Surviving Old Age

By Kathy Wernly

…Live Long and Prosper!

Social security?  Medicare?  Medicaid?  Long Term Care Insurance?  Assisted Living?  Downsizing?  Scammers?  Hospice?

This book has the answers to your questions…even before you ask.  What you don't know about searching for benefits can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Whether you're approaching your own golden years or if you are a caregiver for your parents or grandparents, you need to be informed of your options.  Knowledge is power.  Old age is not for the weak-hearted.  Get a head-start on the process of living well.  Learn from someone who has already discovered the roadblocks and paved the way for your success.   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nightwriter93
• Release date: Apr 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386586333

Book preview

LICENSE NOTES

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Surviving Old Age

Author:  Kathy Wernly

ISBN:  9781980876007

1. Self-Help.  2. Aging.  3. Retirement.  4. Estate Planning.

This book is based on actual events.  No harm or malice was intended toward anyone or any company.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the written permission of both the copyright author and the publisher of this book.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author or publisher is illegal and punishable by law.  Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials.  Your support of the author’s right is appreciated. 

All rights are reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or NightWriter, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact information:   [e-mail]

Cover Art by Bob Wernly

Kathy Clark, Editor

First printing April, 2018 by NightWriter93

Published in the United States of America

DEDICATION

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This book is dedicated to my mother.  I know people think their mother is the best, but I know the truth.  My mother is the kindest, more generous person I’ve ever met.  She is an amazing woman, intelligent, strong, and fierce.  Her faith in God is unshakeable in spite of all the tragedies she’s endured.  I know that when I die, she and my dad will be waiting for me with open arms to welcome me home.  I love you, Mom.

And to my husband, Bob, the only person I want to share this journey with.  You make every day better.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

License Notes

Dedication

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Social Security

Chapter Two

Insurance

Chapter Three

Long-Term Care Insurance

Chapter Four

Important Papers

Chapter Five

Medicaid

Chapter Six

Valuables

Chapter Seven

VA Benefits

Chapter Eight

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Chapter Nine

Assisted or Independent Living?

Chapter Ten

Hospice

Epilogue

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

Let me start by saying that I don’t feel old.  Bob Dylan said it best in his song My Back Pages...I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.  As painful as it is, we must all accept that sooner or later, we’ll become seniors.  (The alternative sucks!)  At some point we all reach an age when you have to think twice before you buy green bananas.  I’m not there yet, but I can see it on the horizon. 

As I approached retirement age, I started searching for advice about social security and Medicare.  I made some decisions that I later regretted because I couldn’t find anything that offered facts and options.  Then my mother got sick, and I had to make even more decisions on her behalf.  It occurred to me that someone should write a book gathering all that information into one place.

Duh!  I’m a writer.  Why don’t I share all the information I had gathered about benefits and transitioning?  Hopefully, it will make someone else’s decision-making process easier.

This book is not just for seniors but for those approaching their own retirement or who have aging parents or grandparents who need help.  I make no claims to be a financial, insurance, or medical expert and am not trying to give you advice in those areas.  I’ve included all the shortcuts, pros, and cons for every type of benefit I could discover while trying to help my mother.

She was born in 1930, and for the first 85 years of her life, she has been blessed with excellent health (with the exception of two emergency appendectomies!).  My husband’s job required that we move out of state, so she moved in and lived with us for eighteen years.  She was able to take care of herself and, within the cocoon of us handling all the housing financial responsibilities, she could manage her own money, take care of her private