Retirement Living News

April 2007

HEADLINES  (Click on headline to read story)

• Two Companies Partner to Help Seniors Find Jobs
• Researchers See Trend Toward Later Retirement
• PBS Airs "Boomer Century: 1946-2046" Documentary
• HHS Launches New Web Site to Help in Long-Term Care Planning
• Flagler County (Florida) is Fastest Growing County 
  Since Census 2000
• New Study Finds Chest Compressions Only Provides Better CPR

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NEWS STORIES

Two Companies Partner to Help Seniors Find Jobs 

Robert Half International (RHI) and RetirementJobs.com have announced a strategic partnership in which RHI will provide job listings and career management content on RetirementJobs.com, the Web's leading career destination for people aged 50 and over. 

Experienced job seekers can go to www.retirementjobs.com to search for and apply for thousands of full/part-time/seasonal/contract jobs with employers representing a wide range of sectors. Visitors to the Web site can also access career management advice and podcasts provided by Robert Half International.

"Robert Half is committed to attracting and placing experienced workers, and our partnership with RetirementJobs.com enables us to better reach this important demographic," said Camille Grabowski, Director of Alliance Relations for Robert Half International. "Our clients value experience, and we are looking forward to showcasing the part-time, consulting and full-time opportunities available to tenured professionals in all of our areas of specialization." 

"A majority of America's 78 million baby boomers plan to keep active and continue to work in their 'retirement years' by securing jobs to meet their lifestyle requirements," said Tim Driver, CEO of RetirementJobs.com. "Through its definitive leadership in staffing for part and full-time work, Robert Half International is an ideal partner for our company," he added. 

According to an April 2006 MetLife study 78% of people age 55-59 are working or looking for work, as are 60% of 60-65 year-olds and 37% of 66-70 year-olds.
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Researchers See Trend Toward Later Retirement

A dramatic decline in work at older ages has persisted over most of the 20th century. Recently, however, retirement ages stabilized, prompting a debate as to whether the early retirement trend had stopped or simply paused. A new report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College shows that the trend toward earlier retirement has not just leveled off but has apparently reversed, with especially large increases in the labor supply of women in late middle age. 

Once side concludes that the trend has stopped do due to economic, policy and demographic changes. The other side stresses that long-run growth in incomes and the desire for more leisure suggest only a pause.

While the report does not provide new evidence on why people may be working longer, it does assess several factors suggested by researchers. The first set of factors is the slowing down or reversal of incentives that used to favor earlier retirement, and the second involves new trends appearing in the last 20 years. Although these explanations stress changes in the economic environment, it is also possible that preferences have changed or that individuals have responded to the prospect of longer lifespans. 

Employer pensions may also have something to do with it. In the 1980s almost all workers were covered by a pension. Defined benefit (DB) pension plans used to predominate in the workplace and encouraged workers to stay in a job. Today most pensioned workers are covered by defined contribution (DC) plans which are generally portable, accrue smoothly, and do not target retirement at any particular age. Researchers estimate that workers with DC plans retire on average one or two years later. These plans shift the risk of uncertain lifespans from employers to workers. Workers now bear the risks (and gain the potential rewards) of their investment choices. This shift will increase the variability of pension wealth and thus can be expected to increase the variability of retirement ages. 

The report concludes that it remains to be seen whether the recent increase in retirement ages will halt, continue slowly, or speed up. Many of the changes in Social Security, private pensions, and health care that could explain the shifting trends are ongoing, which suggests that retirement ages could continue to rise.

There are many changes associated with increased uncertainty about the future economic environment surrounding retirement -- about the long-term viability of Social Security and potential benefit reductions, about the risks associated with the massive shift from DB to DC pensions, and about future health and long-term care costs. This rise in uncertainty may itself induce people to delay retirement in order to work and save more.
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PBS Airs "The Boomer Century: 1946-2046" Documentary

The oldest of the 78 million Baby Boomers began turning 60 last year. The hardiest members of that generation will celebrate their 100th birthdays on January 1, 2046. On March 28 the Public Broadcasting System (PBS ) premiered a documentary -- "The Boomer Century: 1946-2046" -- that explored how life after 60 might look to the generation known for challenging authority and redefining everything from race relations to marriage. Now they are beginning to redefine retirement and aging. 

While many boomers are expected to have health concerns, the program points out that neither Social Security nor Medicare were designed to match the number or longevity of the boomers, experts on aging say. Many boomers have not saved enough money at a time when problems with pensions, Social Security and the like are increasingly evident. Will baby boomers use their electoral clout to provide leadership, demand that government bail them out, or will they stand on the sidelines and leave the problems for succeeding generations? 

The host and executive producer of the program is Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., a gerontologist and psychologist who turned 57 last month. He is the author of numerous books on aging and the founder of Age Wave, a consulting firm. "Boomers who turn 60 this year have an actuarial life expectancy of 82.5 years," says Dr. Dychtwald. "What I actually think is going to happen is that in the near future there are going to be mind-boggling breakthroughs that will make living to 90, or even 100, commonplace," he adds. 

The two-hour program asks many questions about what role boomers will play in reshaping notions of age in the 21st century. It poses questions to a number of experts and commentators in health, academe, politics and the arts, including Tony Snow, Erica Jong, Julian Bond, J. Craig Venter, Oliver Stone, Alvin Tofler and Lester Thurow, among others. 

For more information about when the program might be rebroadcast, check your local PBS station. A DVD of the program is expected to be available soon. Go to http://www.pbs.org/boomercentury/ for details or call 800-645-4727.
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HHS Launches New Web Site to Help in Long-Term Care Planning

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has set up a Web site that will make it easier for consumers to get the information they need to plan for long-term care. The new National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information Web site provides comprehensive information about long-term care planning, services and financing options, along with tools to help people begin the planning process. 

The Web site is designed to increase public awareness about the risks and costs of long-term care and the potential need for services. Designed by HHS' Administration on Aging (AoA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), it is seen as "an important step toward giving consumers the tools they need to take personal responsibility for planning for their future long-term care needs," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. 

The site contains objective information to help consumers decide whether to purchase long-term care insurance or to pursue other private market alternatives that pay for long-term care. It also has information about states with long-term care partnerships under Medicaid as well as information about the availability and limitations of coverage for long-term care under Medicaid. 

The Web site features a number of resources to help individuals start the planning process, including interactive tools such as a savings calculator, contact information for a range of programs and services, and real-life examples of how individuals have planned successfully.
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Flagler County (Florida) is Fastest Growing County Since Census 2000

For the third year in a row, Florida's Flagler County topped the list of the fastest growing counties in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Its population has increase 66.7% from 2000 to 2006. The county is located along the Atlantic coast between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. The number of residents has now reach 83,000 

The second, third and fourth fastest-growing counties were Kendall, Ill. (61.7%), Rockwall, Texas (60.5%, and Loudoun, Va. (58.5%). Three of the 10 fastest-growing counties between 2000 and 2006 were in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., metropolitan area. In order, they were Forsyth, ranking fifth with 53.4% growth; Henry, ranking eighth at 49.2%; and Paulding, ninth at 48.9%.

Others in the top 10 were Pinal County, Ariz., with a 51% increase during the six year period, Douglas County, Colo., with a 50% increase, and Lyon County, Nev., with a 48.5% growth.  Among the 20 fastest-growing counties from 2000 to 2006, 13 were in the South, four in the West and three in the Midwest. To view a table of the top 100 counties and their ranking, click here. 

The largest numerical increase of the nation's 3,141 counties, according to estimates by the Census Bureau, was Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix metro area), which gained 696,000 residents between 2000 and 2006. This increase surpasses the total population of all but 15 U.S. cities. Maricopa County, has 3.8 million residents, making it the nation's fourth largest county. The dramatic increase in this county's population is the main reason Arizona became the nation's fastest-growing state between 2005 and 2006. 

Harris County, Texas, (Houston metro area) had the second largest numeric increase between 2000 and 2006, at 486,000, and totaled 3.9 million. Riverside, Calif. (481,000); Los Angeles (429,000); and Clark, Nev. (402,000) rounded out the top five county gainers. 

Among the 10 counties that added the largest number of residents between 2000 and 2006, three were in Texas (Harris, Tarrant and Collin), three in California (Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino), one in Georgia (Gwinnett) and one in Illinois (Will). Among the 20 counties with the largest numeric gains, 19 were in the South or West. 

Some counties or county equivalents experienced declining populations. Orleans Parish in Louisiana, which was hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina, had the largest population loss during the six-year period: 261,000. Orleans was followed by Wayne County, Mich., which lost 89,000 residents, and Cook County, Ill., with a population decline of 88,000. In 2006, Orleans Parish totaled 223,000 residents, while the population in Wayne and Cook declined to 2 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Eight of the 10 counties with the fastest rate of population decline between 2005 and 2006 were in Louisiana or Mississippi.
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New Study Finds Chest Compressions Only Provides Better CPR

A new study on the effectiveness of CPR finds that using chest compressions only in certain types cardiac arrest events leads to a higher survival rate. The study, published last month in the well-respected British medical journal, The Lancet, reported that the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting are almost twice as high if bystanders perform chest-compression-only resuscitation instead of traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with mouth-to-mouth breathing. It analyzed the outcomes of resuscitation attempts performed by lay people at the scene after they witnessed a person collapse due to cardiac arrest. 

Advocates say the study provides unequivocal evidence that chest-compression-only resuscitation boosts survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, for respiratory arrest such as near-drowning, drug overdose or choking, the American Heart Association guidelines for performing CPR consisting of 2 breaths after every 30 chest compressions is still the appropriate method. 

In conducting the study researchers analyzed the outcomes of 4,068 cases of witnessed collapse of adults in the Kanto area in Japan. The prospective, multi-center observational study, named SOS-KANTO, is the first large-scale account comparing the survival rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who were treated either with or without mouth-to-mouth ventilations by bystanders at the scene. 

"The report confirms that what we have learned in animal experiments applies to humans as well," says Gordon A. Ewy, MD, director of the Sarver Heart Center at The University of Arizona in Tucson where chest-compression-only resuscitation was developed. "Bystander-initiated continuous chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breathing is the preferable approach for witnessed unexpected collapse, which is usually due to cardiac arrest." 

In an invited editorial titled "Cardiac Arrest -- Guideline Changes Urgently Needed," published in the same issue of the journal, Ewy notes that eliminating the need for mouth-to-mouth ventilation not only is more effective, but also should dramatically increase the incidence of bystander-initiated resuscitation efforts.

Ewy and the Resuscitation Research Group at the UA Sarver Heart Center have advocated continuous chest compressions without assisted breathing as the appropriate method for cardiac arrest for years. "For cardiac arrest, the term 'rescue breathing' is actually a paradox," says Ewy. "We now know that not only is it not helpful, but it's often harmful." 

Studies have shown that because current CPR guidelines call for mouth-to-mouth ventilations, the majority of people would not perform CPR on a stranger, partly out of fear of contracting diseases. Researchers have found that even if bystanders are willing to perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation, it takes too much time away from chest compressions, which have to be continuous to improve the chance of survival. 

All studies on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have shown that the chance of survival is greatest in patients whose heart is in a condition that allows paramedics to shock it back into a normal rhythm with a defibrillator. Among these patients, the SOS-KANTO researchers found the percentage surviving with a favorable neurological outcome to be 19.4% if bystanders administered chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth ventilations. In contrast, the favorable neurological survival rate in those who received chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing was only 11.2%.
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