When is A Good Time to Consider Elder Care in Indianapolis, Indiana?

Here’s a great link to an article that is helpful to anyone considering starting elder care, home care, or geriatric care management services for an aging loved one.

Just click on the link below, and as always if you have questions or need help, please visit our website at www.agingavenues.com.

My Mother’s Memory is Failing…..
http://donigreenberg.com/2009/02/28/dear-j-mother-memory-something/

Tax Free Money To Help Seniors

When a senior, over 62 years old, takes out a reverse mortgage, he or she has several options with regard to how to take the proceeds. First of all, reverse mortgage proceeds are tax free! For many seniors this is a huge benefit, especially if they are now taking out taxable funds from 401K /IRA accounts.

The first option for taking funds is to take monthly income for as long as the senior lives in the property. A check can be sent each month, or it can be direct deposited into their checking account for convenience. The amount they can take will vary depending on age and property value and equity. Your reverse mortgage lender can also set up monthly income for a specific time frame. Let’s say the senior has a piece of property they will be selling in a few years. The senior can take more monthly income for a shorter period of time knowing they will have more income later.

The second option for taking funds is to take them as a lump sum. The senior should be very cautious that they put these funds into something safe. There are horror stories about seniors taking out a reverse mortgage and then investing in some kind of annuity which ties up their money and they don’t have it when they need it. Remember, even though the lump sum is tax free, any interest earned on that lump sum, could be taxable.

The third option is actually the most popular. This is to take the money in the form of a line of credit. The senior can take out funds whenever they need them , say for property taxes, or a home repair and the rest of the money that stays in the line of credit actually grows tax free! This way, the senior benefits from the growth on the money they are not using.

The last option is to combine these other options. For example, I have a customer who elected to take some of her money upfront and the rest as monthly income. I have other customers who take the line of credit but take some as an upfront lump sum.

Which option is right for you? Every situation is different. Discuss all these options with your reverse mortgage specialist. Make sure you chose the option that works best for your situation.

Brenda Wheeler, Reverse Mortgage Specialist, M & I Bank Indianapolis

Stimulus Package Helps Seniors

Everyone wants to know what the “stimulus bill” has in it for them. Well, thanks to that bill, there is at least one good thing for anyone considering a reverse mortgage. The maximum loan amount for a reverse mortgage has been increased from $417,000 to $625,500. While this may not thrill everyone, there are many seniors who have enjoyed more expense homes but were kept out of the reverse mortgage option due to low loan limits. I speak to seniors every week and many of them were pretty well off in their retirement, however, with the stock market plummeting and their CD rates down around 2%, they find themselves looking for options to finance their retirement. On top of that, with the possibility of GM and Chrysler going into bankruptcy, retired auto workers are looking at a possible reduction in their incomes or benefits. If you would have asked these folks a year ago, no one ever dreamed there might be an issue with their retirement.

Let’s look at an example: A couple who are 75 and 73 respectively who live in a home valued at $550,000. Under the old rules, that couple could have received $275,000 in tax free reverse mortgage proceeds (after all expenses were paid). Now, with the new limit, they can receive $360,872 in benefits. This is an increase of over $85,000.

Maybe it’s time to contact your Reverse Mortgage Specialist and get a free-no obligation quote to see what you might be eligible to receive. Everyone’s situation is different so it’s best to get the facts based on your scenario. Reverse Mortgages are available to any senior over 62 who has sufficient equity and who lives in their own home. There is no income or credit score requirement to qualify. It’s your money……make it work for you !

Brenda Wheeler, Reverse Mortgage Specialist, M & I Bank Indianapolis

Picking On Senior Citizens

Again another senior couple was brutally beaten and robbed in their own home. She opened the door to a theif and attacker who wanted money and jewelry. After giving him her purse she explained that she had no jewelry, that they were simple people. She then pushed him down and kicked him in the groin. Her husband heard the commotion and came in his wheelchair to help her, he was an amputee, he was attacked and dumped from his chair. Then the attacker started hitting him with his wheelchair. Last year from September to November there were six seniors attacked here in Indianapolis. Maybe we need to talk to our legislators about making senior crimes as serious as crimes against children. This is just a reminder of how important it is as we see our parents age to really look at how vulerable our aging parents are. Are they now living in higher crime area? Do they infrequently leave the house? That's a sure sign a senior lives there. Do they have a security system or alert button? Remind them that the world has changed and it's never a good idea to open the door to anyone they don't recognize no matter what. Read more about senior safety at Aging Avenue http://www.agingavenues.com/topicview.php?id=258&cat=3.

Options To Help Keep Seniors at Home

Today there are many services available to help keep senior home as long as possible. Begin with hiring help with the house such as lawn care, home maintenance service, housekeeping amd laundry. Since cooking involves shopping for food and then standing to prepare it utilize on of the many meals options listed under Meals. There are many options to help with monitoring their safety and homecare services to assist with personal care, shopping, driving to doctors appointments and companionship. Medications can come prepackaged or from a dispenser to avoid overdosing or missing a dose. There are even companies that will convert your garage into an apartment for your loved one. That's sometmies a better option than moving them in with your family. Get creative and work as a team to help make their life as comfortable as possible.

Adult Day Services Help Seniors Remain at Home

Adult Day Services are community-based group programs designed to meet the needs of functionally and/or cognitively impaired senior adults. Adult day centers provide a caring, home-like setting for individuals who, for their own safety and well-being, can no longer be left at home alone. Adult day centers offer protected settings which are normally open five days a week during business hours and include a mixture of health, social and support services. Specialized programs for individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders also exist. Some programs are medical models which offer many medical services as well.

Working The Remote Is Hard Enough

Thank goodness Obama finally realized that this tv conversion wasn't going to work. Now we can just hope that Congress will listen. The government certainly didn't expect this many people needing convertor boxes. I even have trouble trying to figure out how to operated the remote. Can you imagine being 70 something+ with catarats and a hearing aid trying to figure out this whole box thing? Who will help them hook it up? Television is one of the only pleasures seniors have as they age and live alone. Is it really that necessary to make this conversion now? What is really the reason, I'm sure someone is profiting from all this. Maybe it was a lobbist for the tv manufacturers that did it to sell more tv's. Can't we just make their lives easy?