Practicing Christmas

Growing up, my brothers and I would practice Christmas morning.  I’m not sure what motivated us to do this – I can’t imagine any child forgetting how to do it – but just to be sure, we would practice.  

The rules were:

1.    First one up wakes everybody up.
2.    Get Mom and Dad up.
3.    Rip ‘em apart.

We’d run through the drill several times in the days leading up to Christmas morning.  And sure enough, when the big day came, we were perfect.

It’s true – we do get better at the things we practice.  So I sometimes wonder why we don’t practice Christmas all year.  At Christmas, we take treats to our neighbors and send cards to faraway friends.  At Christmas, we give to the hungry and to the homeless.  At Christmas, we make sure that all children have warm clothing to wear and toys to play with.  At Christmas we make it a point to spend time with our families.  And at Christmas we tend to focus more on our blessings and less on our troubles. 

On this Christmas Eve, may we be mindful of the true spirit of the season.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Health Care Reform: Is It Working?

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend the Utah Health Policy Project’s Conference, titled, “Is It Working? – Taking the Pulse on Health Reform in Utah.”  It was a great conference with way too many key messages to cover in a short blog post, so I’ll cover the ones that spoke to me.

The morning keynote speaker, Mr. Rick McKeown, began with the message is that we solve common problems when the common pain is sufficient.  He addressed the many forces that are driving health care reform in our nation.  His list of eight pressures follows:

1.  Economics – recovery from the recession, job stagnation

2.  Demographics – aging boomers, obesity and chronic illness

3.  Consumers – we’re demanding transparency in our health care costs

4.  The Affordable Care Act
                A.  Access to health care
                B.  Regulating the insurance industry
                C.  Defining benefits
                D.  Medicare and Medicaid improvements
                E.  Uncertainty and unintended consequences
                F.  Politics

5.  Judicial – the debate between state and federal exchanges causing more uncertainty

6.  Employers – transitioning from a defined benefit to a defined contribution

7.  States – looking for autonomy and the ability to craft solutions that fit their populations

8.  Reconfiguration of risk – outcomes vs. services

Is this enough common pain?  Are we there yet?

Disclaimer:  I consider myself fairly liberal and am glad of the health care reforms brought about by the Affordable Care Act.  I live in a fairly – OK, I live in a very conservative state where most of the leadership is less than impressed with the Affordable Care Act.  That said, liberals and conservatives came together at this conference, leaving their egos at the door, to discuss real solutions for real people.  A panel of those real people spoke to us, giving us hope that the solutions in place are working for some. 

Lynn Quincy, Associate Director of Health Reform Policy for Consumers Union, gave us tips for getting the value from our health insurance, confirming the idea that we need to become intelligent consumers of health care services.  She noted that this has been difficult because of the current model of health care delivery.  I've experienced this myself – when nobody could tell me the price of an x-ray.

The liberal in me was exposed to a new perspective when the “Healthy Utah” plan to address the coverage gap was presented.  People who fall below 133% of the federal poverty level currently fall into the coverage gap in the states that opted not to expand Medicaid.  Because they should have been covered by the Medicaid expansion, they are not eligible for subsidies to assist with buying private insurance on the marketplace (healthcare.gov).  Utah’s solution, as I understand it, is to use federal dollars that would have been given to the state for the Medicaid expansion to provide subsidies for Utahns that fall into the coverage gap.  The upside of this plan – one I had not considered – is that it removes the stigma of being on Medicaid as well as opening up better choices for health care.  A privately-issued insurance card opens more doors to services than a Medicaid card.  The plan was well received by the conference attendees.  Now – on to the Legislature for approval.

Is the health care reform law working?  Not perfectly, but it’s a start.  And I am hopeful that in the State of Utah, well known for its innovative approaches to quality health care, it will continue to improve.

Las Vegas Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon

I ran my third half-marathon overall and my second in 2014 – the Las Vegas Rock ‘N Roll Half – on November 16.  What an experience!  The racers – right around 40,000 (that’s right, forty thousand) combined, run down the Las Vegas strip at night.  This race is one of two events where the city of Las Vegas closes its famous strip.  The other is New Year’s Eve.

My friend Sue and I flew out of snowy SLC at 0700 on Saturday morning.  Race weekend started with packet pick-up at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  The logistics of organizing a race this big are mind-boggling, but they had obviously done it before.  From packet pick-up, to shirt pick-up, to the vendor area where the latest Rock ‘N Roll gear was being sold, to other vendors selling everything any runner could possibly need or want, the runners moved smoothly.  The volunteers were friendly and helpful, and there had to be over 100 in the convention center alone.

Sue and I took on the Remix Challenge – run the 1^st Annual Las Vegas Rock ‘N Roll 5K on Saturday night the 15^th in addition to the half-marathon on the 16^th.  After all, what else is there to do in Las Vegas on a Saturday night?  It turned out to be a fun warm-up, followed by a great concert by Chromeo and of course, a free beer.

It was a good thing the race shirt from the 5K had long sleeves.  A cold front came through the next morning and I was unprepared.  Come on – it’s supposed to be warm in Las Vegas!  While we saw the occasional runners in tank tops and shorts – and even a man wearing a white tie and black Speedo – most of us were dressed for a warmer race.

I have never been in a race with this many people.  Obviously 28,439 people (marathon and half-marathon racers) can’t start at the same time, so they organized us into corrals based on our projected finish times.  I was in Corral 13.  The corrals started about 80 seconds apart.  The vivacious woman announcing the start of each corral worked hard to get the racers and spectators excited about each corral’s countdown to start.  I wonder if she was still as energetic when she finally counted down the start for Corral 47.

The course was amazing.  We ran down the strip, through some back streets, past a number of wedding chapels, and up Fremont Street before we came back down the strip.  Fremont Street had the brightest lights and reminded me of the Las Vegas of the 60s – when my parents used to drive us down the strip at night.  And all along the course there were people cheering us on.

At the finish, we received our medals, a much needed bottle of water, and a Mylar blanket.  That

turned out to be a life-saver.  It seemed I cooled down at the same time the wind came up, and the blanket kept me out of the wind.  Brrrhh!  Much too cold for beer at this finish line.  We picked up our Remix Challenge medal and headed indoors for Mexican food and margaritas.

I have to admit I was disappointed in my finish time.  I finished in 2:05:22, exactly 2 minutes and 23 seconds slower than I finished the Salt Lake Half and only 17 seconds faster than I finished the Mesa Falls Half.  I was hoping to set a new personal record, and was counting on the lower altitude to work in my favor.  But what I wasn't counting on was slowing down so frequently to plot my next move around slower runners.  While it didn't seem like I was slowing down very much, I guess 10-15 seconds per mile of slowdown adds up.

Always one to find the positive, I have to consider the following:  There were more people in my division (Women 55 – 59) than ran the entire Mesa Falls Half-Marathon.  More people crossed the finish line ahead of me (5043) than ran the entire Salt Lake Half Marathon.  And even though I didn't beat my own time, I did much better in the standings in this race than I have previously.  I finished in the top 5% of my division, the top 13% of all women, and the top 20% overall.  Maybe that’s because more slow runners were in this race.  Or maybe that’s because everybody’s time was impacted by the sheer number of racers.    

In the spirit of continuous improvement – it’s time to do some serious speed work.

Annuities 101

Several of our friends are considering using their 401K / IRA savings to purchase one or more annuities in retirement.  OK – I know.  News flash – lots of people buy annuities.  Just not us.  Somewhere along the line we’ve managed to become convinced that annuities are a bad investment and that we should run away – run far away – from anyone who tries to convince us otherwise.

But our friends are smart people.  Maybe it’s time to take another look.  Here’s what I learned while researching annuities. 

1.  An annuity is an insurance product.  You purchase the annuity for a specific amount, either through regular premiums or through a lump sum, and then it pays you a specific annual income for the rest of your life.  Like most insurance products, the insurance company helps you manage risk.  An annuity helps you manage the risk of outliving your money.

2.  The basic annuity pays only for your lifetime.  Once you die, the payments stop.  Annuity contracts can be written to provide ongoing income for a beneficiary or for a guaranteed number of years that the annuity will pay out – but this will cost more. 

3.  The insurance companies use your projected life span, based on actuarial tables, to calculate your annual payout.  The annuity holders who die early cover those who live longer.

4.  One of the main advantages of annuities is that there is no limit to the amount you can invest in them.  Many investors will fund annuities once they have maxed out their IRA / 401K contributions.   Earnings on the funds are tax deferred.  Since investment is made with after-tax dollars, the money you contributed is not taxed at withdrawal (if you are over 59 ½); earnings are taxed at your regular tax rate.

5.  One of the main disadvantages of annuities is that once you’ve invested in one, your money is locked in.  Many annuities offer a way out – with a hefty surrender charge.

The architect in me loves the model at the top of the post – it is from the Utah Division of Securities, and you can get the step by step information on their web site.  The accountant in my husband is convinced that we can do just as good a job as an insurance company in managing our assets – and managing our risks.  I’m convinced as well.  While annuities may be the right solution for some, they are still not for us. 

Disclaimer:  A few days of research does not make me an expert.  I used the following web sites in researching this post:

Wikipedia

What are the different types of annuities - CNN Money

Annuities Explained:  The Choices and Red Flags

The Utah Division of Securities

AARP at the Aquarium

OK, I admit it.  The only reason I signed up for the AARP Real Possibilities University event was because it was held at the Living Planet Aquarium.  Apparently I wasn't the only one.  When the director of Utah’s AARP chapter asked “how many of you came here tonight just for the classes,” only about ¼ of the audience raised their hands.  The rest of us chuckled a bit, and then settled in for the presentations.

The first speaker, a Director at the Utah Division of Securities, spoke about fraud prevention.  “Why are seniors so often the target for fraudsters,” he asked.  “We’re the ones with the money.”  He told us he could make us experts in recognizing scams with one sentence:  Risk and reward go together and can never be separated.  If someone tries to convince you otherwise, run away.  Run far away. 

The second speaker was a professor and researcher at the University of Utah Brain Institute.  First he gave us the bad news:  brain function does decrease with age.  He gave us several tips on keeping our brains healthy as we age.  There were about fifteen of them.  I’ll see how many I remember when I post on this later.  My favorite – people who dance are less likely to develop dementia than people who don’t dance. 

The event offered four breakout sessions.  We attended the one on estate planning and the one on Social Security.  The other two were on healthy eating and staying active.  Two of the speakers addressed annuities, which is a topic I have been researching and was glad to find some well-written information on.  I'll post more about annuities as well.

All in all, the AARP Real Possibilities University was well worth the 2 ½ hours we spent - not including the time spent touring the aquarium - free courtesy of AARP. The aquarium was awesome.  It is beautifully laid out and the exhibits are fabulous.  My only recommendation would be to go in the daytime.  Some of the exhibits were too dark to see well. The best part - the window to the shark tank at the front of the main conference room. There’s nothing like seeing sharks swim back and forth in a tank behind the keynote speaker to keep your eyes up front.  

The Power of a Handwritten Note

I recently read an article that advocated continuing to teach cursive writing in elementary schools.  The article, found at http://time.com/2820780/five-reasons-kids-should-still-learn-cursive-writing/, lists five strong reasons.  Of the five reasons listed in the article, I found the second one most compelling: “It’s good for our minds.”  I’ll quote it directly: “Research suggests that printing letters and writing in cursive activate different parts of the brain. Learning cursive is good for children’s fine motor skills, and writing in longhand generally helps students retain more information and generate more ideas. Studies have also shown that kids who learn cursive rather than simply manuscript writing score better on reading and spelling tests, perhaps because the linked-up cursive forces writers to think of words as wholes instead of parts.”

To this well written list I would like to add a sixth reason we should continue to teach cursive writing in schools:  There is power in a handwritten note.

There is power in business.  I have often asked people to share their knowledge or research in technology forums or other informal educational venues.  And I have always sent a handwritten card after they have presented, thanking them for their presentation.  While I didn't get to visit the office of every person I had ever asked to do a presentation, those people that I did visit in person had posted my thank you note on their bulletin boards.  Have you ever printed an email thank you message and posted it on your board?  These people were often strangers to me at first.  I truly believe the thank you notes helped to solidify relationships as colleagues.

There is power in volunteer organizations.  Think about it.  Volunteers work without pay; our compensation is the way helping others makes us feel.  But it’s always nice to receive a note of thanks for our efforts.  Those handwritten note may be the catalyst to keep your volunteers in your organization and showing up for your projects.   And as for your sponsors/contributors/benefactors – yes, send them the form letter with their tax deduction information, but also send them a note thanking them for their contributions and letting them know how much their gifts mean to your organization. 

There is power in relationships.  A handwritten note can express love, gratitude, even apologies in a way that an email just can’t match.  Every child should be taught to send a thank you note for gifts received in the mail.  This gesture not only assures the sender the gift was received, but also assures the sender that the gift was truly appreciated and that the giver is highly regarded.   

So yes, let’s keep teaching cursive writing in schools.  It’s a skill that will pay off for our children – now and in the future.

Epilogue

We were the most unlikely of caregivers.  Mom is actually my husband’s stepmother.  He never lived with her.  He was never disciplined by her, nor was he ever consoled by her.  She did not read to him or help him with his homework.  She had six children of her own; the step-children were weekend and vacation visitors.  They never really bonded.

Surprisingly, they are quite a bit alike.  Both have strong personalities.  Both are very frugal.  Both have strong political opinions, and since they resided on opposite sides of the aisle, their discussions could be lively and vociferous. 

So when, after Dad died, she asked him to help her with her finances, he was more than a bit surprised.  He was brutally honest with her about how much money she had and what her limits were.  She respected that.  He was even more surprised at the level of control she allowed him. 

We visited every two weeks at a minimum.  I would clean her kitchen and prepare lunch while they went over her bills and income.  She told us that she looked forward to our visits. 

As she became less and less able to care for herself, we found that the finances were no longer top of mind for her when we came to visit.  She looked to him for comfort, for strength.   And then, on a Sunday morning, she called him and asked him to come.  She was alone.  She was scared.  She didn't know what to do.  And that was when he called his sisters, and the youngest started making arrangements for assisted living.

She lived only six weeks in assisted living.  We continued to visit every other week.  Our visits were personal and precious.   We talked.  We laughed.  We remembered the good times.  We remembered Dad.  I watched him hold her hand, and the love I saw in their eyes brings tears to my eyes to this day.

They have bonded.