March 13, 2020
T he C olumbia P ress
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
Walking overcomes the blues
I’m not sure who said
it, but think about this:
“During the first third of
life, everyone told you what
to do. During the second
third of life, you told ev-
eryone else what to do. And
during the final third of
your life, everyone’s tell-
ing you what to do again.
The good thing is that you
can’t hear ’em, so you don’t
care.”
Sometimes, we seniors
tend to feel sorry for our-
selves. You ask me how I
know that? I am a mature
in years senior, so I have
experience feeling sorry for
myself.
When I get in one of those
moods, real or imagined,
I find a walk around the
block is best. It was a lot
easier when I had a dog. I
didn’t have to talk to him. I
have trouble walking with a
friend because we tend to
talk and I run out of breath.
Inevitably, friend or dog
or alone, it tends to make
us feel better. It would be
easier to crawl back into
bed and pull the covers over
our head and drift off into
never, never land.
I think the older we get,
the more situations arise. It
doesn’t set in too often for
me, but when I feel myself
getting cranky that’s a pret-
ty good indicator of what’s
to come.
And, by the way, (at least
in my case and probably
many others) don’t any-
one go feeling sorry for me
when I act out like that.
It’s been said that “Sym-
pathy is feeling sorry for
someone. Empathy is feel-
ing sorry with them.”
When you or a loved one
finds themselves in this state
of mind, it seems to help if
someone is there with you.
The problem is that most
seem to have an agenda and
their own stress.
While you’re reading this,
there may come a knock on
your door and you find it’s
a neighbor who just needs a
word of encouragement or
a helping hand.
Often, we are so busy or so
wrapped up in feeling sorry
for ourselves that we don’t
recognize their plea for a
listening ear. The Bible tells
us to “love our neighbors as
we love ourselves.”
A popular quote from
Charles Kingsley is “Make
it a rule, and pray to God to
help you to keep it .. nev-
er, if possible, to lie down
at night without being able
to say ‘I have made one hu-
man being at least a little
wiser, a little happier, or a
little better this day.’ ”
Kingsley was a British
priest and author, born in
1819. Some will remember
his books, “The Water Ba-
bies” and “Westward Ho.” I
haven’t read either one.
Pondering his words will
make us less introspective
and more outreaching.
It’s a good cure for de-
pression and feeling sorry
for ourselves.
So, no more whining. Just
go for a walk.
7
Coast radio wins grant to improve transmitter
The nonprofit Coast Com-
munity Radio received a
$7,000 grant from The Tem-
plin Foundation of Pacific
County, Wash., to repair, re-
place and update its broad-
cast equipment.
The public radio’s transmit-
ter site is on Megler Moun-
tain in Pacific County.
“We’re extremely grateful
to the Templin Foundation
for their generous grant,” Sta-
tion Manager Gra-
ham Nystrom said.
“Thanks to the Tem-
plin Foundation, our
transmitter site will
be ready for the next
20 years of commu-
nity broadcasting in
weather fair and foul.”
The Templin Foundation
began with an endowment
from Russell Templin, a cit-
izen and businessman in
Pacific County, in
the 1950s. Since the
1990s, when the
foundation
began
awarding grants, it
has distributed more
than $4 million to
causes in south Pa-
cific County.
Coast Community radio
broadcasts through three
stations, KMUN, KTCB and
KCPB.
Financial Focus
with Adam Miller
Will your money last as long as you do?
What do your fellow citizens
fear most?
Almost half of them – 49
percent – are most afraid of
running out of money during
retirement, a higher percent-
age than the 44 percent whose
chief concern is failing health,
according to a recent survey
by Aegon Center for Longevity
and other groups.
What steps can you take to
help ensure your money will
last as long as you do?
Here are a few suggestions:
• Estimate your longevity.
None of us can say for sure
how long we’ll live. However,
you can make some educated
guesses based on your health
and family history. And once
you do have at least a ballpark
figure, you can then determine
about how much money you
may need to last the rest of your
lifetime. A word of caution: It’s
probably going to be more than
Senior lunch menu
Monday, March 16: Corned beef and cabbage, boiled pota-
toes, carrots, spinach salad, key lime pie.
Thursday, March 19: Pulled pork, pasta salad, red cabbage,
tomato soup, brownie with ice cream.
The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors
open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton
Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation
is $6 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more
information, call 503-861-3502.
you think. Health care costs
alone can run into the hun-
dreds of thousands, even with
Medicare.
• Determine when you’ll re-
tire. Your retirement age will
have a big impact on how long
your money lasts. The longer
you work, the more you can
contribute to your retirement
plans, such as your IRA and
401(k). Plus, if you have health
insurance through work, you
should be able to cover some
of the out-of-pocket health care
costs you’d normally have to
pay if you’re retired.
• Invest as much as you can
in your retirement. During
your working years, contribute
as much as you can afford to
your IRA and your 401(k) or
similar
employer-sponsored
retirement plan. And every time
you get a raise, try to increase
the amount you put into your
employer’s plan.
• Protect yourself from
long-term care costs. If you’re
fortunate, you’ll never need any
type of long-term care, such as
an extended stay in a nursing
home or the services of a home
health care provider.
Still, there are no guarantees,
and long-term care expenses
can threaten your retirement
savings. The average cost for a
private room in a nursing home
is about $100,000 per year,
while a home health aide costs
about $50,000 per year, ac-
cording to the insurance com-
pany Genworth.
Medicare typically pays just
a small portion, so you may
want to purchase a long-term
care insurance policy to pay for
qualified long-term care costs.
• Choose an appropriate
withdrawal rate. During your
retirement, you’ll need to with-
draw money from your IRA,
401(k) and other retirement
accounts.
But you’ll want to avoid taking
out too much each year, espe-
cially during the early years of
your retirement. It’s important
to establish an annual with-
drawal rate that’s appropriate
for your needs, taking into ac-
count your age, sources of in-
come, lifestyle and other factors.
The thought of running out
of money during retirement
is scary indeed – but by mak-
ing smart choices, you can go
a long way toward alleviating
the fear and enjoying your life
as a retiree.
This article was written by
Edward Jones and submitted
by Adam Miller, financial ad-
visor at the Warrenton office,
65 N. Highway 101, Suite 202.
To reach him, call 503-861-
2244.