Horse therapy helps dementia patients
Horses can change lives for the better. A number of residents from a Baltimore retirement community have had first-hand experience with the healing powers of a soft nose and gentle eyes. Each spring and fall, Broadmead, a Quaker Life Plan Community in Hunt Valley, sends four to six of its residents with dementia to the Rose of Sharon Equestrian School (ROSES) in Glen Arm — a... READ MORE
Moving to escape taxes? Make a clean break
Breaking up can be hard to do if the other party doesn’t want to let you go. People who move out of high-tax states may learn this the hard way — through a residency audit. States such as New York, California and Illinois use the audits to claim that your recent interstate move was just a tax dodge and that you still owe their state income taxes. Proving you’ve actually moved... READ MORE
A downsizing journey: Learning to let go
I spent an entire year of my life downsizing my big house. That yearlong journey was one of the most challenging, most revealing and most rewarding years of my life. During the process of decluttering and downsizing my home, I discovered the real me that was hiding underneath all of that beautiful stuff. To say it was easy would be a lie. I was confronted daily with one more drawer or ... READ MORE
D.C. Housing Notes – October 2019
Community opens in Silver Spring online pharmacy buy zestril no insurance with best prices today in the USA The Landing of Silver Spring is one of the newest communities providing assisted living and memory care services in Montgomery County. Located in the Colesville area, the Landing includes 138 apartments: 79 for assisted living and 59 for memory care. The community began accepting ... READ MORE
Remodel for aging in place with style
Your kids are successfully launched and, suddenly, you seem to have more disposable income. This could be a good time to tackle the remodeling projects you’ve been putting off. And while you’re updating your house for style, consider adapting it so you can age in place comfortably. Studies show that most homeowners age 50 and older say they want to remain in their house as they... READ MORE
Home equity can become your safety net
[Introductory note: A reverse mortgage allows homeowners 62 and over to borrow against the equity in their home while retaining the right to remain in the home as long as they live. The money can be made available in the form of a lump sum, an annuity or a line of credit with a guaranteed rate of growth, and never needs to be paid back by the homeowner. The lender will recoup the... READ MORE
Protect your home from deed, title theft
Q: I keep seeing ads for services claiming to protect people from home title fraud or deed theft. Is this even a prevalent problem? Is there an easy way for me to confirm that my title is clean rather than paying for a service? A: In 2008, the FBI identified “house stealing” as the “latest scam on the block.” Since then, it has popped up periodically in cities such as Chicago,... READ MORE
How ‘solo agers’ can stay happy and safe
Retirement coach Sara Zeff Geber visited several Northern California assisted living facilities to interview “solo agers” — people, either single or coupled, who don’t have children to help them as they grow older. At many facilities, she couldn’t find any. That puzzled her until she realized that adult children are often the ones pushing the move into long-term care... READ MORE
Planning too early beats failing to plan
When we were growing up, we were always told to be prepared. Do your homework when you get home from school instead of waiting until midnight, and many other logical preparations. I had a very unstable childhood. We moved around a lot. I was always adjusting to a new school, trying to make new friends. My parents both loved me, but they didn’t love each other. Being prepared ahead... READ MORE
Finding the right home healthcare aide
When it comes to home-care workers — the aides who provide in-home personal assistance and healthcare support to seniors — Brenda Case has seen it all. Case, age 55, a real estate agent in Grand Junction, Colorado, was for several years a full-time caregiver for her mother, who had severe rheumatoid arthritis. And in that time, a constantly rotating cast of home care workers came in... READ MORE
