For older homeowners worried about falling short on their retirement savings, home equity can provide a much needed boost if they play their cards right using a reverse mortgage. The strategy involves obtaining a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) line of credit at the earliest eligible, and then letting the loan balance in the credit…

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How do you buy a home after retiring? If you have one that’s paid for, you could sell and use the proceeds to buy another. You could raid your savings if you have enough. Or you could get a mortgage if you have enough income and good credit. But even if that’s possible, who wants…

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Memory training is far less effective in older adults who are obese than those who aren’t, a new study finds. The research included about 2,800 people, average age 74, who were followed for more than 10 years. Obese participants gained only one-third of the benefit of memory training compared with those who weren’t obese, the…

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Once you’ve done your research on reverse mortgages and gained a more complete understanding of the product, the next step is to decide if a reverse mortgage is right for your situation. If you’re eligible (a homeowner 62 years of age or older with equity in your principal residence), this may be a quick decision…

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There’s a 70% chance that people over 65 will need some kind of long-term care, including services such as home care, assisted living and skilled nursing, according to government statistics. There are lots of ways to pay for long-term care services, including Medicare, Medicaid, traditional health insurance, long-term care insurance, life insurance and annuities. Some…

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Seniors who struggle to make out what people are saying around the dinner table or on a noisy street may have perfectly “normal” hearing. The problem could actually be in the brain, a new study suggests. Trouble processing conversations in a loud setting may indicate that the brain’s ability to quickly and easily process speech…

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Napping for an hour in the afternoon may provide a mental boost for older adults, a new study suggests. This extra daytime sleep was linked to improved memory and ability to think clearly among the Chinese study participants, the researchers said. The study included information from nearly 3,000 adults aged 65 and older. The investigators…

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The prices of brand-name drugs used by many older Americans rose nearly 130 times faster than inflation last year, a new study reports. “This new report once again highlights the high and unrelenting price increases that are shockingly common in the pharmaceutical market,” said Debra Whitman. She is chief public policy officer at AARP, a…

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As baby boomers retire at the rate of 10,000 per day, many of them are woefully underfunded for their future retirement needs. While reverse mortgages have gotten a bad rap over the last decade, the product has changed and become more regulated. Reverse mortgages are now gaining a lot of attention as a viable option…

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Most people prefer to be cared for in their home rather than a nursing home or other care facility, but finding a home care provider for you or a loved one can be daunting. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking for a caregiver. LEVEL OF CARE The first thing to consider…

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