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The time is now to prepare for Gip.asours..
Senior Lifestyles
your long term financial plans
BY DOUG SATTERFIELD
Edward Jones Kings Mountain
All of us hope to grow old
gracefully, enjoying good
health, living independently,
and never burdening our fami-
lies. And many of us will be
able to do just that, thanks to
advances in medicine and a
greater awareness of the life-
long importance of healthy
lifestyles.
Nonetheless, the possibility
exists that many of us could
someday need some type of
long-term care, such as that pro-
vided by a nursing home.
Consider these facts: The
odds are one in three that a man
over age 65 will need long-term
care; for women over 65, the
odds are one in two. The aver-
age cost for one year in a nurs-
ing home is approximately
$50,000, but it can be close to
$100,000 in some major
metropolitan areas. Medicare
will pay only a small portion of
long-term care costs.
If you ever have to come up
with this type of money, you
may end up jeopardizing the fi-
nancial security in retirement
that you've worked so hard to
achieve. Even worse, you could
lose your financial indepen-
Guest Column
Financial Consultant
dence and force your family to
step in.
You can avoid these scenarios
by transferring the risk of long-
term care to an insurance com-
pany. Many insurers now offer
long-term care policies that cov-
er the costs of extended nursing
home stays, home health care
providers, and other types of
long-term care.
An investment representative
can help you find the right
long-term care policy to meet
your individual needs. But
there are some general guide-
lines to keep in mind as you
consider long-term coverage-
Look for a stable company:
You may not actually need to
use your long-term care cover-
age for several decades, so
you'll want to go with a compa-
ny that will be around. To make
sure your potential long-term
care provider is financially sta-
ble and secure, consult research
from reputable independent
rating agencies such as A.M.
Best Company, Standard and
Poor’s, Duff and Phelps, and
Moody’s Investors Services.
Don’t wait too long for cover-
age: Consider buying a policy
before you turn 60, or at the lat-
est, 65. Long-term care premi-
ums typically increase sharply
between ages 60 and 70.
Look for the best features:
Not all long-term care policies
contain the same elements. The
best policies pay for care in a
nursing home, assisted living
facility or a private home.
You'll also want to find a policy
that offers inflation protection,
especially if you're under 65,
when you purchase coverage.
And you'll want a policy that
offers a waiver of premium, so
that you won't have to pay ad-
ditional premiums once you
start receiving benefits.
By starting early, taking your
time, and shopping around,
you can find a good, solid,
long-term care policy that fits
into your overall financial pic-
ture. And once you've got this
coverage in place, you should
be able to enjoy your retirement
years much more fully. You'll
have gone a long way toward
protecting yourself and your
family from an unforeseen- but
potentially catastrophic- event.
1
clouded with grief.
rose stories with me.
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A Quict Place
David Simmons
Pre-Need Sales
Family Services, Assistant
Grounds Superintendent
I feel very strongly about the importance of pre-need
planning. On more than one occasion when working in Family
Services, families have mentioned that they were approached at
some point in the past about receiving a Free Space At Evergreen.
For whatever reason however, they
turned down the opportunity to pre-plan and then due to illness or accident found them-
selves with the responsibility of making decisions when thoughts are understandably
beautiful, peaceful setting out of respect of those laid to rest at Evergreen, and also for
the loved ones that come to visit. I feel that I am easily approachable on the grounds by
folks that may be a little hesitant of coming into the office to ask questions.
I take special interest in the Rose/Cremation Garden due to my love for Roses. I
would like to invite everyone out to see this beautiful collection of roses and share their Il
| I receive a great deal of satisfaction from maintaining the grounds to provide a
(From New Hope Road, turn left at Twin Tops.
Evergreen is 6/10 of a mile on the left.)
1462 Armstrong ford Road, Belmont
704-913-2589
In the office Saturdays 9am -2pm. Call
for appointment.
February 27 & 28, 2002
Advisory Board and a Group
Leader. These individuals meet
once a month to discuss upcom-
ing trips and other activities.
Current Advisory Board mem-
bers include Jean Auten, John
Cromlish, Brenda Lathan,
Barbara Parker, and Mildred
Ingram at large.
The leader of the Gad-Abouts
since their founding has been
Sallie Stevenson. She not only
meets with the Advisory Board
on a monthly basis, but also
acts as driver and hostess on
trips. Other Parks and
Recreation staff who help with
the Gad-Abouts include Gloria
Lewis and Leeanna Smith.
“The number of participants
in the Gad-Abouts program has
increased over the years and it
takes more than one person to
do all that is needed.”
Stevenson said. “Both Gloria
and Leeanna are loved by the
seniors.”
With the growth in populari-
ty of the Gad-Abouts program,
three spin-off programs have
developed. One of these is the
senior citizen water exercise
group known as the
Aquaducks. This group has
about 50 members and meets at
the Stowe Family YMCA pool.
Another spin-off group is the
exercise group called the Senior
Stretchers. They meet twice a
week and are led by Gloria
Lewis. Leeanna Smith leads the
third group. Called ArtSmart,
these seniors focus on arts and
crafts.
A great example of how the
local city government of
Belmont helps provide outlets
for their senior citizens, the
Gad-Abouts program is a suc-
cess in every sense of the word.
KM CENTER cont.
selor.
Certain insurance issues can
be confusing Thornburg said,
but those concerns can be ad-
dressed.
“They can bring them here
and she'll (Bell) help them with
their bills, sort them out, make
telephone calls and see if
they're being overcharged or
not being charged or what the
deal is,” Thornburg said. “So
that’s a good service we have
that people don’t know about.”
Other classes or services of-
fered at the senior center are an
exercise class, a Meals on
Wheels program through the
COA.
The Meals on Wheels pro-
gram is for people who can not
fix a meal themselves or can not
get to the Senior Center for a
meal.
SHELBY cont.
Cleveland County, which is
scheduled to build a Kings
Mountain location provides day
care for older adults.
Cleveland Home Health,
which is in the Fallston Road lo-
cation, provides health care ser-
vices in the home, as ordered by
a physician.
While transportation is avail-
able through the senior center,
the Transportation
Administration of Cleveland
County also provides the ser-
vice for all people in Cleveland
County.
Shipley said many services in
the county have expanded.
“I'm not so sure that we've
added new services as much as
we have just expanded our ser-
vice department,” Shipley said.
One of the ways services
have been expanded is through
the Council on Aging’s merger
with LIVE. The merger has
helped provide more efficient
services, Shipley said.
PERFE CTION cont.
apartment complexes in North
Carolina. CMC has become one
of the premier management
companies in the Carolinas and
Virginia specializing in the
management of affordable
housing. CMC was named
Management Agent.of the Year
at the N.C. Housing Foundation
Association’s 1999 Housing
Forum. They are currently cele-
brating their 30th anniversary.
For a Perfection Park applica-
tion or more information, call
336-765-0424. Hearing impaired
may utilize the TDD Relay
System at 1-800-735-2962. The
address is Perfection Park
Senior Apartments, c/o
Community Management
Corp., PO Box 25168, Winston-
Salem, N.C. 27114-5168.
Read Your Weekly Newspaper
for Special Events for Seniors
in Our Community Calendars.
Publishers of: Kings Mountain Herald, Cherryville Eagle, Bessemer City Record,
Belmont Banner and Mount Holly News
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