Glenn's split RETIREMENT

[Zardoz-ESC]

This is a video I saw a while back, and something worthy of consideration. The guy has a great attitude.

https://www.growingbolder.com/never-leave-the-playground-793777/

He makes a great point about falls with aging people. Just last night, I drove up to visit my mother in the hospital. She fell on Sunday and broke her pelvis. She is only 80, and very mentally with it, but really could use more physical activity. She said she will focus more on exercise once she heals better.

Right on! Both my wife and I worked most of our careers in long term health care; she as a nurse educator and me as a policy analyst/lobbyist. Falls in long term care facilities are the #1 cause of injuries. In YNY, this is discussed extensively. Simply put, we (young and old alike) lose our balance many times a day. Younger people recover their balance before they hit the ground because the have muscles that are still developed. Older folks who have lost muscle tissue just don't have the strength to prevent such a fall. Falling hurts! I'm doing what I can to save me from myself.

 

[Ray N]

your new job is to work at keeping your body sufficiently fit to enjoy your retirement. Since I stopped working, I've been going to the gym five days a week for about 90 minutes doing a combination of strength training and aerobic exercise. I've added yoga times a week and am probably healthier than I was at 21 (when I was smoking a pack a day). Google it. I'm more active today than I've ever been; who would have ever thought fitness would be a life changer? :-[

Yes, I strongly agree. I retired after about 40 years of desk jobs and retirement has given me the time to devote to physical fitness. I am now stronger and healthier than I've been in decades. My wife and I hit the gym every weekday morning and follow the guidelines for "older adults" put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Physical Activity for Everyone: Guidelines: Older Adults | DNPAO | CDC
Over the past five years I've cut my statin dosage in half twice to where I'm now at the minimum and am going to suggest to my doctor that I try cutting it out altogether, I no longer have borderline high blood pressure, and my wife's last bone density tests showed that her bone density has actually increased from what it was fifteen years ago. When I see my contemporaries waddling around, puffing on cigarettes, and dying at an alarming rate, it strengthens my resolve to stay as healthy as I can.

 

[escape artist]

Right on! Both my wife and I worked most of our careers in long term health care; she as a nurse educator and me as a policy analyst/lobbyist. Falls in long term care facilities are the #1 cause of injuries. In YNY, this is discussed extensively. Simply put, we (young and old alike) lose our balance many times a day. Younger people recover their balance before they hit the ground because the have muscles that are still developed. Older folks who have lost muscle tissue just don't have the strength to prevent such a fall. Falling hurts! I'm doing what I can to save me from myself.

Hi: Zardoz... I've been told I'm off balance several times. I'm not in bad shape for the shape I'm in but just found out it's not Florida that makes my feet swell it's the BEER!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
FMB Florida for now

 

[kstock11]

One thing that I've seen recommended is always working on balance. They claim that working on balance exercises the brain by creating new synapses. I stand on one foot, use a balance board, etc. I've been working on this for several years and can stand on one foot for several minutes. If you start out just doing balance exercises when a commercial comes on TV or when waiting on line, you continue to improve. I even do this when brushing teeth!

 

[gbaglo]

Normally I'm a "glass half full" person (as in more beer, please) but this comment makes me think the opposite, there is a 50% mortality rate after 65?? That seems high.

You need to re-read the statement. Of ALL the people who have lived past the age of 65, half are still alive today. That's all people ever on this earth.

 

[Jill-ESC]

One thing that I've seen recommended is always working on balance. They claim that working on balance exercises the brain by creating new synapses. I stand on one foot, use a balance board, etc. I've been working on this for several years and can stand on one foot for several minutes. If you start out just doing balance exercises when a commercial comes on TV or when waiting on line, you continue to improve. I even do this when brushing teeth!

Don't forget yoga to help with balance. A few others have mentioned yoga and if you haven't started yet, now is as good a time as any. It's never too late. If you're thinking "I'm not flexible" well then you're just like most people who start yoga. The flexibility comes after you've practiced for a while.

 

[Jim Bennett]

Don't forget yoga to help with balance. A few others have mentioned yoga and if you haven't started yet, now is as good a time as any. It's never too late. If you're thinking "I'm not flexible" well then you're just like most people who start yoga. The flexibility comes after you've practiced for a while.

This is so true. I started doing yoga about 3 years ago. When younger I referred to it as sissy **it. Once I got into it, I realized how wrong I was, and only wished I had started long, long ago. It has given me WAY more bounce in my step, and more comfort in many things I do. I could not go on my knees canoeing for very long before, but now can sit like that for a long time. Only good can come out of doing yoga.

Lately I have been doing 75 minute Yin Yoga classes 3 times a week, and boy oh boy, has it ever improved my range of motion. Just recently, after doing this routine for a few months, I am really starting to open up. I do a few other forms of yoga too, along with other exercise.

 

[GerriJ]

One thing that I've seen recommended is always working on balance. They claim that working on balance exercises the brain by creating new synapses. I stand on one foot, use a balance board, etc. I've been working on this for several years and can stand on one foot for several minutes. If you start out just doing balance exercises when a commercial comes on TV or when waiting on line, you continue to improve. I even do this when brushing teeth!

I go skating twice a week for balance and as well I stand on one foot at a time while vacuuming. Gerri goes to the pool 5 days a week.

We obtain our travel insurance through our house insurance policy in addition to whatever the regular medical plans and the extended medical plan through my pension covers. I am not sure what the cost for the travel insurance is but its nothing too severe.

Just before I retired my company sent me to a retirement workshops. The morning session was hosted by a financial expert who told us a lot of stuff pertaining to taxes and savings and investments etc. most of which I can't remember. The afternoon was a lifestyle expert. The first thing he said was don't worry too much about the finances. Studies show the majority of people go to the grave with money left over.
Better to retire too early than too late. When I'm on my last legs I hope I don't say "Geez I wish I had spent more time at the office". Hopefully I'll be saying "Geez I wish I had spent more time in the Escape".

Mark

 

[gbaglo]

I am not sure what the cost for the travel insurance is but its nothing too severe.

Just wait until you've had a stent installed, or your doc puts you on a blood pressure med or one of a dozen other medical conditions that you must disclose when you apply for travel medical insurance.
I'd check the travel insurance you have to see if it requires you to notify them of certain changes in health status ( I'm sure it does ).

 

[emers382]

Just wait until you've had a stent installed, or your doc puts you on a blood pressure med or one of a dozen other medical conditions that you must disclose when you apply for travel medical insurance.
I'd check the travel insurance you have to see if it requires you to notify them of certain changes in health status ( I'm sure it does ).

Yes it usually does Glenn for any of our health insurance coverage bought for while outside our own province, we should buy insurance even for travel in Canada as all do not have the same coverage, you are asked about pre existing conditions.

The comment about $42 for 5 days away is good price for someone only 50 and no health issues. We paid $451 for coverage from Jan 12 to end March and the first 25 days is included on the credit card. we are 64 and 63. Come June I shall have only 10 days covered on the card

In the RV park where we are there are Canadians trying to sell their unit because they can no longer travel to the US as insurance is too high.

Adrian
currently in RGV south TX

 

[gbaglo]

A lot of people don't realize that they need travel medical insurance for 'out of province' trips as well, since medical is a provincial responsibility.

 

[OneOleMan]

Now, it's more a question of how our health will hold up. You can have great plans to spend all your time golfing and fishing and camping when you retire, but that won't happen if you are dragging oxygen behind you.

Don't bet on it - I've gone hiking, (for most that would be a good walk), and carried a pair of oxygen tanks in a back pack, now it's a portable concentrator. ;D

 

[GerriJ]

Just wait until you've had a stent installed, or your doc puts you on a blood pressure med or one of a dozen other medical conditions that you must disclose when you apply for travel medical insurance.
I'd check the travel insurance you have to see if it requires you to notify them of certain changes in health status ( I'm sure it does ).

I meant that its not too onerous at this point. If any of those conditions and any others rear their ugly heads, I'll have to stay in B.C. I was on a cruise a couple of years ago and one of the people from our table was a retired insurance exec. I asked him if it was likely that there are hidden loop holes in even the most comprehensive Traver Insurance policies. He said "Oh there'll be loop holes alright". Makes you wonder if anybody gets what they are paying for.

 

[dfandrews]

.....
.....and boy oh boy, has it ever improved my range of motion. .......

Hm, like reaching farther across the table to the food and beverages. Must look into this!

Thanks, Jim.

 

[gbaglo]

Here's link to CBC Marketplace show on Travel Insurance ( 22 minutes long ).
It's called "You're Not Covered".
You’re Not Covered - Marketplace - CBC News

 

[rbryan4]

The rules for Canadian citizens covered by their government health insurance plans look similar to Medicare when traveling internationally. The costs however look to be higher. For us since we are still covered by our employer plan, we can travel almost anywhere and have the same coverage at no additional cost. Once we retire and are on Medicare, we'd need a Medicare supplement policy. Doesn't really seem fair, but I guess such is the nature of a government administered plan.

 

[escape artist]

The rules for Canadian citizens covered by their government health insurance plans look similar to Medicare when traveling internationally. The costs however look to be higher. For us since we are still covered by our employer plan, we can travel almost anywhere and have the same coverage at no additional cost. Once we retire and are on Medicare, we'd need a Medicare supplement policy. Doesn't really seem fair, but I guess such is the nature of a government administered plan.

Hi: rbryan4... Our "Free" health care wouldn't even cover a broom closet stay in a US hospital. That's why we need supplemental coverage. In Canada a lot more money is spent preventing you from being in hospital. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
FMB Florida for now

 

[Zardoz-ESC]

Hi: Zardoz... I've been told I'm off balance several times. I'm not in bad shape for the shape I'm in but just found out it's not Florida that makes my feet swell it's the BEER!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
FMB Florida for now

Small price to pay for a few good beers if you ask me, Alf

 

[rbryan4]

In Canada a lot more money is spent preventing you from being in hospital.

I think that's smart Alf. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" (or translated, 100 grams of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure...still doesn't sound right)".

Our healthcare system is way too fixated on curing a disease or treating a disease rather than preventing it. Part of the reason why healthcare costs are skyrocketing. I second Jim's and others comments about eating right, staying in shape and preventing disease in the first place.

 

[gbaglo]

Doesn't really seem fair, but I guess such is the nature of a government administered plan.

I pay a monthly premium for the basic medical. In addition, I pay a premium for extended health and dental ( was covered by employer up to retirement ). The extended doesn't cover travel health insurance.
There are three levels for travel health - provincial ( going to another province ), world ( going anywhere in the world, except the US ), and going anywhere in the world including the US. The premium jumps substantially when US coverage is included.