New Rules For IRA Required Minimum Distributions

A jar of coins with the word retirement written on it.


With the exception of the COVID-19 blip over the last two years, people are living longer and the IRS has changed the rules on Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) on IRA’s, 401(k)’s and 403(b)’s.  RMDs were suspended for 2020 because of COVID, but they are back.  You don’t have to take RMDs from Roth IRAs, but you do from non-Roth’s.  The 2019 Secure Act raised to 72 the age at which RMD’s kick in, up from 70.5 years, but not for people who were already taking RMDs in 2019.  Starting in 2022, many people will have RMD’s that are about 6-7% smaller than they would have been under the IRS’s old life expectancy tables.  Speak to your tax accountant because the rules have become very complex (See AARP Bulletin, December 2021, page 30).

Carmel, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available : Set Your Own Hours: $2/Hour Extra On The Weekends CNA OR HHA Designation A Plus

A woman is combing the hair of an older man.


Carmel, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available : Set Your Own Hours: $2/Hour Extra On The Weekends CNA OR HHA Designation A Plus (Also Aromas, Big Sur, Carmel-by-the-sea, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Corral-de-Tierra, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Prunedale, Salinas, Seaside, Soledad & Watsonville

We have developed a reputation for having the best caregivers (Home Care Aides or Senior Companions) in Monterey County over the past decade and have recently expanded into Santa Cruz County.   We are currently looking for qualified caregivers.

Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey is seeking compassionate, mature and dependable caregivers who want to improve the lives of our elderly Clients by providing in-home, non-medical care.  Our services include:

Caring companionship

Meal preparation

Incidental transportation

Running errands

Light housekeeping

Medication reminders

Monitoring of safety while bathing

Information and referral services

Other services that improve the safety, security and quality of life of seniors.

 

If you believe you would make an exceptional Home Care Aide, we would love to hear from you!  We prefer those with experience helping the elderly, disabled and others with mobility problems.  Having cared for those with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s is a plus.  To work for us, you must have excellent references, a clear criminal record, a good driving record, and an insured reliable vehicle.  To apply, please visit our website www.fhcofm.com, click on home care aides, then careers where you can fill out an application online.  We have immediate openings all over Monterey County.

Tips For Insomniacs : Get Some Sleep!

An old woman with a bruised eye and hand on her face.


If you are having problems sleeping, AARP Bulletin (December 21, page 6) has some great ideas such as:

Test your pillow – The National Sleep Foundation recommends replacing your pillows every one to two years.  “Put your arm out straight and lay the pillow across it.  If it looks like a pair of old saddlebacks, it’s time for a new one,†says Michael Brues, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist in Los Angeles.

Get at least an hour of sunlight each day – Morning sunlight is important for good sleep.  “It turns off the melatonin faucet in your brain, which helps relieve that groggy morning feeling,†Berues says.

Skip salty snacks before bed.  In a research study, 321 patients with high salt diets and sleep issues were studied for 12 weeks.  When people cut down on salt, their average bathroom trips decreased from twice per night to once.

Tackle your troubles before dinner – If you have grievances with your spouse, don’t wait until nighttime.  Arguments and discussing tough subjects can lead to a restless night.

Don’t Watch Scary Movies At Night – In a U.K. study, participants watched a scary movie and it raised the viewer’s heart rate by 24 beats per minute.  This can disrupt your sleep.

Millions Of Cancer Cases Prevented As Treatments Evolve

A close up of some blue and yellow cells


A study which was published Wednesday (a companion to the American Cancer Society’s 2022 Annual Report)) said that although cancer diagnoses and treatment were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, 3.5 million cancer deaths were prevented in recent decades as treatments evolved.  The authors of the paper which was published in the journal “CA : A Cancer Journal for Clinicians†said rising rates of breast and advanced staged prostate cancer, both of which can be detected early, are concerning.  However, there has been significant progress made in other types of cancer.  Over the past two years, there were more than 15 new drugs approved for lung cancer, for example.  And pills blocking certain genes that cause cancer cells to grow, as well as immunotherapies that help a patient’s own immune system respond to cancer are leading to better outcomes.

Fountain Of Youth May Be Hiding In Common Prescription Drugs

A woman and an older lady standing next to each other.


For centuries, humans have searched for the Fountain of Youth.  The latest search for longevity may arrive in pill form.  Scientists are now trying to extrapolate life-prolonging experiments in animals to something which would work on a human being.  Two leading candidates are metformin—a common diabetes treatment—and rapamycin, a drug currently used to prevent transplant patients from rejecting organs.  There is also a new class of drugs called senolytics.  These clear the body of senescent cells, old cells that stop dividing but don’t die.  They accumulate in tissues throughout the body and damage healthy cells and have been linked to cognitive impairment.  Let’s hope at least one of these works!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-you-fight-aging-scientists-are-testing-drugs-to-help-11641913275

 

Nursing Homes Being Hit Hard Again By COVID-19

A close up of many viruses on a red background


The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is hitting the elderly and nursing homes particularly hard, with the highest number of cases ever documented among staff and a near-record number of residents falling ill with the virus.  This, on top of a worker shortage which has hit virtually every industry, has made this particularly difficult to deal with.  For the week ending January 9, there were 32,061 new confirmed COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents, nearly triple the number of cases the week before (6,406), according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-cases-surge-at-nursing-homes-11641924320

 

Medicare Deals A Blow To Those Wanting To Take The New Alzheimer’s Drug Aduhelm

A woman looking out of the window at her home.


Medicare officials announced yesterday that coverage for the new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm should be restricted to patients that are participating in approved clinical trials.  After a thorough review of the scientific evidence and discussions with various stakeholders, their research team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concluded that there remain significant doubts as to whether the potential benefits of Aduhelm for patients outweigh the safety risk. Scientists are worried about side effects such as headaches, dizziness, falls and brain bleed.   The maker of the drug, Biogen, said that the decision “denies the daily burden of people living with Alzheimer’s disease†and that the clinical trial requirement “will exclude almost all patients who may benefit.â€

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/health/aduhelm-medicare-alzheimers.html?campaign_id=4&emc=edit_dk_20220112&instance_id=50069&nl=dealbook&regi_id=52105769&segment_id=79435&te=1&user_id=7052b81671c57203c64c377c7522baa7

Carmel-by-the-sea, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available

A woman and an older man sitting next to each other.


Carmel-by-the-sea, CA Home Care Aide (HCA) Senior Alzheimer’s & Dementia Caregiver Jobs Available (Also Aromas, Big Sur, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Castroville, Corral-de-Tierra, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Prunedale, Salinas, Seaside, Soledad & Watsonville

We have developed a reputation for having the best caregivers (Home Care Aides or Senior Companions) in Monterey County over the past decade and have recently expanded into Santa Cruz County.   We are currently looking for qualified caregivers.

Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey is seeking compassionate, mature and dependable caregivers who want to improve the lives of our elderly Clients by providing in-home, non-medical care.  Our services include:

Caring companionship

Meal preparation

Incidental transportation

Running errands

Light housekeeping

Medication reminders

Monitoring of safety while bathing

Information and referral services

Other services that improve the safety, security and quality of life of seniors.

If you believe you would make an exceptional Home Care Aide, we would love to hear from you!  We prefer those with experience helping the elderly, disabled and others with mobility problems.  Having cared for those with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s is a plus.  To work for us, you must have excellent references, a clear criminal record, a good driving record, and an insured reliable vehicle.  To apply, please visit our website www.fhcofm.com, click on home care aides, then careers where you can fill out an application online.  We have immediate openings all over Monterey County.

President Biden To Require Insurers To Pay For At Home COVID-19 Tests

A cvs pharmacy store front with the door ajar.


The White House has announced that private health insurers will soon have to cover the cost of in-home COVID-19 tests, as long as they are authorized, cleared or approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).  The new policy, which starts on Saturday, would allow for eight free tests per month.  “We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans.  This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at home tests at no cost,†Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a news release.  This is great news, because there are many people who have been vaccinated and had a booster which have been tested positive with the new strain of coronavirus which is spreading rapidly.

Assisted Suicide Becomes Easier In California

A person holding hands with another person in bed.


One of the many laws that Governor Gavin Newsome is about to sign into law is SB-380 which will make it easier for terminal patients to end their own life.  In 2016, California became one of a small number of states to allow people to end their lives with a prescription from a doctor.  Now that the public has come to accept the concept, lawmakers are streamlining the process.  Instead of requiring that the patient make two separate requests for fatal medicines 15 days apart, the person can now make the requests only two days apart.  The new law will also eliminate the need for a written statement from the patient.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB380&campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20220111&instance_id=49985&nl=california-today&regi_id=52105769&segment_id=79349&te=1&user_id=7052b81671c57203c64c377c7522baa7