guests on “Beyond 50”.  A common tie between all of them is that they are great educators. We prefer that.

Some of our most remarkable guests include Jeanne Keene, the lady in Homer Spit Alaska who feeds breakfast to hundreds of eagles in her backyard daily; Jacques Gauthier who walked all across Canada, then all across the United States after healing from debilitating all-body pain; TJ Marrs who teaches how to pay off your mortgage through his unique rapid mortgage payoff program in less than 5 years; Dr. Gabriel Cousens who has helped many with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes reverse their condition completely within 30-days; the “Columbo” actor, Peter Falk; Futurist Thomas Frey on the future of money; and so many more. 

Boomer411: Do you find that Boomers are receptive to listening to your show online?
DD: Absolutely! At first, we were apprehensive about moving “Beyond 50” from terrestrial radio to being totally online. Our assumption was that Boomers are so used to tuning in on their radio dial that they don’t want to change their habits. Not so. We’ve been told by many that they like the convenience of being able to hear our episodes whenever they want because everything is archived online. 

The other surprise was seeing a lot of Boomers with their own podcast show. The number of people doing this will increase as entrepreneurs in midlife use podcasting as a means to market and educate to new and existing customers. It is becoming more mainstream for many tuning in to broadcasts from their computer.

By listening online, there’s just more variety, compared to what’s offered in traditional radio on the AM and FM side.  This is similar to the numerous offerings on cable television versus free programming. What’s amazing is that podcasting has only been around since 2004.  Over time, you’ll notice a lot of traditional radio stations moving totally online to grow their listener base.  

Boomer411: What are your thoughts about how Boomers are portrayed by the media?
DD: We can tell that most of the media are having trouble figuring this group out. There’s no regard for diversity and complexity within the Baby Boomer population. Many in media just lump them together as if they all shared the same age and life experiences. The biggest no-no we find is lumping Boomers with Seniors like that. The media can be quick to offend their audience unknowingly by doing this.  That’s the same as when AARP says that 50 is Senior age. There’s definitely no group agreement on that, no matter how great the senior discounts can be.

Someone in their mid-40s doesn’t necessarily relate nor have the same practical interests with a Boomer in their mid-60’s. There’s definitely a generational gap. Media is slow to recognize emerging trends like those in their 50’s still having children or older Boomers going back to school and starting a business. There’s even a growing number living back home with their parents due to layoffs or from unfortunate circumstances. They are not all looking into retirement anytime soon or have lots of discretionary income as the media and mass marketers want you to believe.

Boomer411: Can you please share your experience of being a trustee on Boomer411?
DD: We like it a lot because we’re able to serve an even larger audience of Boomers.  We’ve never been a part of a combination search engine and bookmarking service before. It took us by surprise when some of our entries on Boomer411 started showing up as high rankings within the first few pages on major search engines like Google. This was within 24-hours to a few days after posting them on the site.
 
Also, we love to share the best of what we know and treat the privilege of being a trustee responsibly because there are thousands of readers every month going to Boomer411 that really want to find reliable and good information. We want them to keep coming back for more.

*Since 2004, Daniel Davis has served as the Radio Host of Beyond 50 Radio: America’s Talk Show for Baby Boomers. To tune in to the educational program, live broadcasts are every Friday, from 12 – 1 p.m. (PT)/3 – 4 p.m. (ET) on http://www.Beyond50Radio.com . They also offer a free e-newsletter from their website to learn more about their interviews.

You can tune in to the show by going to www.Beyond50Radio.com.  And check out our blog as well at www.Beyond50Radio.Blogspot.com.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Last week we presented Part 1 of our interview with Mr.Stanley Tomkiel III. Stanley Tomkiel is the author of two books on Social Security, namely Social Security Benefits Handbook and The Social Security Answer Book. Both the books are packed with lots of useful information in simple English.  You can read Part 1 of this interview here. Today we present you the second and concluding part of this interview.

Boomer411: Some of the questions and answers in your book imply that at times people do not claim or under-claim their Social Security Benefits. Is this correct? If yes, can you please elaborate on how and in what cases this happens most often.

ST: I have seen that many people do not claim all the benefits that they are entitled to.  Usually this occurs in the age frame from 62 to 66 because many people believe that you have to be completely retired in order to collect any Social Security benefits, and that’s not the case.  If your earnings in a given month are very low, regardless of the annual income and regardless of whether you have retired, you may be able to get a benefit for that month. 

If you have low annual earnings for a given year you may be able to collect some or even all of your benefits for the year.  Even if you are working above the yearly earnings limit, currently $13,560, it doesn’t mean that you can’t collect any benefits, only that there will be a reduction in benefits payable.  If you are under Full Retirement Age, which is now 66, you lose $1.00 of Social Security benefits for every $2.00 you earn over the limit.  So for example if you earn $25,000.00 this year, that’s $11,440.00 over the limit, so $5,720.00 must be withheld from your Social Security benefits.  But if your benefits are say, $900.00/mo, that comes to $10,800.00 for the year, (as long as you are over 62 for each month).  Only $5,720.00  needs to be withheld, so you can collect the difference, which is $5,080.  Most folks I know could put that money to good use rather than let the government keep it. 

And for the year you attain age 66, the annual limit jumps to $36,120, only the earnings in the months before the month you attain age 66 are counted, and the offset goes from 2 to 1 to 3 to1.  This means that a worker making even $100,000 a year could collect some benefits even if not retired.  And beginning with the month you turn 66, your earnings don’t count at all, and you get your benefits even if you’re making a million dollars a year! 

Also there is the monthly test that you can use in one calendar year.  You get to choose which year it will be.  Under this monthly earnings test, even if your annual earnings are too high to prevent the payment of any benefits, nevertheless you can receive a benefit for any month in which your earnings are below the monthly earning’s limit, which is 1/12 of the annual earnings test. If you are laid off for a period, or you take a long vacation, or become ill, or you just don’t feel like working, if your earnings in a given month are below the monthly limit then you can receive a Social Security monthly benefit for such months, no matter how high your annual earnings.

Another case where benefits are lost is in the case of a divorced wife or husband.  If you’re divorced at least two years from a SS covered worker, you can receive a spouse’s benefit even if the worker is still working, as long as he or she is age 62.  This is called “deemed entitlement.”  

Many people don’t realize how to take advantage of these rules.   Sadly, they lose those benefits. 

Boomer411: Approximately, what is the rough amount in dollars that might go unclaimed per year? What is one category of benefits that is usually ignored or the most unclaimed/under-claimed? If someone forgot to claim, can they go back and make a claim for retroactive benefits?

ST: I cannot approximate the amount of dollars that might go unclaimed in a year because I’m not an economist but some numbers will give you an idea of what we are talking about.  There are now 50 million beneficiaries in the United States and the Social Security Administration paid $585 billion in benefits in 2007.  In 2008 that will be closer to $600 billion.  That comes to approximately $50 billion a month; so even a very small percentage of such high numbers is very significant.  About 4 million claims are made each year. 

To put it on a personal level the average Social Security benefit is somewhere around $1,000.00 for a worker and $500.00 and change for a spouse; same for a child.  I’ve seen people lose several months’ worth of benefits because they missed a filing deadline or were unaware that they could have received something.  So, if you don’t know all the rules and don’t make the right moves, you stand to lose thousands and thousands of dollars. 

Unfortunately there are limits on retroactivity of applications, so if you file late, you can lose out.  The retroactive period for an application depends on the type of benefit.  The application of a retired worker under full-retirement age has no retroactivity if it would result in the payment of a reduced benefit.  For a retired worker who is above full-retirement age the retroactivity can be as much as six months.  Same for most survivor benefits.  For disabled workers and their dependents however, there is a 12 month retroactivity period.

One of the most important things a person can do if he or she is approaching social security time is to file a ‘Protective Filing Statement’ with the local SS office.  This can be done by mail.  Such a statement will protect the filing date without having to make the actual application.

Boomer411: In your intro to chapter 1 in the book, it says, ‘The general intent for retirement benefits was originally to provide a replacement for income lost due to age and its attendant restrictions on earning capacity. In recent years, this has been modified to become an age entitlement program’. Can you please elaborate on this?

ST: Sure.  Originally, if a beneficiary was working, his or her benefits were reduced or completely withheld because the program was designed to replace earnings lost due to retirement.  They still call the benefits Retirement Benefits.  Then the law was amended quite some time ago to allow those age 72 or older to keep all their benefits even if they were still working, no matter how much they earned.  In the 80’s this was lowered to age 70, then in 2000 this was lowered again to age 65, which at that time was Full Retirement Age.  FRA is now 66.  So retirement benefits are paid regardless of earnings once the person reaches Full Retirement Age, which doesn’t have anything to do with being retired, only with being age 66.  So instead of replacing earnings lost due to retirement, the SS program pays benefits based on age, so I call it an age entitlement program now.

Boomer411: Can you tell us about the hardest question that you were asked in your role as an SSA claims representative? And how you approached/answered it?

ST: Oh yes.  It has nothing to do with rules or forms or required documents.  The hardest question has always been: “How can I live on that?” when I would tell a retiree how much his benefit was going to be.  Sadly, the Social Security program has been oversold to many people over the years as if it would provide for a comfortable retirement income.  It was never intended to do so, being intended only to be about 1/3 of a retirement income, with another 1/3 from private pensions, and 1/3 from personal savings.  I felt as if I had hit the poor retiree in the head with a two-by-four!  Sadly, I had no answer.  The answer should have been asked long before retirement age.

Boomer411: Why should a Baby Boomer read your books? What other information can be found in the books?

ST:  Well, I have two books out, The Social Security Answer Book and The Social Security Benefits Handbook.  In the Answer Book, I compile hundreds of questions from real people, and give specific answers.  I have organized the questions by topic, so for example, if a reader wants to look at questions about Survivor Benefits, or Wife’s Benefits, they are grouped together.  I think that sometimes people don’t even know how to formulate a question because they are unfamiliar with basic concepts and terms.  So the Answer book helps not only by giving answers in straightforward words, but also to help people know how to ask questions by seeing what others have asked. 

The Social Security Benefits Handbook is more like a reference source rather than a read-through type of book.  It contains a statement of the rules and procedure of SS in layman’s language, so people unfamiliar with technical terms should be able to find out specific information.  It covers not only the applications rules and procedures, and how benefits are calculated, but also so-called “post-entitlement” issues, such as what to do if you are overpaid and the government wants money back, what you must report to SS, what happens if a check is missing or not received, and so forth. 

Folks getting close to age 62 should be familiar especially with the application process and the earnings limits rules so they can make sure they don’t miss out on receiving all the benefits coming to them.

And of course, readers can e-mail me questions which I will post on my blog along with my answers.

This concludes our interview with Mr.Stanley Tomkiel III. To learn more about Mr.Stanley and his works or to submit your own social security question to him, please visit the following links.
www.Tomkiel.com
www.SocialSecurityBenefitsHandbook.com
www.SimpleSocialSecurity.blogspot.com

Popularity: 26% [?]