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As our beautiful Alaska spring turns to summer, many people sneeze and sniffle more than their normal. Pesky seasonal allergies can make enjoying our gorgeous outdoors difficult. Let's go over helpful information about recognizing allergic reactions, treating them, and minimizing seasonal allergies. First, let's talk about how to know if you're having an allergic reaction. Mild to moderate symptoms include sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, watery or itchy eyes, and itchy throat. You might also...
Dear Savvy Senior, Q. My husband and I, who are retired, have accumulated about $7,000 in credit card debt over the past few years and need some help paying it off. What can you tell us? - Living Underwater A. Dear Living, I’m sorry to hear about your financial woes but know that you’re not alone. Credit card debt has become a big problem in this country for millions of older Americans. According to a recent AARP report, 52 percent of adults ages 50 to 64 have credit card debt, along with 42 percent of those ages 65 to 74. Rising costs of bas...
Jury duty scams are on the rise in Alaska, and it's crucial to know how they work so you can avoid them. One common scam involves an email that claims you missed jury service and includes a calendar to select a week when you'll be available. The email may threaten fines or imprisonment if you don't respond. This email is not from the Alaska Court System or the U.S. District Court...It's from a scammer! Do not click any links in this email. In another version of this scam, a caller claims to be...
Alaska’s summer solstice season offers long hours of light, warmer days, and a strong pull for Alaskans to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds us. For individuals living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), June is a great time to embrace the outdoors. Summer’s sunshine brings plenty of chances for fun and connection, but it also comes with a few extra things for caregivers to keep in mind. Whether it’s a gentle walk on a local trail or time spent gardening on a porch, outdoor activities can support emotional well-be...
“Can you write up some instructions for my heirs, telling them everything they need to do when I’m gone?” I get asked this question periodically and the answer is always no. There are so many things a person has to do when their loved one has passed that I would have to write up more than just a few pages. In fact, given that circumstances may have changed by the time the client is deceased, in order to cover all the possibilities, I would basically have to write a book. I suppose I could write...
Q. Which is best for home use, an inkjet or laser printer? A. The answer depends a great deal on what you want to print. There are tradeoffs that will narrow down your options quickly. If you want to print in color, inkjet is a clear winner. But color printing can be expensive. This reality will reveal itself slowly, around the time you discover the price for replacement ink cartridges. If you regularly print high-quality photo images, you’ll find ink costs probably surpass the cost of a photo lab. It is a balance between cost and c...
Creamy, tangy ranch dressing, a beloved condiment that has become a staple in American households, has a fascinating origin story rooted in the rugged wilderness of Alaska. Its creation can be traced to the early 1950s when a plumber-turned-cowboy found himself cooking for hungry work crews in the remote Alaska bush. In 1949, Nebraska-born Steve Henson arrived in Anchorage to pursue a career as a plumbing contractor. While working on remote job sites, he took on the additional role of camp...
How many Alaska seniors have wings? Hmm, perhaps that's not the best way to phrase it. How about, "How many Alaska seniors are snowbirds?" Better. It's an interesting question because we all know at least a couple of snowbirds. Heck, maybe even you are a snowbird, but that doesn't really tell us much about the big picture. Turns out that counting snowbirds is a bit of a sticky wicket. "Snowbirds are hard to measure because they either remain residents and therefore aren't counted as...
The Social Security Administration (SSA) scrapped a service change in April that would have exacerbated their customer service challenges by forcing Alaskans to have to go in-person to a Social Security office in Anchorage, Juneau, or Fairbanks for routine services that have been handled over the phone. As a result of AARP’s strong advocacy, applying by phone at 800-772- 1213 and confirming your identity in the process remains an option for people claiming all types of benefits. Once you're receiving benefits, you don't have to prove your i...
Government imposter scams, where criminals pose as government employees, are one of the most common scams. Pretending to be from Social Security is one of the top government imposter scams. In 2023, Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) received 73,626 reports of Social Security impersonators and related scams, a 13.7% increase from 2022. Here is what a Social Security imposter scam looks like: You receive a call, text, or email from someone claiming to be from Social Security. The phone number may be spoofed to look like i...
Dear Readers: We invite you to contribute to a new column "I used to ..." where you can regale us with a story of your most memorable time living in Alaska. And tell us what you're doing now to cope with not being able to do what you did! I met my husband Bruce Ware, on the M/V Columbia parting out and my first impression of him was, "Must be from Haines, they don't make hippies like that anymore." But he was from Tenakee Springs and was biking down to California "to party with the hippie chicks...
Fifty-five years ago this year, John Denver performed "Take Me Home, Country Roads" for the first time in public at The Cellar Door music club in Washington, D.C. Released as a single in April the following year, "Country Roads" (as it's fondly known) quickly became a pop sensation. With its catchy, sing-along melody and heartfelt lyrics, the hit song resonated across borders-national and international-even though it paid tribute to a single U.S. state, West Virginia. Evoking deep nostalgia and...
Some years back I had a new client whose husband had recently passed away. She had gone to her broker to see about changing some things on their investment account, and was told she only had control of half of it. She was confused, and asked me why they would restrict her access to this joint account. She kept referring to that account as the “ten-com” account, which I did not understand until I finally got her to show me the account statement. After her name and her husband’s name, it said...
Q. What is a good app for taking notes on an iPhone? A. Every Mac, iPad, and iPhone has an app called Notes. This app is one of Apple’s most powerful apps, and it has a wealth of features that are not immediately obvious. The easiest way to use the app is launch it and create a new note. Add a title and start typing. The message can be as long as you want. There is a formatting bar for making text bold or underlined, and for selecting a typeface and font size. Notes also understands hashtags. Anything following a # symbol will become a tag. A...
Q: What are general recommended daily supplements, nutrition guidelines and dietary needs for a person aged 65 to 75 years old? A: It's great to see your interest in health and wellness as you navigate this vibrant stage of life. Proper nutrition and the right supplements can make a significant difference in maintaining overall health, energy, and vitality. Here are some tailored recommendations for individuals aged 65 to 75 years old: Daily supplements 1. Multivitamin: A once-daily...
Spring is such a lovely time of year with sunny days, blooming flowers, budding trees and birds chirping. But millions of Americans suffer from seasonal allergies and suffer from wheezing, sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes and other indignities. Even staying inside won’t necessarily cure the problem because indoor irritants such as pet dander, mold, dust mites and scented cleaning products can all trigger allergic reactions. Your nasal passages and the entire mechanism of the lungs (from the large bronchial tubes to the alveolae, which are t...
There are a variety of keyboards that can make accessing a computer or tablet easier. The Logickeyboard large-print keyboard provides an oversized, high-contrast print on each key, ensuring a clear, easy-to-read interface. These large-print keyboards are ideal options for those with visual impairments and low vision. Large print and high-contrast keyboards a couple of examples of keyboards that make computer use more accessible. This column is brought to you by ATLA (Assistive Technology of...
Taking the drug Ozempic and other drugs in this class may help you live longer. With GLP-1 drugs dominating headlines for their impact on weight loss and metabolic health, new discussions around their potential role in extending healthy lifespan are emerging. Dr. Christoph Westphal, co-founder and general partner of Longwood Fund, said the biotech industry is partnering with physicians and the result is rather remarkable. “Within three or four or five years, if we can prove that with GLP-1s y...
The Klondike gold rush, a pivotal moment in Alaska's history, is often associated with tales of hardship, adventure, and the pursuit of fortune. But recent research has uncovered a lesser-known aspect of this era: the prevalence of practical jokes among the prospectors and settlers-and not only on April Fools' Day. Practical jokes and pranks were a common way for miners and settlers to find amusement and pass the long hours of toil and hardship. The monotonous routine of mining life and the...
Q. I am going to retire soon and I plan to write a book. Is there an app that will help me create an outline? A. There are so many apps that fit the criteria of your question that it is difficult to recommend a “best” one. Most word processors can generate outlines. There are also dedicated outliners. If you use a Mac, there are a number of excellent dedicated outliners, the best of which is OmniOutliner from Omni Software (omnigroup.com). For some reason, a great outliner app has never appeared on Windows. Search online for a Windows out...
Switching permanently to either standard time or daylight saving time would disadvantage either early risers or night owls, according to experts. The current system provides each group with benefits for half the year. Now, the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time is calling for change. The group contends abolishing seasonal time changes and adopting permanent standard time, follows science and prioritizes public health, safety and efficiency. A survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that half (50%) of Americans support...
When I first started at Senior Voice, I asked my boss how long she’d worked here. She sighed, “Thirteen years.” That was thirty-one years ago. I was straight out of college, coming from a news editor position at UAA’s student newspaper, and in my early 30s. Senior issues were not something I was familiar with. But soon I was neck-deep writing about hospital Certificates of Need, Medicaid spend-down tactics, municipal senior property tax exemptions and other dense but important topics. One of my recollections from those early days is a convers...
Here is a true story. The recorder was on. One day, during the reign of Anchorage Mayor Daniel Sullivan (2009 – 2015, not to be confused with current Senator Dan Sullivan), I was interviewing the mayor for a local newsletter. We were up in his eighth floor office that had a spectacular view of downtown through a number of floor-to-ceiling windows. I asked him for his comment about a University of Alaska study which found that, for several decades, the percentage of business contributions to property taxes had been steadily falling, and the perc...
The concerns we hear about from older Americans and older Alaskans and see in poll results most frequently are worries about retirement income, support for family caregivers, and programs for aging independently at home. AARP Alaska’s top priorities focus on policies that address these concerns. Retirement income security Retirement readiness is good for Alaska and good for Alaskans. Protecting Social Security is a top priority at the federal level, but Social Security is not enough to live on. Increased savings and access to benefits e...
Our Congress wrote legislation which was intended to reinforce the opportunity to enroll into Medicare when first eligible (if a delayed enrollment, such as when you are covered by your employer’s healthcare plan). This was done by adding a ten percent (10%) additional amount to the Part B monthly premium, for each 12-month period without fully enrolled Medicare coverage. Also, for individuals and couples filing jointly who may have greater annual modified adjusted gross incomes, an Income-Relat...
