February 2019 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome to the February edition of the newsletter for CRTS™ certificants!

The Basics of Senior Living and Care Communities

If you’re exploring the possibility of a senior living community or long-term care for yourself or a loved one, you’ll soon find there’s a bit of a learning curve related to the different types.

One way to think of the scope and variety is in terms of services, which range from just a few conveniences in independent living communities to comprehensive skilled care in nursing homes. In between is a wide assortment of assisted living facilities, including small home settings and large complexes.

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Federal Estate and Gift Tax Updates for 2019

The IRS has published new guidelines relating to estate and gift tax changes for 2019. Starting this year, estates of decedents who die during 2019 have a basic estate tax exemption amount of $11,400,000 (increased from $11,180,000 in 2018). This means that the estate of a person dying in 2019 with more than $11.4 million in assets may pay a federal estate tax (on assets which do not pass to charity or to a surviving spouse). Over both deaths of a married couple, $22,800,00 may pass estate tax-free to the next generation.

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When to Schedule Your Moving Day?

OK so you’ve begun the retirement community research, maybe you’ve even toured some communities — when do you finalize a moving day? When is the right time to make the move?

A recent article by the Wall Street Journal argues the sooner you make the move the better.

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Link to CEU Quiz

December 2018 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome to the December edition of the newsletter for CRTS™ certificants!

How to Clean After Hoarding

Living with a hoarder isn’t an easy task because you have to deal with piles of items and a lot of clutter around your home.

Because cleaning can be time-consuming and exhausting, it is essential to know the basic rules and learn how to sort out everything effectively. With the right strategy and method, you can save a lot of time dealing with that issue.

With that in mind, here are six simple steps on how to clean after hoarding.

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Brain Scans of Hoarders Reveal Why They Never De-Clutter

Jill, a 60-year-old woman in Milwaukee, has overcome extreme poverty. So, now that she has enough money to put food in the fridge, she fills it. She also fills her freezer, her cupboard and every other corner of her home. "I use duct tape to close the freezer door sometimes when I've got too many things in there," she told A&E's Hoarders. Film footage of her kitchen shows a cat scrambling over a rotten grapefruit; her counters—and most surfaces in her home—seemed to be covered with several inches of clutter and spoiled food.

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Information on Hoarding Statistics

Hoarding is a condition that affects many people and some don’t even realize it until it is too late. According to hoarding statistics, about 5% of the entire population in the universe displays some sort of clinical hoarding. This percentage is twice the rate of OCD and four times the rate of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.  Some of the characteristics that these persons display include getting numerous items that are absolutely useless and refusing or neglecting the act of getting rid of the items.

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Link to CEU Quiz

November 2018 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome to the November edition of the newsletter for CRTS™ certificants!

How to Maximize Social Security Survivor Benefits 

Here’s news: More than 11,000 widows and widowers who are now on Social Security could have had higher benefits if someone had bothered to tell them about their claiming options. That unhappy fact comes from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General. It highlights how little people know about survivor benefits and what the choices are. Here are some tips:

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A Guide to Self-Storage: Is a Mini Storage Unit Right for You?

You have stuff and need somewhere to stash it. Maybe you are staging or remodeling your home or are moving to a new one. Maybe you’re combining, dividing or downsizing your household because of marriage, divorce or an empty nest. You may need to leave your residence between college semesters, between jobs or because of a natural disaster. You may have accumulated too many belongings on your own or inherited a loved one’s. Perhaps you have a thriving eBay business.

Read the Article

A Beginner’s Guide to Backing Up Photos

“I’ve seen it all,” says the award-winning National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, about backing up her photos. “I’ve had hard drives fail throughout my career. For example, back when I first started as a photographer, I had a very nice hard drive system in my home, and the whole thing failed.” In retrospect, Ms. Vitale says, she would have definitely set the system up differently.

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Link to CEU Quiz

October 2018 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome to the October edition of the newsletter for CRTS™ certificants!

5 Tips to Help Seniors with Estate Planning: How to Choose an Executor 

An essential part of creating your older adult’s estate plan or will is to choose an executor – someone who will execute (carry out) their wishes after they pass away. Making an informed decision helps them feel confident that their wishes will be fulfilled and family conflict will be minimized.

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8 Expert Tips for When Aging Parents Won’t Listen

Our parents always asked that we listen, but what happens when they refuse to listen to us? Some adult children are finding that their parents don’t always know best when it comes to their driving, housing, medication and more.

Learn more about what to do when your aging parents aren’t listening to you.

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Emptying the Family Home Without Battling Siblings

Keep? Sell? Toss? These three options are ammo for the battle when clearing the family home after a parent leaves it.

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Estate Planning Basics: Give Seniors Peace of Mind

Creating a will or estate plan is essential for your older adult. Of course you don’t want to think about them passing away, but they most likely have final wishes they’d like to have fulfilled.

But there’s no way for you or anyone else to carry out those wishes if you don’t know what they are.

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Link to CEU Quiz

August 2018 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome to the August edition of the newsletter for CRTS™ certificants!

A Licensed Nursing Home Administrator Teaches How to Choose a Nursing Home 

One of the most painful times for some families comes when their loved one can no longer thrive with in-home care and is in need of the skilled care that a nursing home can provide. Difficult as this time can be, emotion must be put aside so that necessary research can be conducted to find the best care facility possible.

The internet can be useful for starting these searches and there are a couple of quite different ways to go about it. The Medicare site Nursing Home Compare is probably the logical first choice though, in my opinion, it should simply be one tool because, like all current tools, it is imperfect.

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How to Let Go of the Clutter After the Death of a Loved One, a Divorce, or a Breakup

Professional organizer Jeni Aron (a.k.a. the “Clutter Cowgirl”) blazed into my life two years ago when my Queens apartment was in complete chaos. I’d been widowed for three years, and though I was slowly going through my late wife’s belongings (she’d been quite the collector of musical instruments and electronic gadgets), I had barely made a dent. On top of that, my then 7-year-old son was rapidly outgrowing clothing and toys, my new partner was about to move in with us, and it felt like half the contents of my mother’s jam-packed home had landed at my place after we’d moved her into assisted living! My two-bedroom apartment was bursting with stuff and nothing had a proper place.

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The Kindergarten Model of Organizing

Organizing is not just about getting rid of clutter and making the space look “neat”. It’s about designing spaces that reflect who you are and what’s important to you, and arranging things logically and efficiently so that staying organized will be easy for you.

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Helping an Aging Parent With Their Finances

Millions of adult children today serve as financial helpers to their elderly or ill parents or other loved ones. They provide services like paying bills, handling deposits and investments, filing insurance claims, preparing taxes and more. Here are some tips and resources that can help you help your mom.

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A Generation of Americans Is Entering Old Age the Least Prepared in Decades

Americans are reaching retirement age in worse financial shape than the prior generation, for the first time since Harry Truman was president.

This cohort should be on the cusp of their golden years. Instead, their median incomes including Social Security and retirement-fund receipts haven’t risen in years, after having increased steadily from the 1950s.

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Link to CEU Quiz

July 2018 Newsletter for CRTS™

Welcome!  Over the past few months many of you have asked for additional information that would help you in your day-to-day jobs. Beginning this month, we’ll be sending you a newsletter that includes timely articles that relate to your work as a professional CRTS™.

We appreciate that your work can be difficult!  Each client represents a unique challenge.  Whether you work with a team or alone, the range of tasks needed to accomplish a successful transition is broad and time consuming. Change is stressful for clients – and your skills make an important difference.

This newsletter will include articles that focus on different parts of the relocation process and experience.  We think you will find it useful.  Every month the articles will be different and focus on different aspects of the work.

As a professional CRTS™ you perform a vital service for thousands of older Americans. Thank you!

Questions to Ask an In-Home Care Agency

Choosing an individual or a company to come into our home, or that of a vulnerable loved one, to provide assistance with anything from cleaning to personal services is never easy. We are giving an unknown person access to not only our property but to the safety of our loved one who may need care while we are not able to supervise. Choosing the right person or company should be done methodically, and education can help you ask the right questions.

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Our New Online Portal

You can now view and make changes to the contact information we have on file for you, and you can also view your current certification expiration date, and any CEU credits you have earned through our newsletters. Watch this video for a quick demo of all of the features. Please note, the branding is NCBAC™ - the governing board of CRTS™ - but the portal is the same.

All new and current CRTS™ can request access to the portal before your renewal date if you'd like access ASAP. Just send us an email through the website's contact us page.

Helping an Aging Parent With Their Finances

Dear Savvy Senior, Can you offer any tips on helping an elderly parent with their finances? My 82-year-old mother is having some trouble keeping up with her bills, and I just found out that she has been making a lot of small contributions to suspicious charities. — Concerned Daughter

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How to Maximize Social Security Survivor Benefits

Here’s news: More than 11,000 widows and widowers who are now on Social Security could have had higher benefits if someone had bothered to tell them about their claiming options. That unhappy fact comes from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General. It highlights how little people know about survivor benefits and what the choices are. 

Read the Article

A Guide to Self-Storage: Is a Mini Storage Unit Right for You?

You have stuff and need somewhere to stash it. Maybe you are staging or remodeling your home or are moving to a new one. Maybe you’re combining, dividing or downsizing your household because of marriage, divorce or an empty nest. You may need to leave your residence between college semesters, between jobs or because of a natural disaster. You may have accumulated too many belongings on your own or inherited a loved one’s. Perhaps you have a thriving eBay business.

Read the Article

A Beginner’s Guide to Backing Up Photos

“I’ve seen it all,” says the award-winning National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, about backing up her photos. “I’ve had hard drives fail throughout my career. For example, back when I first started as a photographer, I had a very nice hard drive system in my home, and the whole thing failed.” In retrospect, Ms. Vitale says, she would have definitely set the system up differently.

Read the Article

Link to CEU Quiz