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Eat Right. Live Longer.

Longevity risk in retirement is both our friend and our foe. Of course, a long healthy life sounds quite appealing. But longevity is also one of our biggest risks in retirement, especially for us women as we tend to live longer than our male counterparts. The main reason for this is that if we aren’t generating income in retirement, a long life could mean that we end up running out of money.  Currently many people and advisors run income projections out to age 100. But what if one day we are able to live to 150? Some crazy new drugs and biotechnological enhancements may someday make this possible.Instead of a 30 or 40 year career, our population may have a 50 or even 80 year career! Yikes. For sure longevity will change how we live and work and retire.

In current day, it’s prudent (and pretty safe) for a woman to have her income projections out to age 100. And of course, it’s prudent to make sure you know how much savings and investments you need to support your retirement lifestyle needs. Understanding any income gaps is critical so that you can make or adjust your income generating plan accordingly.

So that’s addressing the wealth gap, but what about the health gap? How do we close this gap so that we can live a longer, healthier life? Certainly getting your financial plan on track helps with both physical and mental health. Assuming you get this covered, what more can one do?

Of course, when it comes to living a long, healthy life there’s a few major factors that researchers continually see pop up like having a sense of purpose, feeling connected to family and friends, and regularly moving your body are all big ones. And I would had having a solid financial foundation now and in retirement. But what we put into our mouth, I would argue is the biggest determinant.

As we know in the United States about 40% of the population is obese, with a with a body mass index (BMI, a measure of a person’s weight relative to her or his height) above 30. In Spain, only 25% of adults have a BMI above 30; that percentage is 20% in Italy; and a remarkable 5% in Japan. The causes for obesity in America are well known: A poor diet, with too much consumption of packaged and processed food; too many fast food meals; and low levels of exercise due to excess driving caused by an urban sprawl absent in Europe and Japan. Bad diets are also a symptom of the growing economic inequality in the U.S. Fresh, natural and organic products are high-priced relative to packaged and processed food. As a result bad nutrition affects disproportionately those at the bottom of our socio-economic pyramid, with very negative health consequences.

So what can we do to address our own personal health gap?  Quite simply, just like prioritizing your financial plan, you need to prioritize your health and eat right and move more. And I would put more emphasis on eating right. You cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet. Period. Much of the exercise community leads everyone to believe this.

But, it’s so confusing and sometimes overwhelming to know what’s the best way to eat and the nutrition plan to follow. Part of this comes down to personal food preferences and lifestyle, but I think both of these things can change. But just like your financial life, I believe that when you know more, you can have more. And in this context it’s knowing more about food and it’s effect on your health. Understanding what a healthy diet entails and then eating that diet can give you more…more health and perhaps longevity too.

Confused by all the different diet philosophies out there, I went to Barnes and Noble a while back and parked myself in the diet and nutrition book session. Although I’ve been learning about health, nutrition and exercise my whole life I felt like I was at a place where I wanted to be more conscientious about how and what I fed my body. Perhaps it was the aging process that spurred me on. Perhaps it was because I had a bought of breast cancer and wanted to know if I could have done something differently with my diet and change something going forward.  I spent a couple hours reading that day and looking at different diet cookbooks. I did further research over the next couple weeks. I’ve continued to research over the last several years as well.

During this time I considered my food preferences, my health condition, my lifestyle, and my fitness goals. What I ended up deciding was that the Mediterranean diet was the best for me. And I believe it’s probably the best for many people.  And the research seems to back this up. Of course, you can Google anything and find research to back up almost any claim. Which is what makes figuring out this whole health and nutrition puzzle even more challenging. It’s really no different than Googling and researching financial topics. Often, the more you Google and research, the more confused you get with all the conflicting information.

Back to some data that I’ve uncovered…It is unfortunately a well-known fact that adult obesity in the U.S. exceeds that of most countries in the world, including all those ahead of us in the Bloomberg health rankings, which as of 2019 Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland and Sweden topped the list. And it’s not surprise that those countries eat a high fiber, low fat diet. The U.S. ranked 36 healthiest country out of 169, even though we are the 11thwealthiest country.

According to a new peer-reviewed study published in PLOS Medicine, it turns out diet might play a more outsized role than we thought. The study suggests that a young adult living in the U.S. could add more than 10 years to their expected lifespan simply by pivoting away from a typical Western diet and closer to a traditional Mediterranean diet. That means eating much less red and processed meat; and eating many more legumes, whole grains, and nuts.

A Norwegian nutrition researcher and lead study author ,Lars Thore Fadnes told The Daily Beast, “Food is fundamental for health, and global dietary risk factors are estimated to cause 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjusted life years annually. Understanding the health potential of different food groups could enable people to make feasible and significant health gains.” Though previous studies have sought to characterize how diet is associated with lifespan, none have done so “with the same detail” as this new study, said Fadnes.

For the new study, Fadnes and his colleagues ran a broad analysis of data from the Global Burden of Diseases study—a comprehensive 2019 investigation that measured the trends and associations of hundreds of causes of deaths, diseases, and risk factors around the world. They used that data to build a model that identifies key associations between diet and lifespan.

Through the model, the team found that a typical 20-year-old American woman who switched to a more optimal diet would likely see her life expectancy increase by an average of 10.7 years; for American men, the average was 13 years. Even older individuals would experience gains in life expectancy by making the same dietary changes, though these would be a tad more modest (about 8 years for women aged 60; and 8.8 years for men aged 60).

According to the researchers, these gains are highly powered by an emphasis on legumes, which are known to have a beneficial “metabolic profile” and are high in fiber, proteins, carbohydrates, several B-vitamins, copper, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and phosphorous. “Legumes are practically free of saturated fat and cholesterol,” said Fadnes. Whole grains share many of these characteristics, as well. And nuts are known to be dense in nutrients, and rich in antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds.

According to Fadnes, these three foods are staples of diets in the so-called “blue zones” around the world that have unusually high rates of longevity, like Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece.

Western diets, on the other hand, are energy-dense, have more saturated fats, and can produce many unhealthy compounds during preparations like frying and barbecuing—none of which is great for long life. The authors define a Western diet as one that’s heavy on red meat and processed meats, big on sugary drinks, contains about half the optimal amount of fruits and vegetables, and a relatively limited amount of whole grains and fish.

The biggest takeaway, obviously, is that people should move off of Western diets and adopt something similar to the Mediterranean diet. And they should especially start doing so at a young age (that won’t be an easy sell on most college campuses, but maybe someone can figure out a viral marketing campaign for Gen Z). I know this to be true as I have twin girls living off of campus food right now. But one of them is attending a school that is ranked number 1 in the nation in the qualify of food they offer their students.

As I stated earlier in this podcast, I did my research and I’m a Mediterranean diet devotee. Now, I just need to get better at practicing what I’m preaching here. I don’t spend a lot of time in my kitchen. I’m more of a eat to live person and don’t have a lot of patience for food shopping and meal prep. In fact, once when my twins were in car seats and we were driving home, I told the girls we couldn’t make any stops because mommy had to get home to cook dinner. One of them said, “But mommy you don’t cook…you microwave.” What a weisenheimer. I do plan to really get focused on eating in the manner as I move into the new home I just purchased with a really beautiful cooks kitchen.  I’ll be sure to share some of my cooking escapades with you all. It should be a healthy adventure.

One other side affect of longevity I want to mention before closing out this episode is the healthcare costs we’ll have during our long lives. Of course, the benefit of eating better and daily exercise is that you’ll hopefully be able to lower your healthcare costs during your lifetime and particularly in retirement. For a single woman, healthcare costs can be huge over the course of retirement. Out of pocket costs are estimated at $125,000. And this doesn’t include long term care costs.

While this data is a good starting point, we believe at Her Retirement you should use modern tools and software to get better data to base your financial decisions around. When you partner with us for coaching or participate in our membership program, you’ll have access to an amazing tool that provides personalized, science backed projections about your health and care costs. It’s a science-based and research backed software program created by a woman named Heather Holmes who along with her team are experts in the health and longevity space. The tools consider family health risks, projected active and assisted years, projected longevity, projected living to 110, longevity optimizer, projected out of pocket care costs, and projected assisted care costs. The output is a much more accurate projection for these critical care needs in retirement. When you know more, you can have more (however you define more).

I urge every woman listening to this podcast to make sure your retirement plan includes healthcare and long term care costs. We simply don’t know how long we’re going to be on this Earth. But while we are, why not live the longest, happiest, healthiest and wealthiest life we can. It all starts with you. Her Retirement is here to help you get her done.

Thanks for listening. Talk to you next week.

 

Check out this week’s episode! 

 

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How I Decided to Start Lifting and Running Again

Click here to listen to Episode 15: How I Decided to Start Lifting and Running Again

Lynn Toomey :

Hey there everyone. Welcome to this week’s episode of the Walk the Talk Podcast, I am your host Lynn Toomey and the founder of Her Retirement. So this week I am going to be talking about the health side of the health wealth equation. And the title that I’ve decided to give to this episode is how I decided to start lifting weights and running again from being inspired by Jack LaLanne and the 2020 Olympics.

So about five years ago or so I was doing sprint triathlons. I got into it basically referred to from a bunch of friends who were like, hey, we’re early 50s, late 40s, let’s try these sprint triathlon things. So I’ve always been a lifelong athlete, very active. And I said, you know what, it’s a challenge, I want to try it. So I was doing triathlons, so I was running swimming, biking, but I wasn’t lifting. I wasn’t lifting heavy things. So I was very trim and what muscle I had was definitely showing because I was so trim, but I wasn’t as strong as I wanted to be. So I did the triathlons and it was great and I enjoyed it and I completed at least four, which was a huge accomplishment.

But then I decided to turn my attention to lifting weights. But I was inspired one night at about 1:00 AM watching a documentary about Jack LaLanne and how he continued to lift weights late, late, late into life, and how in shape lifting weights made him. So the next day I got up and I decided to start lifting weights. We’ll fast forward a few years, and I tried a lot of different types of lifting centered workouts, I guess you would call them. But fast forward a few years, and I ran into another friend who was thinking about doing a fitness competition. So they’re called bikini fitness competitions where you train your body very hard for a good 16 weeks in order to prepare yourself for a fitness competition in a swimsuit. So you do have some musculature, but you’re not like Arnold Schwarzenegger big. You just have some very nice defined muscles.

So I worked on that for about a year and shortly before my first show, COVID happened. And that really put a huge damper on all the prep that I had done and the mental focus, if you will. So I completely lost my focus and I spent the rest of 2020 working out, but not with the same vim and vigor or the same focus on competing in the fitness show. It was more with a focus on mental and physical health, that’s really what I was aiming for, which was a good thing.

So while I was doing all this lifting and fitness show preparation, my coaches that I had really didn’t encourage me to do too much cardio because they felt that I was thin enough and the cardio can eat away at any muscle gains you make. So I didn’t do cardio. I didn’t do cardio for about two years and it wasn’t until last night when I was sitting on my couch, watching what is known as the 2020 Olympics happening in 2021. And I was watching all these sprinters and these runners and divers and volleyball players and all these people that are so physically fit. But I was especially inspired by the runners because it reminded me of how I used to love to run. And it wasn’t necessarily because I needed to lose weight, it was more because I enjoyed the process of running. I was a two miler ever since seventh grade, I was on the varsity track team and I’ve just always enjoyed running. It was just mentally something that I needed to do. I love being outside. I love nature. And just running through nature made me feel great. So I decided last night that I’m going to get back into running again.

So thank you to all of those amazing Olympic athletes for inspiring me at almost 56 to start running again. And not necessarily because I need to lose weight, but because I need it mentally and I enjoy it. And I actually through my own research and trial and error with my own body have figured out that by running a few days a week, whether I go for two or three miles, or maybe I do a sprint workout, which by the way is really good for you, whether I do those things and if I do those things rather, we’re really not that much running that it’s going to take away my muscle mass. And in fact, that’s not my primary goal anyway, any longer. So kind of the same concept with lifting weights. We as women, it’s really, really hard for us to build bulky, big muscles and I think that’s a misnomer. Trust me, I’ve listed almost six, seven days a week at periods in the last couple of years and I did not get big bulky muscles. And I got muscular, but I did not get big and bulky.

So I think that because I enjoy lifting weights, I love to feel strong, but I also like to go out for a run. I like to go out for a bike. I like to hike. I want to do everything in balance. I don’t really want to do the extreme in any of these cases. I believe that when you do them in balance, your body is best served. That’s my personal opinion. So again, if you enjoy something, put it back on the table. I just think it’s silly to take something off of the table for fear that it might impact something else.

I just truly, truly don’t believe that running a few days a week is going to make an impact on my musculature if I am preparing for a fitness show. And speaking of which it has been a lifelong goal to get up on that stage, don a bikini and show off my hard work, because it is a fitness show. It isn’t a beauty pageant. It is a fitness show and there’s a lot of hard work that these athletes put into it to participate in a fitness show. So I may or may not decide down the road here before I get too up there in age to make a 16 week commitment and really train hard and get up on that stage. After all, as they say, you only live once.

So I truly believe that because of Jack LaLanne and because of those Olympic athletes, I not only started lifting weights, I also went back to running. So as a side note to all of this, I decided this morning that I was going to start running again, the air was kind of crisp and nice and I made the classic mistake that entrepreneurs make. I sat down at my desk in front of my laptop and I started working on urgent matters. So the morning run became a mid-afternoon run in about 88 degree weather. And in full transparency, I just got finished my three mile run. And before I started, actually throughout the night, I was dreaming these dreams of grander, where I was running across the track or running across a beautiful road with trees and sun and blue sky. And I was like a gazelle cutting through the wind, and I was light a foot.

Well, whomp, whomp, whomp. That’s not at all what happened. It’s a little messy, a little sweaty. And I knew that I was going to be a little sore and I knew it was going to be tough because I literally have not run more than a mile in a couple of years, but I made it and I did it and I feel really good. I enjoyed being outside, even though it was like Africa hot. I just pushed myself and I did it. In fact, I think I went three and a half miles. So this is my commitment. I’m putting it out there to all of you that I’m going to walk the talk. I’m going to run the talk, actually, I’m going to keep lifting a few days a week, maybe three, four. I’m going to keep hiking. I like to do road biking. I like to play pickle ball. I like to paddleboard. Just get your body moving, that’s my message for this week.

And I want to relate this to planning for your retirement because that’s what I do when I’m not trying to stay active and do crazy things like fitness shows. So how it relates to retirement planning is that I kept procrastinating, thinking about running the last couple of years, but making excuses and listening to people and not really listening to my own body, my own mind, and I just didn’t do it. And so today I was a little afraid to get up and get out there and do it. I was afraid it would hurt. I was afraid I’d be super tired. And I think that’s what people do… Sorry for the background noise. I’m still out doing my cool-down. But I think that’s what people do with their finances in their retirement. They procrastinate. They put it off. They’re afraid of what they’re going to find out when they take a financial inventory, they’re afraid of what they’re going to find out when they project their expenses in retirement and their income sources. They’re afraid the reality is going to hurt. Maybe they’re not going to make it.

But the best thing to do is to get out there and do it, get her done, face it, right? You have to start somewhere. Like I could have kept saying, you know what? I’ll run tomorrow. I’ll lift the next day. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll stay here at my computer a little while longer. Same thing applies for your financial life, your plan, your plan for retirement. Don’t put it off, get out there, get it done, get her done.

And the most important thing you can do is to educate yourself. Financial literacy plus action leads to financial wellness. So get moving, move your body, take care of your physical fitness, your financial fitness. And trust me no matter where you are, where you’re starting, you are going to feel 100% better physically, mentally, financially, socially, everything. Your confidence levels are going to go up. Your stress is going to go down. So many benefits of being financially and physically fit. So here’s to being financially well, here’s to knowing more, having more. And I like to say that you too can be the, her in hero. So go out there, get her done, get moving and let me know what you did. Let me know what you’ve done financially and physically, let me know how you’re moving. Let me know your progress.

And of course, as always, if you need a coach, a fitness coach, I have connections to coaches that can help you. And if you need a financial coach or a retirement coach, I’m your girl. I have been working very, very hard on a system that will allow you to get financially fit. And I would love to share this system with you, I would love to be your coach. I can make you accountable. I can motivate you. I can support you, help you stay on track. In addition as your coach, I can connect you to the subject matter experts that I feel are going to help you actually create an implement that plan, that financial plan, that you’ll have confidence and understanding in which is so, so important. I do not provide financial advice, so I will not be doing that and that’s why I focus on coaching, but I can connect you with people that can implement that financial plan that includes investments or insurance or whatever financial needs that you have.

And as your retire mentor, I will be with you every step of the way. And many times we need that, right? We need someone to be our advocate and our mentor and I’m committed to doing that. You can email me LynnT@herretirement.com. And before I leave you, I would like to share with you, my get her done health is wealth checklist. And I believe these things that I’m going to share with you are habits that have a very high rate of return in life. Because I don’t believe wellness in retirement is limited to financial wellness, hence this podcast, hence my focus on health and wealth.

So number one, know your purpose. Number two, sleep eight hours each day, as much as you can, or as often as you can. Lift weights at least three times a week. Get some sunshine each day. Save and invest on autopilot. Learn something new each day. Make time for relationships. Eat healthy and drink a lot of water. Work on yourself from inside out at a soul level. Feed your body and your mind with healthy food. Take some time for yourself to unwind, I like to tell people the stress may not get you today but just like investing over the long haul, over the long haul of time stress is a killer. Be grateful, practice gratitude daily. Move your body daily, walk, jog, stretch, do yoga. I’m a big believer in practicing meditation and there’s all different forms of meditation. See your doctor regularly. And finally, implement a financial wellness plan.

So those are my tips for health and wealth. And for this podcast, this version, this episode of the podcast until next week I hope you are encouraged to go out and get her done no matter what level of fitness you’re starting at or where your fitness goals are, no matter where you’re starting financially, where your financial goals are, just start. Thanks and have a great rest of your day.

So today I was a little afraid to get up and get out there and do it. I was afraid it would hurt. I was afraid I’d be super tired. And I think that’s what people do… Sorry for the background noise. I’m still out doing my cool-down. But I think that’s what people do with their finances in their retirement. They procrastinate. They put it off. They’re afraid of what they’re going to find out when they take a financial inventory, they’re afraid of what they’re going to find out when they project their expenses in retirement and their income sources. They’re afraid the reality is going to hurt. Maybe they’re not going to make it.

But the best thing to do is to get out there and do it, get her done, face it, right? You have to start somewhere. Like I could have kept saying, you know what? I’ll run tomorrow. I’ll lift the next day. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. I’ll stay here at my computer a little while longer. Same thing applies for your financial life, your plan, your plan for retirement. Don’t put it off, get out there, get it done, get her done.

And the most important thing you can do is to educate yourself. Financial literacy plus action leads to financial wellness. So get moving, move your body, take care of your physical fitness, your financial fitness. And trust me no matter where you are, where you’re starting, you are going to feel 100% better physically, mentally, financially, socially, everything. Your confidence levels are going to go up. Your stress is going to go down. So many benefits of being financially and physically fit. So here’s to being financially well, here’s to knowing more, having more. And I like to say that you too can be the, her in hero. So go out there, get her done, get moving and let me know what you did. Let me know what you’ve done financially and physically, let me know how you’re moving. Let me know your progress.

And of course, as always, if you need a coach, a fitness coach, I have connections to coaches that can help you. And if you need a financial coach or a retirement coach, I’m your girl. I have been working very, very hard on a system that will allow you to get financially fit. And I would love to share this system with you, I would love to be your coach. I can make you accountable. I can motivate you. I can support you, help you stay on track. In addition as your coach, I can connect you to the subject matter experts that I feel are going to help you actually create an implement that plan, that financial plan, that you’ll have confidence and understanding in which is so, so important. I do not provide financial advice, so I will not be doing that and that’s why I focus on coaching, but I can connect you with people that can implement that financial plan that includes investments or insurance or whatever financial needs that you have.

And as your retire mentor, I will be with you every step of the way. And many times we need that, right? We need someone to be our advocate and our mentor and I’m committed to doing that. You can email me LynnT@herretirement.com. And before I leave you, I would like to share with you, my get her done health is wealth checklist. And I believe these things that I’m going to share with you are habits that have a very high rate of return in life. Because I don’t believe wellness in retirement is limited to financial wellness, hence this podcast, hence my focus on health and wealth.

So number one, know your purpose. Number two, sleep eight hours each day, as much as you can, or as often as you can. Lift weights at least three times a week. Get some sunshine each day. Save and invest on autopilot. Learn something new each day. Make time for relationships. Eat healthy and drink a lot of water. Work on yourself from inside out at a soul level. Feed your body and your mind with healthy food. Take some time for yourself to unwind, I like to tell people the stress may not get you today but just like investing over the long haul, over the long haul of time stress is a killer. Be grateful, practice gratitude daily. Move your body daily, walk, jog, stretch, do yoga. I’m a big believer in practicing meditation and there’s all different forms of meditation. See your doctor regularly. And finally, implement a financial wellness plan.

So those are my tips for health and wealth. I hope you are encouraged to go out and get her done no matter what level of fitness you’re starting at or where your fitness goals are, no matter where you’re starting financially, where your financial goals are, just start.

Thanks and have a great rest of your day.

 

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Longevity Secrets of People Over 100

What can we learn from longevity secrets of people over 100? First, we exclude genetics, but assume this must be in their favor. Second, we look for diet and lifestyle similarities to form a behavioral pattern for healthy aging. Third, we condense these behavioral patterns into major lifestyle themes that led to increased longevity. Here are their lifestyles.

A study(1) starts with 122 year old JEANNE CALMENT (1875-1997)(photo) who actually smoked for 96 years, but only two cigarettes a day. She poured olive oil on all her foods and applied it to her skin. She drank port wine, ate two pounds of chocolate a week and rode her bike until 100. Her cigarette habit may be too little to be significant and she may have been protected by olive oil and other antioxidants.

SARAH KNAUSS(1880-1999) was 119 years old and considered the oldest person from the United States. She worked as a manager of an insurance agency. With little accounts, we have to rely on her daughter for an explanation. “She’s a very tranquil person and nothing fazes her. That’s why she’s living this long.” However, this explanation is not complete and I’m sure there is more to it.

EMILIANO M. DEL TORO(1891-2007) a man of 115 years who was born in Puerto Rico and worked in the cane fields until 81. He claimed that funche, a corn, codfish and milk dish saved him. He also felt that humor played a key role and continued to tell jokes until his final days. He was not as open about his love or social life, but admitted he attended bordellos up to 82 years old. His retirement years after 81 are not well documented, but we know he never lost his libido.

BESSE COOPER(1896-2012) who lived to a healthy 116 was a college grad in 1916 and became Georgia’s oldest resident after working as a school teacher. She had four children and always loved to read. She was quoted, “Mind your own business and don’t eat junk food. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, work hard and love what you do.” Besse had respect for others, ate healthy, had a work ethic, and found her passion in education.

BEL KAUFMAN(1911-2014) who passed away at 103 was the Russian author of Up the Down Staircase. She came to the U. S. at 12 years old and earned a masters degree at Columbia. As a dedicated teacher, she understood the importance of laughter in life. “You can survive by seeing the humor in everything. Thumb your nose at sadness; turn the tables on tragedy.” This is a great attitude for managing stress which is important. She claimed, “I’m too busy to get old” and continued to write until 101 years old.

  1. LAILA DENMARK(1898-2012) enjoyed life as an American pediatrician until she was 103 years old. She was the third of 12 children and passed away at 114. When she turned 100, she refused her birthday cake because it had sugar in it. Her first advice is to eat right and be sure that what you do in life is what you love. She thought employment that you love is really a form of play and she never felt she worked because of that positive attitude.

In conclusion, here are the italic words: olive oil, port wine, chocolate, bike, tranquil, codfish, humor, busy, bordello, respect for others, eat healthy, work, love, humor, love, work, positive attitude.

The most common dominant themes in this order:

  1. A HEALTHY DIET This seems like the most common of themes for most of the aged. Despite a lack of dietary details, its clear that a healthy diet is part the foundation for longevity.
  2. HUMOR When used as a form of coping and stress reduction, humor can be very effective. If you’re having trouble being funny, I find that a joke book helps.
  3. LOVE OF WORK It doesn’t have to be employment so much as to find something that you really love doing. This one is really about finding your passions to guide you.
  4. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Being active and involved seems to take a bigger role than actual exercise. But, the prior generations didn’t have access to gyms and the fitness movement is a recent phenomena that we can benefit from.
  5. SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT Although relationships were not directly mentioned, there would be a lot of social contact though following the love of work and activity themes above.

(1)Heyne, A (no date) “23 People that Lived to 100 Spill Their Secrets of Longevity” Retrieved on 2-19-16 from modernhealthmon.com/23-secrets-of-longevity/ Photo: Huffingtonpost.com

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Why You Should Wait Until You Retire to Dig into Your HSA

You have access to a variety of benefits as part of your employee benefits package, including health insurance, a 401(k) plan, and possibly even stock options. However, the most beneficial option may also be the most underutilized: a health savings account (HSA).

A health savings account (HSA) is a type of savings account that allows you to put money aside before taxes to pay for qualified medical expenses. They also have special tax advantages that make them work as a second retirement account. So, while you may have been told that your HSA should only be used for medical expenses (which is correct), there are several advantages to simply waiting until your HSA funds are depleted to retire.

How Do HSAs Work

HSAs are tax-advantaged medical savings accounts that combine the best features of both a Traditional and Roth IRA to save you money on a wide range of health-care expenses—including many that aren’t covered by insurance. You get an immediate tax deduction on contributions, just like a Traditional IRA. Any earnings and distributions are tax-free, just like a Roth IRA, as long as they’re used for qualified healthcare expenses. Those distributions are subject to a 10% penalty if they aren’t used for qualified medical expenses.

Because HSA contributions are made before taxes, you are effectively putting a portion of your tax bill into your health savings account. Assume you’re in the 24 per cent tax bracket and want to contribute $100 to your HSA every month. That $100 would normally result in a $24 tax bill, leaving a net of $76. You can think of your $100 contribution as a $76 contribution, with the remaining $24 being a tax bill. You won’t have to pay that bill as long as you use the account’s distributions to pay for qualified medical expenses.

The money you save in an HSA can accumulate from year to year, unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), which is another type of medical savings account offered in conjunction with your health care plan. This allows you to build up your account balance during years when your medical expenses are lower. Furthermore, because you, not your employer, own the HSA, the money in it is yours to keep for the rest of your life. Even if you don’t have a lot of medical expenses right now, the benefits are so great that there’s no reason not to open an HSA and contribute to it if you’re eligible and the contributions fit into your budget.

How Do I Know If I’m Eligible for an HSA?

You must be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) to contribute to an HSA, and you cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax returns. You won’t be able to contribute to your HSA after you enroll in Medicare because it isn’t classified as an HDHP, but you will still be able to use the funds from your HSA for medical expenses.

Why Should I Wait Until Retirement to Use My HSA?

The ability to save more through compounding interest and the ability to be better prepared to pay for your expenses in retirement are the two main reasons why you should wait to use your HSA until your retirement years.

Save More by Compounding Interest

Consider the following scenario: Person A contributes $1,500 to an HSA each year, but only uses $500 for medical expenses, resulting in a net contribution of $1,000. Person B also contributes $1,500 per year but pays the $500 in annual medical expenses with money from a checking account. Person A would have about $36,800 in an HSA after 20 years if we assume a 6% rate of return, while Person B would have about $55,200. While this is a hypothetical scenario, it demonstrates the importance of allowing your money to grow for as long as possible.

Be Better Prepared to Pay for Expenses

Perhaps even more important than the ability to save more, keeping your money in your HSA will better prepare you for the road ahead. Many people consistently underestimate the cost of health care. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, retirees’ healthcare costs are typically much higher than they anticipated, with estimates for healthcare spending in retirement approaching $200,000—and which does not include the costs of long-term care. These figures demonstrate the importance of putting money aside for post-retirement medical expenses, and by not using your HSA during your working years, you can save that money for a time when health care costs are likely to be a much larger part of your budget.

Even if your medical bills are unusually low in retirement, the money in your HSA can be used to cover other living expenses. The 10% penalty for non-qualified medical expenses is eliminated once you reach the age of 65. So, if your furnace breaks down or your roof needs to be replaced, you can use your HSA to cover the costs. Those distributions that aren’t used for medical expenses, however, will be subject to regular income taxes. In essence, your HSA can be compared to a Traditional IRA with the added benefit of tax benefits during retirement.

How We Can Help

It’s critical to assess your financial situation and ensure that you can afford to wait until retirement to use your HSA funds. If you have medical expenses and don’t have any disposable income, using your HSA to pay for them is a great idea. Saving money in an HSA while neglecting your health or amassing debt will almost certainly result in increased expenses in the future. Many employers offer an HSA as part of their benefits package. As a self-employed individual, you can also access an HSA through companies such as: Lively.

However, if you have the financial flexibility to wait until retirement to touch your HSA, you may reap the financial benefits later. We can connect you to a retirement planner who can assist you in determining where you stand in your retirement savings plan and how much a fully funded HSA can help. Reach out to a RetireMentor here.

Woman Need to Stop Fearing Heavy Weights

A new study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggests that women need to get over their fear of heavy weights, if they truly care about getting results, and now we have a very recent study to prove it. Unfortunately, despite myriad science-based articles and practical real-life results, many women still believe that lifting heavy will make them bulky. It’s time to realize that this fear is nothing but a myth, and get over it.

There is even 1 study that shows that the average self-selected weights that most women choose represent approximately 57% of the weight they could lift for one rep (1RM) (Cotter, et al. 2017). The problem with this 57% number is that, more often than not, it results in sets that women rate as “somewhat hard.” As TC Luoma says “this fear of bulkiness often leads to relatively low-effort workouts and that goes a long way in explaining why a lot of women rarely morph into the swimsuit goddess they aspire to be.”

The Newest Study

Researchers from Coastal Carolina University recruited 20 female participants and divided them into two groups. Training consisted of upper body workouts 2X per week, with 1 lower body workout, for a total of 8 weeks.

• Group 1 trained with heavy weights (85% of 1RM), performing a total of 6-7 exercises for sets of 5 to 6 reps.

• Group 2 did the same amount of exercises but trained with lighter weights (60-70% of 1RM), doing sets of 10-12 reps.

• All subjects worked to momentary failure on each set.

Results

Both groups attained similar improvements in lean body mass, particularly in the lower body. Both groups also showed performance improvements in the vertical jump, chest pass velocity (with a medicine ball), back squat max, and overhead press. And both groups lost significant amounts of body fat.

Muscle size gains were quite modest in both groups, with the subjects gaining a little size in their thighs but nothing notable in the upper body.

The researchers state that “the data obtained in this study also serve to further debunk some of the myths that may otherwise impede young women from strength training, including a fear of excessive hypertrophy.”

Practical Lessons

1. Women should use weights of at least 65% of 1RM to favorably change their body composition.

2. Using less than 65% of 1RM is likely useless, unless women train really hard, and to momentary failure (the point where they can’t perform another rep).

3. Regardless of whether they train with lighter weights (65-80% 1RM) for higher reps or heavier weights (>80% 1RM) for lower reps, it’s not going to make them “bulky.”

4. For optimal results, women should adjust their protein intake to roughly 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. This is good advice for all women. And this is based on a side note from the study who found that the average protein intake was low, falling well short of the guidelines noted above.

Reference:

Jason M. Cholewa; Fabricio E. Rossi; Christopher MacDonald; Amy Hewins; Samantha Gallo; Ashley Micenski; Layne Norton; Bill I. Campbell. “The Effects of Moderate- Versus High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Growth, Body Composition, and Performance in Collegiate Women,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 32(6):1511–1524, June 2018.

Written by person trainer Bob Gardner. Bob can get reached at: bobgardnertraining@comcast.net

Health Watch: Focus on Tumeric

Ahh Retirement!  The golden years, the time to do what your job may have kept you from enjoying, as you were commuting to a 9-5 and working on someone else’s schedule.  But this all changes in retirement, you are your own boss and you decide what is on each day’s agenda!  But one thing that may deter this sense of ownership of the day: health concerns.  For many soon to be retirees, their health is a major concern.  In a recent industry survey of 1,000 non-retired and retired Americans, 69% said they were concerned, with 41% saying they were “very” concerned.  For many Baby Boomers, they see the finish line to their hard worked years in their career, but may not be able to enjoy the celebration due to doctor’s visits, limited mobility or frequent trips to the pharmacy to help treat ailments.

So how can you be proactive and make sure that you have the best chance of enjoying your well-deserved golden years?  Taking care of yourself leading up to the golden years is the number one way, which includes eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting plenty of exercise.  And what you eat is also important.  A recent article on the website “Forever Young” cited the health effects of the herb Tumeric.  If you have eaten Indian food, then you may very well have tasted it.  It is known for its orange color and powerful taste.  Its health benefits include its work as an anti-inflammatory and its high dosage of anti-oxidants.  It also helps fights free radicals, rejuvenates cells, cleanses the liver, protects the heart and helps boost moods and brain support.  In regards to mood and brain support, Tumeric has proven to shift levels of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin.   If that’s not enough, this herb also helps to support better memory, focus and cognition due to the ten neuro-protective actions that it contains.  For the body, Tumeric works as an anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-bacterial and helps to combat infections and boost the immune system.   There are other benefits when cooking with Tumeric as well.  For example, when Tumeric is cooked with cauliflower, it helps to prevent Prostate Cancer and combining it with other foods helps to prevent breast cancer, melanoma, has shown to prevent and slow the onset of Alzheimer, detoxifies the liver and because it has anti-inflammatory agents, it is useful for those suffering from arthritis.

We as a society tend to look for a quick fix, anything in a pill form that can work as a wonder drug to help cure ailments we are suffering from (those that sometimes occur because we’re not taking in healthy foods, but rather chemically engineered foods).  Tumeric, and many other healthy herbs, spices and foods in general, can help to prevent many ailments and illnesses which begin to rear their ugly head during our golden years or help us to treat them and make life more enjoyable.  After all, the retirement years ARE called the golden years for a reason.  Shouldn’t you be able to fully enjoy them?