Choosing a person to act as your agent is an important decision that should not be taken lightly.   The ramifications can be horrendous, for example, if you choose a person to act on your behalf in your time of need and that person refuses because they do not agree with your health care wishes.  That is why having a conversation with the person you intend to designate as your agent is critical.  That particular person needs to understand exactly what you will and will not allow and be able to actually follow through with your wishes.

Bell & Ingram, P.S.           (425) 258-6261

It is only through a move that my sister and I had to make with my father four years ago that I learned something about downsizing and moving.  My father lived on a 116 acre farm with two (2), two story furniture filled homes, 8 out buildings filled with farm equipment and every tool know to man and even more and one very large barn.  We had to down size to a two bedroom retirement apartment.  We did it and now he is happy in the two bedroom retirement apartment and thriving.

First:  Make the deposit on the retirement community.  Once the deposit was made, we had an idea as to the space, this allowed us to visualize dad’s new home and we knew the square footage.  This also seemed to help dad move forward.  The need was there long before but it was when the money went down that he could start the next process.  I have encountered potential resident and families that wish to downsize first, but in my experience the deposit was the key.  If this causes major heart palpations then the next best thing is to make a wait list deposit it still helps with the visualization of floor space.

Two: Think outside the box.  Think furniture, space and what is important to you. Make a list and then see if that apartment will allow for the list.  Do not think in terms of rooms think in terms of furniture then Label and list.

Three:  Think memorabilia, collectibles and art.  Again, think, prioritize and list.  You may not have room for the lovely 12 piece china set, however a setting for two and the soup bowl you children accidently dropped then glued together that leaked all over your thanksgiving table with Aunt Martha and Uncle Clyde there and you ended up laughing so hard you dropped the jello mold over the cat, that you may want to bring.

Four:  Important documents Follow the IRS and know that 7 years is a good number.  This number is easier to handle, put them in rubber storage bins for the moment if a filing system has eluded you.

Five:  Hire a moving company that will pack and unpack your items.  If that is not an option then talk to family and see what their plans may be.  It just might be they have wanted the move all along and they are willing to help. 

Six:  Select the date and move in.  Once the furniture and memorabilia collectibles art and documents are in the apartment, this will give you a better idea as to the lower priorities on the list.  Harbour Pointe has storage lockers that will help with seasonal items and items not quite decided on yet.

Seven:  Talk to family, friends and loved ones concerning the items left.  Rent a storage space if decisions can not be made right away.  Sometimes it may take a little while.  Don’t forget that staging a home may have a higher potential to sell than homes with everything left in them. Goodwill and ARP are just some of the agencies that will come and pick up items.  1-800 Rid of It  rid of it.com also will help.

Eight:  Along the way you have discussed home options i.e., renting or selling, updated you insurance agency post office, lawyers etc.  Contacting occupational and physical therapist, i.e., Summit Pacific whose expertise can help accommodate the new home for you.

By breaking down the process into steps moving is not so overwhelming and life in retirement communities can begin, and just as my dad did you too can be more independent and enjoy the life that it has to offer. 

Harbor Pointe Retirement        (425) 493-8555

That included making some difficult decisions. After six weeks in a rehabilitation center, she moved back into the house in which she had lived for more than 40 years. We found live-in care for her, but a further series of small strokes soon made it necessary for her to have more skilled supervision.

My mother had to make the difficult decision to move out of our family home. We sold her house, sorting through the accumulated belongings of a lifetime, and set her up with an apartment at a local assisted living center. The move, as it turns out, has been a Godsend: she is well cared for, has made new friends, and keeps busy with a variety of social activities.

As a real estate broker for John L. Scott, I already had made several contacts, such as junk haulers, garage-sale organizers, and contractors who specialize in making modifications for senior living, all of whom made the transition proceed more smoothly. My mother's experience prompted me to earn my certification as a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), so that I could help others benefit from what I had learned during this trying time.

These kinds of life decisions are always stressful, for both the parents and their adult children. With my experience and contacts, I can alleviate some of the pesky, mundane issues involved with closing down a long-time family home, giving you more time to concentrate on the important matters: the emotional welfare of you and your family.

Dave Douglas, Real Estate     (206) 618-3037

North American Life Plans         425-530-3669

Bell & Ingram, P.S.           (425) 258-6261



One of the biggest reasons seniors don’t want to give up the car keys is because it represents a loss of freedom—freedom to go anywhere at any time. But there are several transportation options available if and when you do decide to stop driving.

Buses and Light Rail

Everett Transit operates 46 fixed bus routes daily within the city limits. Seniors and disabled passengers ride free. The agency runs a paratransit service, which is available to disabled persons who are unable to ride regular buses. The cost of this service is $1.00.  You must apply for the program in advance (the application process is usually completed within 21 days) and rides are pre-scheduled.

Community Transit currently operates 62 buses daily throughout Snohomish County, plus two buses to Seattle during peak hours on weekdays. Fares within the Snohomish area are 50 cents for seniors, disabled, and Medicaid-eligible passengers; rides to King County cost about twice that. The agency also offers an appointment-only paratransit service called DART (Dial-a-Ride-Transit), and fares are $1.50 for all trips. Rapid transit buses, known as SWIFT buses, use existing lanes and priority signals to travel along a 17-mile route from Everett Station to Aurora Village. SWIFT buses depart every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weekends. They provide excellent access for disabled riders. Fares for seniors and the disabled are 50 cents within Everett, and slightly more to east of Everett or south to King County. For more fast options, Sound Transit’s express buses and Sounder commuter trains operate schedules within Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties.

Due to the economic recession, the Community Transit board recently voted to reduce service on certain bus and DART routes, especially on Sundays and holidays, and to raise fares slightly, starting June 1. However, the board hopes to reinstate routes and previous fares as soon as possible.
 
New Payment Option

You can always pay cash for single trips, but the easiest way to pay for rides on public transit is with the new ORCA card. You can load as much as $300 onto the card in advance, which is very efficient if you plan to take transit often. The ORCA card is a “smart card” that is similar to the cards used at certain grocery stores and retail establshments. Instead of swiping the card, you would tap it against the fare reader upon entry. There are ORCA kiosks at all Sounder stations and some retail outlets. You can also order your card online or by phone. 

Alternate, Specialized Services

Vanpools are a popular choice for riders who want to share a vehicle to get to a specific destination. A vanpool is a group of 5-15 people who ride together in a van provided by Community Transit, traveling anywhere within Snohomish County. The schedules are set by the riders, and fares are based on the size of the van and the daily round-trip mileage. Vanpool rates and schedules will not be affected by the aforementioned changes to bus service.

A Snohomish County organization called SNOTRAC coordinates services for those unable to transport themselves due to disability, age, location, or income. SNOTRAC works with human service agencies, school districts, and advocacy groups to assist people who are not familiar with riding public transportation, and to fill in the gaps for those who need transport that’s not offered through traditional public systems. It includes two notable programs for rural residents: 

• The subsidized “Pay Your Pal” program, which reimburses a designated driver of your choosing who takes you to work, appointments, or errands.

• A paratransit service known as TAP (Transportation Assistance Program), which is operated by Senior Services of Snohomish County. TAP riders are picked up at their door and either travel directly to their destination, or are transferred to DART or Everett Paratransit, once inside city limits.

Medicaid Transportation is available for Medicaid recipients who need to get to medical services and appointments, and Catholic Community Services engages volunteers to provide limited transportation to medical appointments.

If you are new to riding public transportation, “Ride Around the Sound” (offered monthly) helps get you acclimated by pairing you up with an experienced rider for a tour of fun locations around the Puget Sound. It’s a great way to see new places throughout the area and make friends at the same time.

Lastly, it’s important to note that assisted living facilities and retirement homes provide van and bus service to their residents.

The Puget Sound region is known for offering some of the best transportation services in the country. A few (like the paratranist services) require a little advance planning, but considering the variety of options available to you, getting around the sound and points in between should be fairly easy.

Author: Michele Horwitz

Phyllis Hascall’s mother never drove; she relied on her husband for transportation. Two years before she died, she spoke to Phyllis and her other adult children about Dad’s escalating problems behind the wheel: reaction time, depth perception, and getting distracted by conversations while driving. But they didn’t know how to approach the subject with him. He had spent so much of his life as a driver. After all, driving trucks and buses had been part of his job as a milkman. And if Dad could no longer drive, that meant that both he and Mom would feel isolated and dependent. Phyllis also knew of his experience with getting his own father to stop driving. “He had to take the keys away from his father, and he said it was the hardest thing he had to do in his life,” she remembers. Even more disconcerting, Dad was able to renew his license with ease every five years, despite his diminishing abilities. The siblings talked amongst themselves and Phyllis tried to broach the issue with him, but he didn’t react positively. The discussion remained on hold and Dad continued to drive.   

A year and a half after Mom died, Dad got into an accident and totaled the car. He was at fault, and although he wasn’t injured, two people in the other vehicles were. At that point, the writing was on the wall. Dad’s geriatric specialist told him he had to stop driving. 

Shortly afterward, Dad got into an assisted living facility, and, instead of feeling isolated, he thrived. He didn’t have to be responsible for everything anymore. Transportation was no longer a difficult issue because he realized he had good transportation choices—buses and vans were provided through the assisted living facility, and friends and family members drove him wherever else he needed to go. He didn’t miss appointments or social occasions.

Families in Snohomish County and throughout the nation that are dealing with this issue—how to take someone’s keys away when driving becomes unsafe—often don’t know that there are resources available to help guide them through the process. The Hartford Financial Services Group and the MIT AgeLab have published an excellent booklet called We Need to Talk that explores a variety of scenarios involving senior drivers and offers realistic, compassionate advice in getting them to make this important lifestyle change. As stated in its introduction, “These suggestions are based on a nationally representative survey of [7,200] drivers over the age of 50, focus groups with older adults who have modified their driving, and interviews with family caregivers of persons with dementia.”

The booklet begins with a series of questions for family members, concentrating on whether family conversations really make a difference, who should take the lead in starting the conversation, how senior drivers are likely to respond to questioning about their driving, and how to prepare for serious conversations about how to limit or stop driving. Because dementia is an increasingly common issue and those past the initial stages are not expected to have “sufficient insight into their driving abilities to make adjustments,” an extra resource, At the Crossroads: Family Conversations about Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia and Driving, is suggested for further reading. There are also worksheets provided to help families and their senior loved ones plan for alternate modes of transportation after the cessation of driving. 

Change is hard, but when seniors know they have options, stopping driving doesn’t feel like such a loss of independence. It merely means that a new chapter has begun where access, mobility, and safety can all coexist.

Author: Michele Horwitz

A visit with a medical professional is a time for check-ups, discussion, and diagnosis and treatment of ailments. When a patient has suffered a stroke, hip fracture, or had a bout with pneumonia, this is an alert to doctors and therapists that the patient’s driving skills will be affected. The question is, how much of an effect will the illness have and how long will it last? The professionals are in the position of helping their patients come to terms with diminished abilities and finding new ways of compensating for the possible cessation of driving.

Laird Findlay MD, at Providence Physician’s Group in Everett, finds that some patients get defensive when asked about their driving skills and some don’t acknowledge that there is a problem at all—a situation that is often related to cognitive impairment. “If they’ve had a stroke, they know they can’t drive,” says Dr. Findlay. “If they have Alzheimer’s, they don’t know they can’t.” He will seek involvement from the patient’s family members in encouraging their senior loved one to either reduce driving or stop altogether, because the doctor’s role is actually somewhat limited by legal regulations. Dr. Findlay will suggest to certain patients that they go see a driver rehabilitation specialist, if they seem receptive to the idea. He will also tell his patients if he thinks they need to cease driving and he’ll make note of the conversation in their medical records. That way, if the patient gets a ticket or has a car accident, the insurance company will have a basis for cancelling the policy (if needed) and the driver’s license will likely be revoked.

Physical and occupational therapists help patients gain mobility and function better at daily activities. Doctors will notify them if a particular patient shows signs of not being able to perform physical functions. In this instance, therapists at Summit Pacific Rehabilitation will have their patients take a self-assessment test called “Am I a Safe Driver?” The assessment asks whether statements like the following apply to them:

• I get lost while driving.
• My friends and family members say they are worried about my driving.
• Left-hand turns make me nervous.
• Busy intersections bother me.
• People will no longer accept rides from me.

These statements are indications that a senior’s safety may be at risk while driving. The assessment also offers a number of tips, including taking a safe driver course.

Summit Pacific therapists Kelly Cooney, Rob Williams, and Kelley Wells agree with Dr. Findlay’s conclusion that family involvement is the key in helping patients make lifestyle changes, especially when any dementia-related disease is the issue. Therapists can also help patients come up with a transportation plan after the decision to stop driving has been made. Dr. Findlay notes that because our culture is so car-dependent, a lot of seniors who have been longtime drivers are reticent to ask for help. “They’re used to taking care of others,” he says. “It takes courage to accept help.” 

Author: Michele Horwitz

Scenario:

There is a saying about “the best laid plans” isn’t there?  I don’t know anyone whose life journey has been without mountains and valleys - crushed plans or fabulous surprises.  When seniors are left alone, truly alone, because of the death of children and a spouse, charitable giving can be one of a variety of options for transferring assets upon death.  Any property that is gifted to a charity is considered tax-exempt.   When working with seniors who have considerable wealth and no one in particular they would like to transfer it to, I always recommend that the senior seek the counsel of a certified public accountant to see how much they can possibly gift out during their own lives, and then come back to create an estate plan/gifting tool that can be enforced upon his/her death.  Most people, in the end, want to have some type of meaningful impact upon the people around them.  Charitable giving can be a way to do that for many.

Bell & Ingram, P.S.           (425) 258-6261