Still Clickin

Our biggest Halloween 2008 scare is certainly the financial news. For seniors who have retired, or are about to, this type of news is certainly not encouraging. The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates by half a point once again, and the stock market seems to be primed for ‘another record’ rise or fall. The only sure thing happening is uncertainty. Whatever nest egg anyone has is certainly smaller at this point. Any income from that smaller egg is shrinking.

Of course, the financial picture is never just about finances or sub-prime mortgages. In this week’s cover story for Newsweek, The World That Awaits, by Richard N. Haass, Mr. Haass addresses President #44. He writes,

“There will be days when you will wonder why you worked so hard to get this job. What will make it so difficult is not just all that awaits, but the constraints that will limit what you can actually do. When George W. Bush became president nearly eight years ago the world was largely at peace, the U.S. military was largely at rest, oil was $23 a barrel, the economy was growing at more than 3 percent, $1 was worth 116 yen, the national debt was just under $6 trillion and the federal government was running a sizable budgetary surplus. The September 11 attacks, for all they cost us as a nation, increased the world’s willingness to cooperate with us. You, by contrast, will inherit wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tired and stretched armed forces, a global struggle with terrorism, oil that has ranged as high as $150 a barrel, a weaker dollar (now worth 95 yen), substantial anti-American sentiment, a federal budget deficit that could reach $1 trillion in your first year, a ballooning national debt of some $10 trillion and a global economic slowdown that will increase instability in numerous countries.”

What does this mean for seniors? Truthfully, I have no idea. I can only share my suspicions.

• Since the current mess isn’t just financial, I suspect this downward cycle will be both deep and long. Financially, the world is too inter-linked for anything to happen too quickly.
• If you are mainly in stocks, I wouldn’t anticipate much performance over the next year. The bottom of the stock market isn’t going to be the result of any daily spike. It will occur as the result of some external event in the middle of a long trough. The improvement out of that trough will be very gradual for a number of weeks. I suspect the current daily spikes are simply nervous, knee-jerk reactions.
• If you are mainly in cash, feel blessed that you have maintained the principal. However, the revenue you can generate from that cash will get less before it gets better. One-year CD’s may be a smart choice at the moment, because rates may not improve that much over the next 12 months.
• If you are on social security, the cost of living formula that penalized seniors last year made up for it this year. At 5.8%, that adjustment together with the lower energy costs that are starting to ripple through the economy, will help dealing with this coming year.
• With the outlook for cash so dim, I also intend to take another look at restarting the social security clock. Check out the . Such a move might be rash, but it is certainly worth doing the math.

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Whether you have a daughter traveling around the globe, a son and his family living on the opposite coast, or a longtime friend in another city that loves a long chat, Skype is a service that you should consider. Last night, we talked to our daughter in South America, and it was great the hear her voice. Of course, there is always email or plain, old long distance, but Skype is a new alternative.

With Skype, you are talking through an Internet connection from one computer to another. The advantages -

• The price (free) is right for everyone’s budget.
• If you have a video camera, you can even see the people at the other end on your computer screen. And,
• It is extremely easy to use.

Slight disadvantages that were noticed -

• There is a greater delay in the switch between speaking and listening, but you seem to quickly adapt to the rhythm of the conversation.
• You need to have a microphone and headset to plug into the computer. You can purchase a reasonable headset pair together with a video camera for about $40.

The wonder is that it works as well as it does. For the free service, you both have to be at the computer at the same time, but we found that it was reasonably easy to schedule that ahead of time via email. (There is also a method to place a call from the computer directly to a telephone, but there is a slight charge for that service.)

To use Skype, the technical requirements are -

• a PC with 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 10 MB free disk space, a sound card, and Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, or Linux, - OR -
• a Mac G4 800 Mhz and above, any G5 or any Intel processor, 512MB RAM, 40 MB free disk space, and OS X v10.3.9 Panther or newer,
• an Internet Connection - either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband: cable or DSL (you need the broadband for the video),
• a microphone and speakers or headset, and
• the Skype software which you can download for free from Skype

That is the entire deal! If you are intimidated by the technology, have one of your grandchildren set it up for you. Once it’s there, it is very easy to enjoy. You’ll love it! And the price is certainly right!

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There is something about a surgery that makes you stop and reflect. Lying there on the table and surrounded by people in masks, it seems a bit surreal. People move quickly. They have a definite agenda. You may be at center stage with the lights all focused upon you, but as the mask goes over your face and you start to breathe as instructed, you suddenly realize that you are not the subject of all this attention, but the object. You are the “cutee”, and the “cut to cure” process is about to begin.

Rather than blogging during the past month, I’ve had a couple of surgeries. The more painful one was the less serious. Neither one was that threatening, but both engendered their own thoughts and concerns.

One thing that surgery forces you to confront is physical pain. Pain is a very personal issue, and try as they might, no one else can directly share or lift that burden from you. It is yours alone to deal with. Of course, you can drug your way through it, but drugs bring their own kind of pain. Ultimately, we all have to face some of it. Some thoughts -

• The biggest thing you want to understand about your personal pain is its duration. How long will it last. If you can know what that time line, you can deal with it far differently than someone who faces a chronic situation.
• Pain is a great communicator of health status. Synapses shooting through to the brain send the message that you may or may not want to try to move in a certain direction. That alert could increase your cure rate considerably. The hurt may actually help, so that you may want to reconsider the amount of medication used.
• Pain also tells you how your sutures are working. Fundamentally, you are told to keep the wound higher than your heart, but that tough to do when they run across your gut. Instead, I was told to use ice packs, and they were very helpful during the first couple of days.
• Overall, pain is very personal. Each of us has their own level. The best thing to do is respect that individuality and handle it in the way that’s right for you.

Another thought that surgery sparks is about the medical profession. My sense is that lawyers and the insurance industry have unfairly placed the medical profession on the defensive. How often have you heard of a lawyer being sued for malpractice? And for insurance, all we have to consider is the AIG Bail Out. I’m not saying that doctors don’t make mistakes, but fundamentally, these are the people that are out there trying to cure you. Generally, they do a very competent job, and I think that we are all very fortunate that they are trying so hard.

Some of my sutures have been removed. Others are being adsorbed. The ridge of scar tissue that remains, I’ll just have to deal with. But I appreciate the fact that I’ll be able to deal. Fundamentally, at the end of a surgery with a good prognosis, you feel quite blessed.

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