Howard Tucker, a Renaissance man, holds the Guinness World Record as the world's oldest practicing physician. He uses his law degree as a consultant on medical cases, is the subject of a documentary in the making, and is a TikTok sensation.
At 101 years old, Howard Tucker holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest practicing doctor.Tucker still sees patients at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. He trained in his home state of Ohio, spent some of his career at the New York Institute of Neurology, and enlisted in the Navy during World War II. During the Korean War, he served as Chief of Neurology at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Philadelphia.
"I'm always effervescent every time I see a patient. I just feel glorious and grateful for the ability to have their confidence."
As a young man, Tucker played the violin and considered following music as a profession. But he learned more about medicine and realized that was his calling. "I knew that I wanted to help people," says Tucker. 
"I'm always effervescent every time I see a patient. I just feel glorious and grateful for the ability to have their confidence," he says. Tucker credits his Chief of Neurology at Cleveland Clinic as a role model and mentor. "He told me, 'You can learn more than I can teach you.'" 
"He was chief and professor, and [the Clinic] thought he walked on water," says Tucker. "So I went to New York and realized the improvement in the quality of thinking." 
Tucker was also interested in law, so he returned to school. He earned a law degree and passed the Ohio Bar Exam in his 60s. In addition to his work as a physician, he serves as an expert witness for medical-legal cases.
The Business of Doctoring
Tucker says that technology changed the face of medicine in many ways. He faced challenges with computers and learning to use imaging studies such as CAT scans and MRIs. But he continues to be impressed by how technology has allowed doctors to diagnose and treat more quickly. 
He relates a case about a patient with multiple sclerosis whose condition was exacerbated by trauma. "That was 40 years ago. At that time, I spent a week researching and finding six articles at the medical library," says Tucker. 
"About a year ago, I saw a patient with multiple sclerosis made worse by trauma. I turned on my computer. I had dozens of articles. Not only were there advances, but that accessibility was shocking." However, Tucker says, some aspects of technology have been detrimental to the relationship of the medical professional to the patient. 
"It can separate the doctor from the patient, and it is a different approach [to medicine] than before. But I am happy to continue practicing as I used to. I make contact with patients and get detailed histories, instead of just reading laboratory reports or looking at a screen."
Family Ties
Family is a big part of Tucker's life. Along with being grateful that he had a wonderful, supportive father, he points to his wife as a strong and important partner. Tucker's wife, Sara Tucker, will turn 90 this year and is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.  
"She's not taking on any new patients, and as her patients 'graduate' and she feels they are secure in their psyche, she stops seeing them," says Tucker. "She has [a few] patients in some discussion groups with residents, and she continues to teach in psychoanalysis."
"Happiness is the key. Do not sit back and do nothing but watch television."
Tucker's grandson, Austin, catalyzed Tucker's TikTok success. "For my grandfather's 100th birthday, we began posting behind-the-scenes content and other fun footage on social media. Our TikTok page soon went viral and now has nearly 50 million views and 100,000 followers," says the younger Tucker. 
"It has been incredible to see the younger generation wanting to learn more about my grandfather's life experiences, and so much fun spending time with my grandfather to make these lighthearted videos."
What's Next For Dr. Tucker?
Working with a team of filmmakers, Austin Tucker has been working on a documentary titled "What's Next?" It chronicles the history and changes in medicine that his grandfather has witnessed during more than 75 years of service. 
"It will highlight the importance of investing in our older generations who are sometimes overlooked and undervalued," says Austin Tucker. "Although we have completed all of the filming, we are now wrapping up the edit and are in the home stretch so that we can submit the film to festivals – and so my grandfather can enjoy the movie."
Dr. Howard Tucker says that if he decides to continue his education, he will pursue a degree in computer science. And he insists that older adults can remain valuable assets to the community and society. "Retirement is the enemy of longevity," he says. 
"My advice to everyone would be to choose a profession or hobby that is exhilarating and mindfully and intellectually challenging. You have to love it, first. You have to feel that you have accomplished something. Happiness is the key. Do not sit back and do nothing but watch television."
To support the film, go to the Kickstarter link here. Updated: Dr. Tucker is no longer practicing at St. Vincent's Hospital but continues to consult and is involved with medical legal cases. He is currently seeking a position at a new hospital to continue teaching and communicating with patients.


Physician Howard Tucker: Still Seeing Patients at Age 101

Rosie Wolf Williams

Rosa Bonheur, a French artist and sculptor, achieved international acclaim in 1853 for "The Horse Fair," a painting Queen Victoria of England particularly liked and that now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Bonheur's work was included at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, and was frequently exhibited at the Paris Salon. In 1865, she received the French Legion of Honour award.
Yet you may never have heard of Rosa Bonheur. Why is that?
Rosa Bonheur (France, 1822–1899), Chamois Mother and Baby, 1888. Oil on canvas. 10 1/4 x 13 ¼ inches"Though she was one of the most incredible artists working during the nineteenth century — and one of the most popular — writers of art history routinely have left out women artists, underserving all of them," said Tammi Hanawalt, curator of art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
The museum and Hanawalt are righting that wrong with "Bonheur & Beyond: Celebrating Women in Wildlife Art," which Hanawalt described as "a stunning representation." She curated the exhibit, which marks the 200th anniversary of Bonheur's birth and the 35th anniversary of the museum, located three miles north of Jackson, Wyoming, and two miles south of Grand Teton National Park. Some 50 works by more than 40 artists — half of them living — are on display through August 16, 2022.
"Bonheur's art education and her knowledge of art and style give her work an atmospheric perspective. Yet she was forgotten after her death." 
Bonheur, O'Keeffe and Velarde in Anniversary Exhibit
Six of Bonheur's works are in the exhibit, along with pieces by Georgia O'Keeffe, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Pablita Velarde, Donna Howell-Sickles and Kathryn Mapes Turner. All are part of the museum's permanent collection, which consists of more than 5,000 cataloged paintings and sculptures of wildlife art dating from 2500 B.C.E. to the present.
"Chamois Mother and Baby," "King of the Forest" and a study of deer heads, all by Bonheur, are part of the show. 
"She painted a lot of deer, because she saw them in the forest outside her home at the Château de By, near Paris," Hanawalt said. "By the way the animals are portrayed, we know she hung out in slaughterhouses with other artists, studying animals' muscular structure, and Bonheur's art education and her knowledge of art and style give her work an atmospheric perspective. Yet she was forgotten after her death."
In addition to Bonheur's work, Hanawalt particularly admires O'Keeffe's "Antelope," which is part of the exhibit. "She painted a lot of bones and skulls, and this painting makes you think about the New Mexico desert and about the cycles of life, about diminishing and being reborn," Hanawalt said. "It speaks to so many things."
Hanawalt's favorite work in the show is "High Country" by Velarde, who painted more than 70 works depicting the culture of the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, where she grew up. 
Jane Rosen (United States, b. 1950), Mantle, 2015. Coffee, Korean watercolor, ink. 30 x 22 inchesArtists Feel 'Honored' To Be Part of Exhibit
"Velarde was one of the first female students of Dorothy Dunn, who founded The Studio School in 1932 at the Santa Fe Indian School, a program for Native Americans," Hanawalt said. "The painting has some of the conventions of the Studio's flat style, but Velarde made it unique by representing her personal history. It's beautifully done."
Some of the artists in the show have told Hanawalt their work repeatedly has been left out of exhibits elsewhere because they are women, and they feel honored to be part of "Bonheur & Beyond." 
Hanawalt hopes that the exhibit not only educates visitors about wildlife art, but particularly about art by women who were and are successful in that realm. "These all are amazing artists whose work can stand up to any others," she said.
Outdoor Installations Along the Sculpture Trail 
Wildlife art is not confined to the interior of the 51,000-square-foot museum, which perches on a sage-covered butte that overlooks the National Elk Refuge. The Sculpture Trail, which winds up the hill for three-quarters of a mile, features 22 larger-than-life bronze works, some visible from U.S. Highway 191. The works, by 19 different artists, include a small herd of bison, a moose, coyotes, a wolf, a grizzly bear — and a polar bear, installed last summer.
"These all are amazing artists whose work can stand up to any others." 
Hanawalt acknowledged that though polar bears aren't seen in Wyoming, "It is a North American mammal — and in winter, when it snows, this one looks beautiful."
Museum trustee Dick Beck and his wife, Val, commissioned the work from sculptor Margery Torrey. A signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, Torrey worked from photos of the animals in Churchill, Manitoba, from sketches she made at the San Diego Zoo and after studying polar bear skulls at the Natural History Museum in Denver.
Also along the Sculpture Trail are 12 "Spirit Totems," ranging from 8 to 19 feet tall, that include many animal and bird-like forms. The artist behind these "improvisational" totems is Herb Alpert, the gifted trumpeter who led the band that bore his name in the 1960s and the co-founder with Jerry Moss of A&M Records. Now 87 and still touring, Alpert has painted abstract works for 40 years and sculpted for 20.  
National Museum of Wildlife Art at sunriseAlpert was intrigued, Hanawalt said, by totems he saw in Vancouver's Stanley Park. "Those he created are more fluid, and were inspired by Native American and Mayan artwork," she said. "He calls them 'liquid smoke.'" The totems were installed in June 2019. At the time, Alpert told the museum staff, "My experience with art, as a musician, painter, and sculptor, is the same. It all seems to originate from the same place."
The place that is the National Museum of Wildlife Art — said to be the only museum of its kind — offers themed paintings and sculpture, interpretive totems, striking brass sculptures of animals positioned on a hillside, an annual Plein Air Fest and now a special anniversary exhibit celebrating wildlife art by gifted women. 
"People sometimes think we are a natural history museum, or that we are dedicated just to cowboy art," Hanawalt said. "We're not."


National Museum of Wildlife Art Spotlights Women Artists

Patricia Corrigan

When Lamont Collins' family moved to a mostly white Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood in the 1960s, he felt like he'd been dropped behind enemy lines (although he was never physically harmed). He survived and thrived in large part because of his athletic ability, which later earned him a spot on the University of Louisville football team. "I was always the best athlete, so kids would always put me on their team," he says.
Lamont Collins, founder of Roots 101 African American Museum in Louisville, Kentucky"In higher education the first class you take is 101. At the museum, it's an educational journey from Africa to America."
Like sports fans of every age, Collins and his teammates loved to argue about who the best professional athletes were — Sandy Koufax vs. Bob Gibson in baseball, Bob Cousy vs. Bill Russell in basketball, hometown legend Paul Hornung vs. Jim Brown in football. Collins tended to take the side of the Black players like Russell in these arguments, and his white friends would sometimes come back days later and say things like, "I talked to my dad, and he said Bill Russell's pretty good."
"So I found out, like at nine or ten, how important it was to tell our story," Collins says.
Telling Black stories is just what Collins, now 63, is doing as founder and CEO of Roots 101 African American Museum in downtown Louisville. "The reason I call it Roots 101 is because in higher education the first class you take is 101," he says. "At the museum, it's an educational journey from Africa to America."
A Journey of Discovery 
The first thing visitors see as they enter the museum is a group of centuries-old sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, many depicting royal figures, interspersed with paintings of African royalty by local artist Sandra Charles. The placement is intentional — and not just because the sculptures are the museum's oldest artifacts.
"I tell young people that we're descendants of kings and queens that were enslaved in America," Collins says. "And that's a game changer for a Black man like me, because when I was a kid, all we ever heard was that we were slaves and only slaves. But what I tell young people is that we were bulldozers before bulldozers, jackhammers before jackhammers, and engineers before engineering degrees; we built this place."
"That's a game changer for a Black man like me ... when I was a kid, all we ever heard was that we were slaves and only slaves."
From the Benin bronzes, visitors move on to more recent and far less inspirational artifacts: a "Colored Waiting Room" sign atop a Confederate flag, a statuette that's a racial caricature of a jockey, a package of tobacco whose name includes a racial slur. (The curly tobacco evokes images of natural Black hair.) "You see these images of Black people going from looking human to looking like monkeys and apes," Collins says. "That was designed to put in that mindset that we were less than human."
Another gallery, dubbed Big Momma's House, shows how Black families have long countered stereotypes and hateful narratives. A replica of a midcentury living room, it's filled with photos of family members who served in the military, went to college, or entered the ministry. "That's how we learned our history; that was our affirmation because it wasn't put in books," he explains.
Other galleries depict Black contributions to the arts and athletics. "The Great Equalizer room is about Black sports; it's about Black men who were first looked on as men when they started playing sports."
'Big Momma's House' replicates a midcentury living roomBut even those galleries remind visitors of racism and racial violence. In a display evoking Billie Holliday's anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit" a hangman's noose dangles in front of a mirror, challenging visitors to imagine themselves in the story.
Protest to Progress
Stools from a lunch counter where Louisville teens staged a sit-in in 1968.While you could look at Roots 101 as a history museum, Collins is as interested in the present and future as he is in the past. That becomes clear in the Protest to Progress gallery. At one end of the room are stools from a lunch counter where local teens staged a sit-in in 1968. At the other end is a coffin built by a group of Black and white teens in Louisville after the Breonna Taylor shooting in 2020. The coffin is covered with the names of victims of violence, ranging from Emmett Till to Taylor herself.
"When they gave it to me, they said, 'Mr. Lamont, what are you gonna do with it?'" Collins recalls. "I put a mirror in the casket. And the reason I put the mirror in the casket is I want you to see yourself. I want young people and older people to see themselves in history."
In fact, challenging visitors is what Roots 101 is all about. Collins' goal is to help people become better ancestors. "If we all become better ancestors, we'll be in a better place and a better country."
Turning Artifacts Into Action 
Despite his clear vision, Collins never really planned to start a museum. For decades, he was just a collector — albeit a collector with an impressive set of artifacts.
The first item in that collection came courtesy of his mother, who worked at the local Armed Forces examination bureau. When young Cassius Clay — the future Muhammad Ali — showed up at the office, she got an autograph for her son. "That was my first one," Collins says. "And I was hooked ever since."
'The Great Equalizer' room features prominent Black sports figuresHe first got the idea for a museum in 2018, when he heard an NPR podcast about a California collector, Oran Z, who was looking for a home for some 14 or 15 railroad cars full of Black history from his own museum. Collins quickly called the man, who inspired him to start Roots 101. "Even though he never sent anything, he really energized me because I knew I had at least five railroad cars of history," he says.
In 2021, Roots 101 was named one of the 10 winners of the USA Today Readers' Choice Award for Best New Attraction. It also received plenty of attention that summer when folk singer James Taylor praised the museum during a concert at the nearby KFC Yum! Center. (He had visited before his performance.)
While Collins has enjoyed that notoriety, he's more interested in connecting with young visitors. In fact, the last gallery, dubbed Black to the Future, features photos many of them have submitted. "You see pictures of kids dressed up like doctors and lawyers, aspiring to be whatever they want to be," he says.
"There's an African proverb that says, 'The greatest king plants shade trees knowing he'll never sit up under them,'" he says. "I'm planting trees: trees of knowledge, trees of unity, trees of love, trees of prosperity. I won't live to see the shadows. But I'll plant the trees big enough to cast the shadows."


A Kentucky Collector Finds Purpose in His Passion

Mark Ray

When my oldest daughter graduated from college, I was amazed to discover that she had never taken an economics or finance class. Her education helped her secure a prestigious job doing medical research, yet she had no clue how to budget, do her taxes, invest or find out her credit score.
It turns out that my daughter's experience is not uncommon. When AIG Retirement Services and EVERFI conducted a research study surveying 30,000 college students, only 35% of respondents reported ever having taken a personal finance course. Worse: 47% felt unprepared to manage their money.
Parents can take some of the blame for young adults’ lack of financial literacy. Kelly Ennis, a Certified Financial Planner and president of Infinity Financial Strategies in Granby, Conn. says: “Parents tend to shy away from discussing finances with their children and teens. They don't know what to tell their kids and worry that their kids will discuss their family finances with friends."
Although retirement may seem far off, explain why investing in a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan immediately makes financial sense.
But financial advisers suggest parents of sons and daughters in their early-to-mid 20s sit down with those kids and teach them the following six basics of personal finances. By doing so, the adult children will be more likely to be financially sound in years to come.
1. Make a Budget
The AIG/EVERFI survey found that only 49% of students plan to follow a budget. That’s down markedly from 76% in 2012. Yet money pros view  budgeting as one of the simplest and most useful tools for managing money.
Meet with your adult child and work together to create a realistic monthly budget. It should list all regular, essential expenses and a line for non-essentials — “fun money” — like restaurants and travel.
Joe Duronio, vice president, strategic planning & research for AIG, says, “Especially in this digital age, when it is easy to impulse buy online, a budget helps young adults see where every dollar they earn is going and what funds they really have available to spend.”
Apps like Mint (free) and Acorn ($1 to $3 a month) — the two best for budgeting according to NerdWallet — can help.
2. Build a Safety Net
Before your adult child can start thinking about saving and investing for the long-term, it’s essential to open and fund an emergency savings fund at a bank or credit union. This is savings your son or daughter could withdraw at any time, when necessary, without paying a financial penalty.
This kind of safety net serves another purpose, too. Ennis says: "I call this a 'walk away' fund. It's money set aside so that they can make better decisions in the future and walk away from situations when they need to."
Having a safety net lets your child leave a dead-end job or an unsafe living environment without having to worry, “How will I pay my  bills?”
This savings account will also let your child earn a little interest, too. Nationally, savings accounts pay 0.10% on average and money-market accounts (which limit the number of withdrawals per month) pay 0.25%. Typically, accounts at online banks pay more than those of brick-and-mortar institutions. Sites like Bankrate.com and Magnifymoney.com have directories of the highest-paying savings accounts.
3. Understand Taxes
Teaching your child about taxes — deductions, credits, withholding, Social Security taxes, record keeping, estimated taxes, filing dates, tax forms and the like — won’t be fun, but it’s extremely important.
That’s especially true if your son or daughter — like so many millennials — isn’t employed by a company, the government or a nonprofit, but is a freelancer or independent contractor.
“I often find that some people don't realize that they're considered self-employed,” says Ennis. “They mistakenly believe that if they get any check, that they must be an employee.”
Explain that true employees have taxes withheld from their paycheck and their employers also pay half of the Social Security and Medicare taxes, or FICA. Conversely, if they’re self-employed, they are responsible for both halves of FICA and for making quarterly estimated payments for federal taxes and, if applicable, state taxes.
If your child is an employee, talk about how to withhold the right amount on a W-4 form. If your son or daughter holds multiple jobs — some without withholding — taxes may be due come April 15.
4. Maximize Your Employee Benefits
Make sure your child knows that whenever he or she gets a full-time job, it’s essential to read all the paperwork before signing anything. Says Duronio: "Take a look at the totality of the benefits, not just salary. Human resource personnel are happy to walk new employees through their contract specifics.”
Encourage your child to take advantage of benefits such as gym memberships, continuing education classes and student loan repayment assistance. Discuss whether your child should go on the employer’s health plan or remain on yours until aging out at 26.
Although retirement may seem far off,  explain why investing in a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan immediately makes financial sense, especially if the employer matches employees' contributions.
Duronio says, "It's effectively free money, both the amount the employer matches and the fact that it lowers your pre-tax income."
5. Manage Debt Wisely
The AIG/EVERFI study said "Six in 10 students have already taken or plan to take loans to cover their tuition bills —  alarmingly, only 65% of borrowers plan to pay off these loans on time and in full." Ellis points out that not paying back loans can adversely impact a person’s credit score for years. And that, in turn, could make it harder for your child to be approved for a mortgage or car loan, or get the best interest rate on one.
The survey also found that “more than one in three students with credit cards already has amassed more than $1,000 in credit card debt. Further, only 51% said they would likely pay off their entire credit card bill next year.” Deliberately keeping a balance on credit cards means paying more in interest than might be necessary, often with high interest rates.
Shawn Ballinger, a Certified Financial Planner and wealth coach at Columbus Street Financial Planning in Columbus, Ohio, says, “The idea of having things like vacations now and paying later may sound great, but is ultimately dangerous if you can’t afford to pay the money back.”
Remind your child that maintaining a good credit score doesn't mean not ever borrowing money; it's about paying back loans on a timely basis.  If they buy an asset (such as a car), secure a loan and pay it off, they can build credit responsibly.
6. Invest Wisely
Once your child has an emergency fund, encourage him or her to invest wisely by coming up with an overall strategy that takes into account long-term, medium-term and short-term financial goals. Ballinger says, “I recommend keeping at least 10% of your long-term savings in a fixed income or cash instrument [like a money-market fund] to take advantage of market corrections via rebalancing [to return the portfolio mix to what your child intended].”
He also suggests young adults with a 401(k) diversify in the stock market by putting money into the fund’s S&P 500 account. Ballinger explains: “Passive stock index funds are a great way to achieve market exposure. But be careful with a passive bond fund [a fund that owns and holds a variety of bonds]. If interest rates rise sharply, a passive bond fund may lose significant value,” if it has long-term bonds.
Ennis suggests talking to your child about investment risk, too.
“It is critical that a prospective investor understands how much risk they can stomach and then build a portfolio that doesn't exceed that level of risk.  If their portfolio swings by a larger degree than they can handle, they are likely to get out of their investments when they get too anxious — and that usually happens when the investments have lost value.”


What to Teach Your Adult Child About Money

Randi Mazzella

Until now, we've never published a Next Avenue article about cryptocurrency or Bitcoin or the blockchain and, as the editor of our Money channel, I'm the reason why.
Frankly, I've felt that the Bitcoin digital currency and other cryptocurrencies were, at best, extremely volatile and risky investments (did I mention the price of a Bitcoin coin went from $10,764 in September 2020 to $64,829 in April 2021 and is now down to $40,000?) and, at worst, sometimes sketchy. I figured the cryptocurrency craze would fade. I was wrong about that last part.
In 2018, legendary investor Warren Buffett called Bitcoin "probably rat poison squared."
So, here are the basics on the blockchain and Bitcoin and how to invest (just a little!) in cryptocurrencies, pulled from the new episode of the "Friends Talk Money" podcast I co-host with personal finance writer Terry Savage and public media's MoneyTrack host and Wealthramp.com founder Pam Krueger. (You can hear the podcast at the end of the article or download it from your favorite podcast distributor.)
Fact is, lots of smart financial analysts — like Ark Invest's Cathie Wood — have become big believers in cryptocurrency.
Why You Should Care About Cryptocurrencies
Some have come around to become, if not crypto fans, then at least no longer deniers. In 2018, legendary investor Warren Buffett called Bitcoin "probably rat poison squared." But his company recently put $500 million into Nubank, the parent company of the digital bank selling cryptocurrency products.
And why should you care about Bitcoin and the blockchain?
Well, the GlobalData analytics company just predicted that revenue from blockchain platforms and services will soar from $4 billion in 2020 to $199 billion by 2030. According to a survey by Motley Fool's service The Ascent, 21 million Americans — 14% of adults — own Bitcoin, which has been around since 2009; half of them bought it during the last 12 months. And, for what it's worth, El Salvador just became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, and the payment app Venmo now lets customers buy or sell cryptocurrencies.
"I see the blockchain technology on which cryptocurrency is built as being transformative," Krueger said on the podcast. Some compare the impact of Bitcoin on the financial world with the way the internet disrupted music and publishing.
Krueger said that a year ago, when she asked Wealthramp's 250 fee-only advisers whether they'd recommend clients invest in cryptocurrencies, "almost all of them said, 'Not yet.'" But she surveyed them in June 2021 "and I would say that there's a shift in the mindset of the whole group." In other words, they now think their clients should consider owning a little crypto if they're interested.
Answers to Questions on Bitcoin and the Blockchain
For a primer on all this, let me try to make crypto less cryptic by offering a few questions that may be on your mind and answers to them.
What is the blockchain, what is Bitcoin and what is cryptocurrency?
Here's how Savage explained them on the "Friends Talk Money" podcast:
"The blockchain ledger is a computer program. Think of it as the behind-the-scenes backbone where all [financial] transactions are securely recorded without any intermediaries in a ledger that every participant can see, but no one can change unless by an authorized transaction recorded on this blockchain," said Savage.
"I just generally encourage everyone to kind of explore the space a little bit. There's no need to put an entire paycheck into cryptocurrency."
Savage conceded that definition might sound "clear as mud," so she offered an analogy that might help.
"When you buy a house, you get title insurance to make sure that no one else has filed a claim to the property. And that's why we have title insurance companies and we pay a fee to them," Savage noted. "But if all the title changes were recorded on the blockchain, there would be no need for this insurance or for the title insurance companies… The registration would be immutable and visible on the blockchain ledger."
With the blockchain's peer-to-peer transactions, she said, you don't need a financial intermediary, a bank, a currency exchange or even a government. "Think about the implications of that kind of medium of exchange," said Savage.
And what does this have to do with Bitcoin, Dogecoin (a meme-inspired crypto), Ethereum (billionaire investor and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban is a fan) and other cryptocurrencies?
Savage said: "You could use this blockchain ledger technology as a basis for all kinds of completely secure transactions, like property transactions. But the most popular use is with the so-called cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin." Bitcoin records transactions in the blockchain.
There are thousands of other cryptocurrencies, Savage added, but "many of those are started by complete scammers." Consumers lost almost $82 million in crypto scams during the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
So, how do you buy cryptocurrencies — if you dare?
Savage's first rule: "If you're going to buy a cryptocurrency, stick with the best-known ones [like Bitcoin]. That doesn't mean you won't lose money on the price fluctuations, but it means you're not just throwing your money into a black hole."
And that led to another of Savage's rules: Buy cryptocurrency on a legitimate crypto exchange like Coinbase or Kraken, or through an ATM that sells it — though ATM fees to do so are steep. (Coinbase isn't that machine in supermarkets where you exchange your loose change for bills, I joked on the podcast; that's Coinstar.)
Alternatively, you could invest in a blockchain Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that either invests in companies involved in blockchain technology or invests in futures or options pegged to the performance of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or crypto investment products from asset managers.
Is buying Bitcoin investing or speculating?
It's a speculation, since there's no intrinsic correct value for it. Bitcoin is worth what people decide it's worth each day.
But there seems to be strong long-term potential for a rise in Bitcoin's value, since businesses like banks, Microsoft and Tesla accept it (CEO Elon Musk's musings on Bitcoin often lead to wild fluctuations) and it looks like more will, over time. And, as Savage noted, the Federal Reserve is studying developing a digital currency.
How big a portion of my investment portfolio should I put into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies or businesses related to them?
Here's what Kraken.com Chief Product Officer Jeremy Wells told the "Friends Talk Money" hosts: "I just generally encourage everyone to kind of explore the space a little bit. There's no need to put an entire paycheck into cryptocurrency."
So, the "Friends Talk Money" co-hosts said, maybe you might put 3% of your total portfolio into crypto; maybe less. I'm starting to think of it as a new way to diversify your investment portfolio, the way you might do with your stocks by buying international stocks of companies in countries with emerging economies.
Incidentally, you don't have to buy an entire Bitcoin. Crypto exchanges let you purchase a fraction — even as little as $5 or $10 worth.
But think of this type of investment as money you can lose — and very well might. Mad money meet mad crypto.
Dennis Chookazian, a futurist and longtime cryptocurrency analyst, told "Friends Talk Money" that Bitcoin and its ilk are "entertainment assets" that provide "psychic income."
His advice: "You shouldn't buy it with any money that you need for your children's education or something like that…You should not buy cryptocurrencies with money that you absolutely can't afford to lose."
Krueger calls investing in cryptocurrencies "emotional gambling," adding that "anytime you put money into something based on your emotions, it's the fastest way to lose money."
But, she noted, "it's kind of fun to learn about." And, Krueger said, she owns some Bitcoin and digital tokens Ethereum and Cardano.


Cryptocurrency 101: All You Really Need to Know

Richard Eisenberg

"Drive safely," my father said, his drawl still noticeable despite not having lived in the South for 80 years. We were saying goodbye at his assisted living facility outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Only later did I realize his send-off to me would be his last cogent message.
"Every morning I took a long walk, and in the afternoons I'd sit at a table facing the ocean, painting in my sketchbook.""I'm not driving, Daddy," I said. "I'm taking Uber to the airport tomorrow, and then flying home to California." 
Even though my father was 101, I didn't expect it. Do we ever?
I've often pondered the timing of a person's death, and my father was no exception. I left Pennsylvania on a Wednesday morning. Thursday afternoon, the hospice nurse contacted my sisters and me to say he had gone into a sudden decline. He died a week later.
Even though my father was 101, I didn't expect it. Do we ever? His mental state had become wobblier in the previous six months, but physically he was sturdy, and had only recently started using a walker.
The Map of Grief 
The nine months since my father died have been a terrain of highs, lows and unexpected curves. As the British theologian C.S. Lewis wrote, after the loss of his wife, Joy Davidman, "Grief is like a long winding valley, where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape." 
I look back on the period since my father's death in sections: the gentle weeks before the memorial service, when I was at home with my husband in Eureka, California; and the more turbulent period after, when I was in Guanajuato, Mexico, where Barry and I live part of the year. 
Only in the last twenty years of his life, when he finally became single, did I become very close to him.
In Eureka, Barry and I would paddle down winding tributaries in the bay near our apartment, watching the herons and seals. I took long walks with friends and by myself, listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform "Be Thou My Vision", which I had sung at my mother's funeral in the 70s. 
My father not only outlived my mother by almost fifty years, he also survived two later wives and a girlfriend. Only in the last twenty years of his life, when he finally became single, did I become very close to him. 
Despite the gentle texture of those weeks, I missed chatting with him on the phone. During COVID I called him every morning – often the highlight of my day. It didn't take much to make him laugh, and he brought out a playful side of me, too.
One morning during the pandemic, I phoned him during a showery walk. When it started to rain, I'd take shelter under a canopy of tree branches, where we'd chat. When the rain stopped, I'd hang up, race to the next tree, and call again. "Guess what! I'm dry! Briefly!" We'd both crack up.
Shaky at the Service 
At the memorial service, I described my earliest memory of him. When I was five, Daddy was rowing on a lake towards my younger sister and me. We were waiting on the dock for our turn. I can still remember the calm, silvery water in the mist. It wasn't surprising, I said, that my first memory of him involved the outdoors, because he had instilled a love of nature in all his children. Then I gave examples of his legacy, and how each of my siblings in our different ways enjoyed being outside.
Although I felt my talk honored him, I couldn't stop shaking afterwards. When the service was over, thinking others might also feel fragile, I went up to each participant and thanked them for their contribution. I assumed they would also acknowledge what I'd said, but for some reason that did not happen, which left me in a state of heightened vulnerability that lasted for weeks. 
The author dancing with her fatherMy anxiety seemed to revolve more around family dynamics than grief, but who can say where grief starts and ends? It's all so marbled.
The Spanish 'R' Saved Me
After the memorial service, Barry and I flew down to our home in Guanajuato, a colorful, spirited place that always makes me happy. From previous losses I knew the importance of routines: brush teeth, make bed, cook dinner, wash dishes. But even in Mexico my mood didn't lighten much.
Late afternoons, I'd read in our patio, resting my eyes occasionally on our ficus tree and plants, the green so gentle and healing, it almost brought me to tears. With my tutor, I practiced the Spanish r and rr, which took my mind off what by then had turned into curdled resentment. 
I'd ruminate over the service, sparing no one. This family member had gone on too long, this one was vapid. Between spurts of anger, I'd force myself to repeat potta tea, potta tea, potta tea, the soft English t that is a way station to para ti and the Spanish r.
Working on my pronunciation really helped. As a friend who has struggled with depression said, "You forget you're down when you're focusing on the Spanish subjunctive."
The Blessing of the Beach 
What turned the tide – so to speak – was spending a week at the beach. Our Mexican hotel had a spacious outdoor area, with tables and chairs facing the ocean, and delicious morning coffee. The first day, I wrote in my journal: "I feel exhausted and I can't even explain why. Being here is the right place for a deep rest." 
I remember now what I didn't before — that we all mourn differently, each in our own mysterious way, perhaps indecipherable even to ourselves.
Every morning I took a long walk, and in the afternoons I'd sit at a table facing the ocean, painting in my sketchbook.
Within a week, I was a different person. I wrote, "Walking on the beach, the world looms rich and thick… heel, arch, toe; rocks; pelicans; man with pail; sandpipers; breeze; warmth of sun on back; markings on sand; clouds; palm trees; shadows – all this in only 30 minutes!"
Back in Guanajuato, Barry built me a table, a dedicated space to paint. My "studio" was just a piece of plywood, but it worked magic: everyday I would lose myself in a watercolor world of burnt sienna and cobalt blue.
Grief Isn't Pretty 
In the weeks after the memorial service, I saw, close up and unvarnished, that grief isn't pretty. Mine sure wasn't. Inwardly, I felt jealous, petulant and sour. 
But I was fortunate. Not everyone's father lives to 101 or gets to go to a beautiful beach after their loved one dies. 
With the gift of distance, I no longer feel angry or hurt. I remember now what I didn't before — that we all mourn differently, each in our own mysterious way, perhaps indecipherable even to ourselves. As Lewis said, we're following grief's "long winding valley," with its unpredictable bends, twists and turns.


The Geography of Grief

Louisa Rogers

Knowing how to spend your retirement money is often harder and more confusing than knowing how to save it.
The basics for saving for retirement are pretty simple. For four, five or even six decades, you painfully learn how to spend less and save more. But once you reach retirement, there are few really good guidelines about how to wisely spend the money you’ve saved.
“Most financial plans are fundamentally incorrect about the real way that money is spent. Retirement spending is not linear,” said Ted Jenkin, CEO of oXYGen Financial in Atlanta and author of The 21-Day Budget Cleanse.
The 3 Periods of Retirement Spending
There is typically an initial three-to-five-year period of retirement “jubilation,” where many retirees overspend, often with more frequent travel as they start checking off their “bucket list” goals, Jenkin said. That’s usually followed by a longer period of “stabilization” — when spending normalizes for the next decade or so. Jenkin calls the last spending period the “five-mile radius,” when older retirees mostly stay closer to home and their spending (except for health care) typically decreases.
The typical retired person who exercises regularly can save $2,500 in annual health care costs.
For guidance on how to spend money in retirement wisely, Next Avenue asked Jenkin and two other investment advisers who specialize in retirement. Here are their Do’s and Don’ts:
DO put cash into one account to pay for your first year of retirement. Use money from that account to pay your credit card bills and other expenses so you can track exactly where the money is going, said Jenkin. This technique also helps ensure that you only spend what  you can afford to in Year One of Retirement.
DO track your spending daily — using your bank’s app, said JB Bryan, owner of JB Bryan Financial Group of Richmond, Va. Alternatively, you can call the bank’s computer system daily — without ever talking to a real person — to check on your transactions and your account balance.
DO spend on learning. Continued education of any kind — from developing new professional skills to enhancing old ones — is almost always a positive way to spend retirement money, said Bryan. “If you’re expanding your knowledge, you’re going to have a more comfortable eighties,” she said.
DO spend on relationship-building. Paying for travel to visit children, grandchildren, or old friends from high school or college — even out of the country — is often money well spent, said Mark Woodward, founder and CEO of KANA Private Wealth Group of McLean, Va.
DO spend money on activities that can improve your health. This includes health club memberships, exercise equipment, pool memberships and personal training, said Woodward. You’ll feel better, of course. But research shows that the typical retired person who exercises regularly can save $2,500 in annual health care costs, Woodward noted.
DO activities that bring you pleasure. Great experiences tend to bring far more happiness to retirees than accumulating lots of expensive stuff, said Jenkin. “If it’s between a Coach handbag and a great trip, go with the trip,” said Jenkin.
DO spend money on technology training. The cost will likely pay itself back many times over, said Jenkin. Keeping up with new technologies can ultimately save retirees money, time and frustration, he added.
DON’T buy pricey, new cars. Buying assets which quickly depreciate is one of the dumbest things a retiree can do, said Jenkin.
DON’T over-support adult children.  If you indulge your grown son or daughter, your child will be less inclined to save and invest for retirement, said Bryan. “You hurt your children by not showing them how to be financially independent,” said Bryan.
DON’T purchase lottery tickets. Bryan has several clients who spend hundreds of dollars weekly on them.  “It’s a terrible habit, and lately I’ve seen it more with women than with men,” he said.
DON’T neglect to put money aside for one-time expenses, like a child’s wedding. “Too many retirees think about this only when it’s too late,” Jenkin said.


Retirement Spending 101: The Do's and Don'ts

Bruce Horovitz

Have you ever read a friend’s obituary and had any of these reactions?: You cannot reconcile the person described with what was written about him or her; the events summarized did not constitute what your loved one considered important in life and instead of capturing the essence of the deceased’s colorful personality, it painted a beige picture with tired platitudes that the departed would have loathed.
Or have you ever been charged with writing an obituary for someone and realized with rising panic that you have absolutely no idea where he went to school, when he lived in certain cities or what he would consider important to include? Imagine doing this under deadline and the stress of mourning.
Many boomers decide to spare friends this experience and take matters into their own hands. With a little guidance, you can come up with a summing-up you can be proud of. Even if you don’t want to write a full-fledged obit, you can make that task less onerous for someone else by leaving valuable leads.
Create a Just-the-Facts Obituary
If the mere thought of tackling writing an obituary makes you freeze, Brooklyn funeral director and blogger Amy Cunningham has some comforting advice:
“People shouldn’t be intimidated. It doesn’t have to be beautiful prose, and you don’t have to get it perfect,” she says. You don’t even need to leave a completed document. Instead, control the narrative by leaving a timeline for family and friends. “Anything you sketch out will be useful to your loved ones," Cunningham notes.
If you plan to submit the obituary to a newspaper, find out if the publication has writers’ guidelines. Some charge a fee for printing an obituary, but you could always publish it in the funeral program or post it on a webpage devoted to obituaries such as LifePosts.
Begin with a basic resumé. This does not mean listing the companies where you or the decased worked, but rather important life events: birth, marriages, awards and other talking points. Also include the names of spouses, children and key charities.
If you’re writing someone else’s obituary, check the person’s LinkedIn page or talk to other family members and friends to find out more. Ask for colorful stories and anecdotes as well.
Good Questions to Get Answered
Just answering a few questions can be the basis of a great obituary. Let's say you're writing your own:
Was there a great turning point in your life, or a sudden realization, chance meeting or fluke that made you change your course or career?
Were you inspired by a book or public figure?
Did a national event or catastrophe spur you to action?
What did you spend your free time doing?
What would you most want to be remembered for?
What words would you want associated with you (funny, generous, honest, dynamic, fearless, insightful, kind)?
What makes you happy?
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Are you known for your famous culinary skills or some other talent?
Are you the person who made other people feel important? Or the person who everyone vied to sit next to at Thanksgiving dinner?
Did you start a charity or volunteer at one?
What did you love? Who did you love and how did you meet them?
What obstacle were you proud to have overcome?
Where to Get Help Writing an Obituary
If you need guidance, you can find it on the LifePosts webpage.
You can also join a workshop or group and get advice and support from other people, or use fill-in-the-blank templates online.
There’s also a great documentary about obituary writing that shows how the pros at the New York Times do it.
We All Have a Story
Not everyone is famous enough to get a professional write-up in a newspaper. But everyone’s life has value and meaning.
For example, Cunningham pointed out, after 9/11, The New York Times wrote an obituary for every person who died in the attack.
Cunningham cited one notable example about a woman who had a large collection of shoes. “She came off as such an endearing, quirky person because of the New York Times describing her shoe collection,” Cunningham recalled. “It wasn’t ostentation; she just really loved footwear, and they presented it in a really sweet fashion.”


Obituary Writing 101

Deborah Quilter

I tuck my jacket, shoes and bag in the cubby room and walk out with a mat, towel and water bottle. The intense heat envelops my body as soon as I open the door to the dark quiet room. I find a spot on the second row and roll out a pink mat, a hand-me-down from a friend. I lay on my back in savasana, a meditative pose in restorative yoga.
People begin yoga for many reasons – pain management, strength building, stretching and flexibility – but the social aspect may be an understated benefit.Weeks before running a half marathon in November 2023, pain in my feet and legs concerned me. An assessment pointed to arthritis, tight hips and a serious need to stretch my hamstrings. At about the same time, my running partner asked if I wanted to join her in a yoga class – they were offering a special for the month of October. She could bring a friend to class for free.
Worry about the aches and pains I was suffering superseded my nervousness about going to a yoga studio.
Although she'd been a member of this hot yoga studio since the beginning of 2023, I always said no when she asked me to join her. This time, I said yes. Worry about the aches and pains I was suffering superseded my nervousness about going to a yoga studio. I attended a slow, deep stretch class with her.
Nothing about the experience was what I expected. The preconceived notions in my head – young women with thin bodies wearing expensive yoga clothing mastering every pose in perfectly manicured feet – were replaced with a diverse group of people, men and women from various backgrounds, with all body shapes at different places in their yoga practice. I was wrong about everything. I became a member that day and have been practicing yoga four and sometimes five times a week.
Yoga's history is rooted in India and dates to more than 5000 years ago. The practice became popular in Western culture in the 1970s and has steadily increased. In 2021, 34.4 million or 10% of the population practiced yoga in the United States. Despite my assumptions, they're not all young and experienced: 38% of yoga practitioners are over 50 years old  and 39% of practitioners consider themselves at the beginner level.
Getting Started With Yoga 
My friend made it easy for me to find a yoga studio, but with more than 48,000 yoga studios in the country, how do you narrow down the choices? Louis Bryant, a registered yoga teacher, has taught at 15 different studios in the U.S. including I Am Yoga Buffalo and Evolution Yoga Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, and many others through his company, Americasana, a national teaching and community service initiative.
Bryant recommends exploring studios close to home or on the way to work. Look online or call to ask about what types of classes are offered and the level of experience needed for each one. Learn about the instructors and how they're trained. If you need a shower, an accessible entrance or want to bring a chair into the class for stability, find out the information before you head to the studio.
Try a few classes to see which ones you enjoy, Bryant says. Once you arrive, take note of how you feel: Do you feel welcomed into the community? Are there classes you want to attend?
"The social aspect has as much an impact as the physical one. It can be another community where you can find connections and feel valued."
Often, online marketplaces such as Groupon and LivingSocial offer deals, and some studios promote a package such as 20 days for $30 with unlimited classes during a specific period. ClassPass gives users the option to studio-hop within the region.
Unexpected Benefits of Yoga
In January, when one of the studio members asked to swap phone numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. People begin yoga for many reasons – pain management, strength building, stretching and flexibility – but the social aspect may be an understated benefit. Most yoga studios provide a lobby with seating for people to gather while waiting for a class. If you go into the experience with the intention of meeting new people, you might find a community of friends.
"The social aspect has as much an impact as the physical one," Bryant said. "It can be another community where you can find connections and feel valued."
Dave White in Mooresville, North Carolina, joined a yoga studio in 2008, when he was 52 years old. He'd been searching for a way to get in better shape but more importantly, clear his mind of worry. The recession hit his company hard, and he needed an outlet for stress.
"When I come out of class, things are more in perspective."
"It allows me to focus on my practice and not think about the other pressures in the world outside of that environment for 45 minutes," White said. "When I come out of class, things are more in perspective."
Whatever Will I Wear? 
After my first class at the yoga studio, I Googled, "yoga etiquette," to understand the protocols in these unfamiliar surroundings. The immediate change I made was swapping out my oversized beach towel for a yoga mat towel to keep from sliding during poses. My wide leg yoga pants and tank tops from running worked fine until I was ready to invest in yoga clothing.
Barbara Agnello, co-owner operator at High Frequency Loft in Taos, New Mexico, has been practicing yoga for 25 years. The right fit and texture in your clothing may keep you supported and safe, she said. Hoods and loose clothing could make practicing more difficult. Some men wear swim trunks and take off their shirts for a hot or vigorous class, depending on studio policy.
"I strongly recommend that whatever people are going to wear, try it at home first," Agnello said. "Play around. Move your body and see if what you're wearing is going to restrict you, constrict you, make you uncomfortable and get in the way."
"People think you have to automatically be the most flexible person in order to practice. I think that is a big misconception about yoga."
At the High Frequency Loft, staff welcome a new student with a tour and assess the needs of the student. "When I have someone new come in, I ask them if it's their first time at the studio or is it their first time at yoga," Agnello explained. "Then I can gauge how much I need to tell them. Do I need to tell them the particulars of my space or do I need to give them the whole 101 lesson?"
Agnello's go-to etiquette list includes showing up on time, being quiet inside the room they hold class, not wearing shoes inside the room and refrain from applying heavy perfumes or lotions before class.
Bring your own mat, yoga towel (for hot yoga), water bottle and a hand towel because they're personal items that will touch your body parts, Agnello said. Although studios typically rent mats for a small fee, if you think you'll continue practicing, consider buying one.
Expectations of the Practitioner 
My inflexibility, both physically and mentally, has been a running joke with my husband for decades. Besides being among young women who can fold like pretzels, I was most worried about looking like a fool. I can't touch my toes, and I wasn't familiar with all the yoga poses.
"People think you have to automatically be the most flexible person in order to practice," said Jenna Reynolds, co-owner of Arrichion in Charlotte, North Carolina. "I think that is a big misconception about yoga."
Classes are set up for students to succeed. The instructor demonstrates in the front of the room, suggesting modifications for poses. Yoga blocks, straps or even a longer towel may be helpful to modify poses to make them accessible to everyone. The practitioner receives the benefits but without overstraining or overstretching, Reynolds says.
"Making something accessible to you and your body, that's what it's all about," Reynolds said. "You have to do what feels good for you."


Everyone's Welcome: Joining a Yoga Studio After 50

Vanessa Infanzon

For 15 years, Wendy Perry, 64, juggled her job as IT manager for a private K-12 school in San Juan Capistrano, California, while also caring for her mother, who passed away last year at age 101. Without a break, Perry is now stepping into her second tour of duty as a caregiver, this time for her mother-in-law.
"Over the last two decades, studies about caregiver support in the workplace have identified benefits that can be used for older parents and other dependents. But many of these studies did not consider the needs of hourly workers,"Perry is not alone. She is one of 23 million people caring for older loved ones while also working full or part-time. That is about one in every six employees, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving, a nonprofit coalition that advocates for workplace policies and practices that make life easier for unpaid caregivers.
While some employers offer in-office, remote or hybrid work options, reports show 59% of the entire labor force — approximately 90 million workers — are hourly workers who lack such options. Women and people of color comprise most of the workers without flexible schedules, and several reports found they were the largest groups leaving the workplace during the pandemic due to caregiving responsibilities at home.
Convening an Innovation Lab
The challenges for hourly employees who are also caregiving was the focus of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving's (RCI) inaugural Innovation Lab, which focused on improving job flexibility at five small- to mid-sized employers in southeast Michigan. Outcomes and lessons learned have been published in a companion report, "Working While Caring." 
The Innovation Lab brought together small and mid-sized employers from for-profit and nonprofit sectors in southeast Michigan, each of which had many hourly workers in jobs requiring them to be on-site. The goal of the Innovation Lab was to collaborate on caregiving issues in the workforce and outline a plan of innovative solutions.
"If offering a senior care benefit helps just five employees who are caregiving stay on the job, it will save the company $200,000 related to the costs of replacing that employee."
Over the last two decades, studies about caregiver support in the workplace have identified benefits such as: paid family leave, flex time, support groups, remote work and health savings accounts that can be used for older parents and other dependents. But many of these studies did not consider the needs of hourly workers, such as helping to connect to local resources, that vary widely among urban, suburban and rural communities.
RCI  convened its Innovation Lab to consider solutions to these policy gaps. For instance, Employee Assistance Programs — services that offer employees professional help with personal problems — traditionally focused on behavioral programs (such as smoking cessation and weight management). They have provided little more than access to service representatives who can describe caregiving benefits and support services.
The Innovation Lab wants to go further, recommending specialized caregiving concierge services that include family care counseling, communication skills training and psychosocial cognitive behavioral therapy for caregivers. It also says companies need to focus on more employee education on how to manage caregiver stress, costs of care and how to navigate Medicare and Medicaid.
The Innovation Lab wants employers to ensure managers and supervisors are trained on the caregiving benefits their company offers and on communication skills to explain the benefits to employees. Most importantly, hourly workers should have access to a personalized assessment and care plan, especially for people with loved ones with dementia or mental illness.
More Laboratories Planned
The Rosalynn Carter Institute, which is based in Americus, Georgia, hopes to launch additional Innovation Labs in Atlanta and other cities.
"What is exciting about our first Innovation Lab is we are going to move the needle and not just check the box on what employers can do to help caregivers in the workplace," said Jennifer Olsen, CEO of RCI. "Over the next couple of years, the Michigan Innovation Lab will engage a Care Navigator service to help employees manage the costs, resources and programs available to help them balance work and caregiving."
Creating a care culture was the core aim of one of the Innovation Lab participants, the Michigan chapter of Volunteers of America, which provides affordable housing for low socioeconomic individuals, supports veterans with housing and other programs and runs retail thrift stores to raise funds for the programs.
"The first step was eliminating the stigma of not being able to talk about caregiving at work," said Aubrey Macfarlane, president and CEO of VOA, Michigan, who recently moved to Michigan to be closer to her older parents. "We erased all preconceived ideas of what would help our employees then we listened to them and took a bottoms-up and top-down approach so we could determine where to invest our support."
Benefits and the Bottom Line
The RCI report comes at a time when employers are realizing there is no-one-size-fits-all when it comes to benefits for caregiving employees but also that retaining these employees is crucial to the corporate bottom line. U.S. businesses lose an estimated $44 billion annually on recruiting, retaining and realizing employee productivity loss for those caring for older loved ones. In addition, the Urban Institute found individual caregivers who take a leave of absence from work can lose lifetime earnings on average of $237,000 in wages and other benefits such as Social Security and Medicare credits as well as health care coverage.
A recent Harvard Business School report conducted among employers that use Wellthy, a service that provides employees with personalized support to cope with logistical and administrative tasks of caregiving, found that companies offering caregiving support are likely to see a reduction in turnover of five to six percentage points.
"The first step was eliminating the stigma of not being able to talk about caregiving at work."
"Reducing employee turnover rates by just 1.7% is where a caregiving benefit like Wellthy starts to pay for itself," said Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, founder and CEO of Wellthy. "If offering a senior care benefit helps just five employees who are caregiving stay on the job, it will save the company $200,000 related to the costs of replacing that employee as well as win the loyalty of the caregiving employees."
An Ernst & Young survey found U.S. workplaces have four generations who are caregiving — including 42% of boomers, 48% of GenXers and 53% of millennials — while a Harvard report found 73% of U.S. workers are caregiving for a child, spouse, older parent or other loved one. Twenty-three percent of the workforce that is caregiving are caring for both older parents and younger children known as the "Sandwich Generation." 
The number of employees who are caregivers will only grow as the peak-65 group — the youngest boomers representing 4.1 million Americans who are poised to turn 65 this year and every year through 2027 — will join the fast-growing populations of 70-, 80-, 90- and 100-year-olds.
Workplace demographics are not the only thing employers can no longer afford to ignore. A study found the U.S. will lose about $290 billion a year in GDP in 2030 and beyond — more than the annual revenue of Alphabet (parent company to Google, YouTube, Nest), the second-biggest U.S. technology company — if it fails to address the care economy's two biggest issues: the workplace shortage of professional home care workers and the workplace departure of employees who are family caregivers.
Caregivers Needed
This was the dilemma for Karen Yingling, who was recently honored by Carewell as "Caregiver of the Year." Yingling, a millennial living in Duncansville, Pennsylvania, was a fulltime home health worker who was raising five children while also caring for a father with lung cancer and a mother with dementia.
"I was in a situation where caregiving was 24/7 for me — professionally with my home health clients and then with my parents and children when I got home," said Yingling. "After I lost my dad, I knew my only option was to leave my job, even though my clients were like family, to care full-time for my mom as her dementia progressed."
Senior Care Is a Key Benefit Today
A recent 2024 Care.com workplace benefits survey among 620 U.S.-based HR and business leaders, as well as 1,000 benefits-eligible employees, showed senior care support was a leading benefit request from employees. In the company's 2023 survey, the desire for senior care benefits outpaced childcare for the first time since the survey began in 2020.
"Our survey also found one in five employees have left a job because their employer didn't provide family care benefits."
That aligns with U.S. Census Bureau statistics showing that by 2034, for the first time in U.S. history, we will have more parents to care for than children. A recent workplace equity trends report says caregivers are the fastest growing employee group with many companies hosting internal employee resource group (ERG) focused on caregiving — whether for a child or for an older parent.
"Last year we had 43% of employers who prioritized senior care benefits, in this year's survey it increased to 50%," according to Ajith Segaram, head of global account management for Care.com's Care for Business division which provides a suite of caregiving services to employers including Best Buy, P&G and Trip Advisor.
Most Companies Don't Look
"Our survey also found one in five employees have left a job because their employer didn't provide family care benefits and 21% would leave one employer for another if they had access to senior care support."
One of Wellthy's clients, Hilton, who globally employs more than 168,000 "team members," many of them hourly and shift workers, was recently honored as No. 1 on the 2023 list of World's Best Workplaces. What contributed to Hilton's top ranking was its Care for All caregiving initiative that includes tools and resources to support the mental wellness and caregiving needs of team members launched in 2022.
Yet, despite the awareness, the need and the companies and organizations driving innovation, only 12% of employers currently track their caregiving employees' needs versus benefits and the 2019 Harvard study found more than half of companies do not track their organization's caregiving demographics nor conduct a yearly caregiving audit. In addition, a 2021 survey found almost half of caregivers said their workplace supervisors are not aware of their caregiving responsibilities outside of work.
Helping Employees in Need
Olsen shares that the RCI Innovationl Lab seeks to become a best practices case study to show how one group of employers, located in the same geographic region of the U.S. and sharing similar labor supply and ecosystem challenges, can make significant differences in the lives of employees who are caregiving.
She also feels another benefit of the Innovation Lab's collaborative efforts was a discussion about changing the language in the workplace so that employees see themselves at every phase along the caregiving journey, whether it is child care, spousal care, special needs care or elder care.
"We need to help caregivers struggling with caring for a loved one while maintaining their role at work," added Olsen. "We believe the Innovation Lab will help by giving us a roadmap to help caregivers and employers."


Workplace Caregiving: One Size Does Not Fit All

Sherri Snelling

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