Did you know that head lice infestations are most common throughout the year in the month of January? It's true, unfortunately, 6 to 12 million infestations occur each year in the United States among children 3 to 11 years of age. January tends to ring in the New Year with head lice as kids are returning to school after winter break, reuniting with friends and sharing winter gear such as hats and scarves- where lice tend to call home.
Lice Clinics of America expert.
3 Tips To Help Women Prepare
For Long-Term Health Care
Women spend much of their lives caring for others. As mothers and wives, they never seem to stop giving to their families and husbands.
So who will take care of mom if she needs long-term care? Or will she plan ahead for her long-term care?
It’s important that she does. Women typically outlive men by an average of about five years. According to aarp.org, more than two-thirds of Americans 85 or older are women. And about 79 percent of 65-year-old women will need long-term care during their lifetime, according to a study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
Women often become long-term caregivers for their husbands or other family members. And as statistics show, they are also more likely to become widowed before needing long-term care themselves. Her husband’s needs may have further drained assets, leaving the widow with less financial wherewithal to apply to her own care.
“Women too often don’t adequately plan ahead for LTC needs,” says Lisa Odoski, a financial professional focusing on women’s well-being and Vice President of the Fried Group, the parent company of TFG Wealth Management (www.tfgwealth.com).
“At the same time, research shows among unpaid care-givers in the U.S., two-thirds are women. They sacrifice a lot – sometimes their own careers or reducing their regular work hours.
“Women today have a greater risk of needing LTC services and of becoming unpaid caregivers. It’s an important time for them to develop an LTC strategy that helps preserve their total financial future.”
Odoski gives three tips to help women prepare for their long-term care:
• Educate yourself. Family financial planning used to be almost exclusively the men’s turf. Those days are long gone, and with many houses running on two incomes and women outliving men, women need to make planning for their distant future more of a priority. But an AARP survey showed 60 percent of women hadn’t considered how they would pay for long-term care. “They should start by consulting an investment expert and financial planner,” Odoski says. “They need to get up to speed on senior care costs, insurance and savings plans.”
• Know your retirement benefits and your spouse’s. Women should take advantage of their employer’s retirement plan and not delay in saving for their future, including the last years they may spend alone. It’s especially important, in the event of divorce or their spouse’s death, to know their spousal rights in regard to their spouse’s pension, Social Security or veteran’s benefits. “They don’t want to be in a position where most of their spouse’s benefits are going toward their own care,” Odoski says.
• Think long-term with your budget. Women should have specific goals and a plan to save toward them. The statistics say the goals should include a portion devoted to long-term care insurance, which covers a wide spectrum of products and services. “They should lay out all monthly and annual spending needs and crunch the numbers to determine what they’ll need in later years in order to maintain their familiar lifestyle,” Odoski says. “They need to look at all LTC options. Medicare and private insurance usually aren’t enough to cover long-term care anymore.”
“After decades of taking care of others,” Odoski says, “women more than ever need to know how to take care of themselves.”
About Lisa Odoski
Lisa Odoski is Vice President of the Fried Group, the parent company of TFG Wealth Management (www.tfgwealth.com). She is dedicated to helping women protect and preserve their lifestyle by developing life plans that promote physical, emotional and financial well being. She is a licensed professional and has augmented her expertise by becoming a certified Registered ParaplannerSM through the College for Financial Planning®.
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SPOTLIGHT ON... Maryland
Turn up the Heat. We are asking the same question that you are -- why are there ANY schools in Baltimore not being heated? Unexpected and frigid temperatures aside, old boilers and pipes in schools have been anticipated for years. Eight schools remained closed Monday, and the Governor announced $2.5 million for repairs – on top of the already $24 million the city gets from the state ($12,000 per student annually) – and that he’d investigate mismanagement. The city says it’s underfunded. Yet, a look at the data on student achievement compared to funds spent suggest that all of whatever funding they have has its issues reaching the kids. Baltimore is also plagued with a union that stages sick outs and schools where teachers fail to report to class.
Business as Usual. Another year, another superintendent. The past 12 years have seen 5 superintendents in Baltimore City. It's not the pay, which most recently was $287,000. It's not the cause, which is vital. So it must be the politics, the treatment the vested interests that get to great people once they've taken the job. Or the untenable position they find themselves in. Take Dallas Dance, who by all accounts was an incredibly insightful superintendent. Some in the community - and the press - made a big deal of his involvement with Ed-Tech companies, claiming he had conflicts. Anyone engaged in education leadership may, along the way, actually work for or advise businesses in their products and services. Do we really expect educational leaders to forgo any livelihood outside of education administration? Dance was also criticized for spending lots of time out of the state. Where else do you think people learn how to make Maryland better for kids? (No wonder the city can't heat its schools). The measurement should be whether your leadership is great for kids, period. American business is the foundation of American prosperity, folks. We should want leaders with business acumen. Speaking of which…
Innovation Shows the Way. A host of organizations in and around Baltimore are models. There’s the Towson University Incubator which has grown to be the most active edtech hub in Maryland, with support of over 30 companies, 80% in edtech. You can run over to the offices of Educate, Inc. and learn about how personalized learning closes gaps for kids. There’s Calvert Education, offering a time-tested, proven curriculum and all the tools and support necessary to ensure homeschool success; and Connections Academy up the road, delivering virtual learning programs that offer students everything they need to reach their highest potential. Dozens of active engaged citizens and philanthropists are shelling out time and money. And Johns Hopkins Ed School has become a thought leader, and certainly some of the city’s charter schools could show the district a thing or two. If only…
But About That Charter Law. Maryland's law consistently ranks low on national rankings, most notably ours! It's very much a law in name only these days, vesting power in charter-resistant school districts to control just about everything that could possibly occur in the schools. Baltimore escaped some of this hostility in the early days of the 2003 law because it had enlightened leaders at the time - and help from groups like ours. But since then, expansion in Charm City and throughout the state has been fraught with union and district hostilities. Despite a "friendly" state board, no additional innovations in chartering have occurred during the Hogan years. Despite that, the US DoEd just awarded $17.5 million in public charter grant funds to the state from a program that the likes of former Sen. Joe Lieberman advanced to help incentivize new schools and seats for kids. Such opportunities come so seldom anymore. Will those who dare to dream for kids please stand up? If the recent heat-gate didn't compel the legislature to expand opportunities for kids, let's hope the esteemed body will act now.
*Graphic c. 2015 -- MD Charter Law Ranked #42 in CER's 2017 PPI Rankings and Scorecard
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TELL US YOUR STORY! Is your state or city missing a big piece of the puzzle? Are you involved in an effort to make significant changes? Maybe you’re running a school. Maybe you’re driving change in your school or community and have hit a roadblock. The bottom line is that no effort is too small.
Share with CER how you are helping deliver the promise of an excellent education for ALL children. Together we can show how innovative education opportunities are bettering students’ lives.
Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.
