Hands to Help Seniors
Monterey, CA Current Retired Population 59, But Only 6% Of American's Now Believe They Can Retire Before The Age of 60
by Richard Kuehn on 05/21/13
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Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City,
Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad
California
I've written many times on my blog about how incredibly expensive it is to live on the Monterey Peninsula, one of the most expensive places in the country to retire. A recent study by Northwestern Mutual, an insurance company, found that 32% of the American population expects to still be working into their 70's, while 10% expect to be working into their 80's. The average age that people now expect to retire has risen to 68, which is a full 9 years older than the average age of the current retired population (59 years old). About 51% of those surveyed believe they're less financially secure than they thought they would be at this age, and only 5% think they can retire before the age of 60. A large chunk of the population says they'll have to work longer to build up their savings because their retirement funds have dwindled, they've been laid off or they have poor health. The problems are numerous and an enormous burden on the public. "The incredible contrast between how long people expect to work, and how financially prepared they feel to live long lives, dramatically underscores how far behind people feel in their financial planning, Greg Oberland, EVP of Northwestern Mutual, said in a statement. We hear this theme consistently when talking to seniors on the Monterey Peninsula. Many can't afford the basic necessities like food and medication following the recession. Although the stock market recently has soared, many seniors got burned so bad during the recent downturn that they put all of their money into safe investments and missed out on the bull market. It's an unfortunate situation because senior services for low income residents have been cut dramatically. Please click on the donate button above if you can afford to help some of these people.
Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
Monterey, CA What Do We Do About The Large Homeless Population?
by Richard Kuehn on 05/20/13
View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California Homelessness has become a huge problem following the recession, and the number of homeless people in Monterey county has increased dramatically since someone walked into a local merchant and murdered them in Santa Cruz. Following this incident, there was public pressure on the authorities in Santa Cruz to reduce the population and many of them were driven out of town and ended up here. The latest statistics show that there are about 2,500 to 3,000 homeless people in our county, and about 250 families living on the street. Roughly half are classified as chronic homeless after they have been documented with a disability or been homeless for a year or longer. What a sad situation. The United Way put on a forum last week called "Hungry and Homeless in Paradise" to highlight these statistics and come up with ideas on how to address this pressing issue. Another problem which was discussed was the number of those with homes who are barely able to get by, something which I have written about numerous times on my blog. I was surprised to read that more than half of the jobs in Monterey County pay only minimum wage or even less. In order to afford a studio apartment in Monterey County, one has to work 83 hours a week, 94 hours to live in a one bedroom and 108 hours to pay for a two bedroom apartment. That's just for the apartment and doesn't include food, utilities, transportation, etc. The county is now taking a similar tact as Santa Cruz, considering making it a crime to sit down or lie down on the pavement or other public spaces. This doesn't seem to me to resolve any issues. Where are these people to go? They are discussing other options such as providing access to housing and transition services for those just released from jail, medical facilities and foster programs. But this won't solve the bigger problem of these 2,500+ people that are already on our streets.
Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
Monterey, CA Affordable Care Act (Health Care Reform) Once Again Under Attack, This Time For Unintended Consequences Impacting Native American Indians
by Richard Kuehn on 05/19/13
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Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City,
Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad
California
There
has been a lot of controversy regarding President Barack Obama's health care
reform (the Affordable Care Act), and certainly there are many pros and
cons. Some have just been unintended
consequences. The latest came up last
week, when the Monterey
Herald
reported that about 1,000 Native American Indians in Monterey County and 21,000
in California may lose their health coverage because of an obscure clause in
the Affordable Care Act. The devil is
always in the details, and in this case the details say that only Native
American tribes which are recognized by the federal government will be exempt
from the new rules. The others must buy
their own insurance or pay a $695 fine, losing the government insurance they
have now. "It's a piece of
garbage," Rudy Rosales, a tribal member of the Monterey County based
Esselen Nation told the Herald.
"All it does is to help recognized tribes, he said. Other tribes like the Amah Mutsun and Muwekma
are similarly affected. About 9,500 Monterey
County residents said they are Native American Indian on their census forms, although
there are no tribes which are federally recognized by the U.S. Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA). Representative Sam Farr
(Democrat, Carmel CA) said he will look into a legislative fix. I hope he is successful. I am sure this is not what President Obama
envisioned when he implemented health care reform.
Please note that this blog reflects my
personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help
Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
Monterey, CA Veterans Administration Hospital Gives Man Very, Very Wrong Diagnosis
by Richard Kuehn on 05/16/13
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Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City,
Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad
California
A
man has received a court-ordered payment of $60,000 from the Veterans
Administration (VA) Medical Center after he was told he had just a few months
to live in error. The judge found that he suffered
because of the VA physician's negligent failure to meet the standard of care
when he gave the man an erroneous diagnosis of terminal cancer in 2009. The man quit his job, sold his truck and
bought a prearranged funeral service. He
threw a "last birthday" party for himself but when he started feeling
fine he sought out a second opinion and found that he had only had a couple of
mini-strokes from which he had recovered.
I can't imagine the pain and anguish this man went through and $60,000
certainly doesn't seem enough compensation for a horrible error like this,
although at least he now knows his life isn't in danger. This is an important lesson for us all. If you are diagnosed with a serious illness,
seek a second opinion!
Monterey, CA IRS Employees Target Tea Party Non-Profits For Investigation : Part III
by Richard Kuehn on 05/15/13
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Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City,
Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad
California I
wrote yesterday on my blog about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) admitting that
they improperly targeted conservative political groups during the 2012
presidential election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt
status. At the time, it appeared that
this was done by an isolated rogue group of employees in the Cincinnati, Ohio office
which also targeted non-profits which sought to educate Americans about the
U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights as well as groups that criticized the
government. As it turned out, the scandal went
deeper,
with at least four IRS offices involved in the scandal. President Barack Obama called a press
conference today to let the public know that he had told the Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew to hold those responsible accountable and indeed he did. A number of employees have already been
discipline and Mr. Lew asked the head of the IRS, Stephen Miller, to
resign. He did and his resignation has
been accepted. I'm glad our government
acted quickly. Our Board of Governors
worked very hard to get our tax exempt status and it always pains me to see
non-profits that are using their status for dubious purposes and those which
are attacked for dubious reasons.
Hopefully this bad chapter in our government's tax collecting arm is now
over.
Please note that this blog reflects my
personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help
Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
