Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog)

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:37 PM PDT

The real BBUS post can be found here… Finding the Long Term Care We Need by Joe Hauckes © Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog) . Not on Senior Zen!
Iframe support required to view this content.Some things around the Hauckes household are difficult to discuss and can easily turn into a total silence between Karen and I for hours. Sometimes longer. Ok, money is one, but everyone deals with that.

But since we are getting older and our health is not as good as it was when we met, fell in love and got married, things like health insurance, life insurance and who takes care of whom when we become unable to take care of ourselves are right up there with the best of the contentious subjects.

Even though we run this Blog and the Baby Boomers US Forum to help other boomers deal with these things, we can still disagree about how to go about the best way to handle this getting old thing ourselves.

We’ve both had to deal with our parents at various stages of ageing, sickness, being helpless as a baby and death. We even wrote posts on the blog about the diffficulties we each faced and how we handled those situations. Why can’t we just talk it out between us?

Well, we actually did and this is what we came up with.

We both know we don’t want to be a burden on anyone else. The house is already paid for, why go to an assisted living place unless it is necessary.

There is no way we can expect our families to come here to take care of us, they have lives of their own and shouldn’t have to babysit us instead of taking care of their own responsibilities.

We can’t really afford to move into a normal run of the mill “Retirement Community’” with all the bells and whistles that will take care of your every need (for a price).

There are a lot of options out there, but most are either out of our price range or sound too much like Fairview from the Brit-com “Waiting for God”.

As of now it looks like there are a lot of options that don’t fit our criteria of keeping the house, having a helping hand when we need it and most importantly, in our price range.

However…

While looking into a CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community) we kinda stumbled upon an option that few have noticed or ever considered… CCRCWW (Continuing Care Retirement Community Without Walls).

CCRCWW’s are basically the same as a CCRC but instead of buying a townhouse, apartment or condo, you stay in your home, pay a lower entrance fee and monthly premium (usually by thousands) and get the same basic services as the rest of the community.

This is something Karen and I need to investigate and discuss in much more detail in the near future.

Best of both worlds? Hope so!

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Age-Targeted Travel to Please All Generations

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:14 AM PDT

The real BBUS post can be found here… Age-Targeted Travel to Please All Generations by Felicia Baratz-Savage © Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog) . Not on Senior Zen!
The generation in which an individual was born may seem largely inconsequential; however, studies suggest that this generational grouping could have a larger impact on preferences than it would seem. Today, three main generation groups exist: the Baby Boomers, a group including individuals born between the years of 1946 and 1964; the Generation Xers, individuals born between 1965 and 1978; and Gen Y, those born between 1979 and 1999. Because the time periods in which these individuals spent their formative years are so vastly different from each other, sociologists suggest that their preferences have been forever influenced, impacting everything from what type of car they’re inclined to drive to what they desire in a vacation.

Baby Boomers' Travel Wants

When seeking the perfect vacation getaway, baby boomers traditionally look for simplicity and ease of travel. In part because they are aging and in part because they simply like the feel of comfort and ease, these travelers are most interested in leisurely and laid-back travel, often seeking pre-planned travel packages instead of planning their own itineraries. Open roads and country landscapes consistently draw these travelers, leading them to opt for drives in the West or exploration of national parks and other beautiful landscapes. They also commonly seek second honeymoons, as their kids have left the home and they're free from the burden of child rearing. For these travelers, destinations like the Smokey Mountains, the Grand Canyon and even exotic Hawaii, the perfect location for a romantic second honeymoon, hold the ultimate appeal.

Generation X Escapes

Generation X travelers often put great stock in selecting a highly functional hotel, as they want a home away from home that's more comfortable than the one to which they are accustomed. When they aren't staying in the lap of luxury at a fine hotel, they delight in becoming one with the outdoors and camping under the stars. Girls-only weekends and baby-moons are two travel trends uniquely characteristic of this generation. These travelers often plan their own escapes, using travel websites to do so. They also traditionally appreciate on-the-fly travel, enjoying the thrill of planning eleventh-hour escapes. For travelers in this generation, a last-minute weekend trip to one of the many Chicago hotels that feature fine amenities and comfort would prove pleasing, as would a girls-only spa weekend in Colorado or a pre-baby romantic adventure in a rustic lakeside cabin in Michigan.

Gen-Y Hits the Road

As members of Generation Y have grown into adulthood, they've developed their own generational travel preferences. These young travelers are often highly concerned with the status of their destinations, eager to go places that will impress their friends and provide them with good travel stories to take home. They're also a largely eco-conscious generation, seeking hotels that have adopted ecologically friendly practices or sites at which they can acquire information about how to green-ify their lifestyles. While they're more willing to rough it than some other generations, perhaps as a result of their young age, they're also interested in the little extras, often delighting in spending one night in a particularly ritzy hotel or partaking in a single day at a spa on their vacations. For Gen Y travelers, exotic Europe and South America hold extreme appeal, as these destinations possess the status sought by these individuals. They're also commonly drawn to large cities with much to do, such as metropolitan Chicago or New York, as these urban playgrounds provide them plenty of amusement.

Planning travel to please the whole family, particularly when the family includes individuals from more than one generation, may seem a chore given the different proclivities of individuals in each age group. However, with some care and the selection of a diverse destination with much to offer, you can effectively delight all your travel companions, no matter how wide their age range.