ArcaMax

Dear Toni:

I recently had a hospice agent knocking on the doors in my neighborhood who said he represented Medicare. He was giving away free hospice gifts and told me that I could receive these Medicare services at no charge for me and my husband. I told him that I did not give out personal information to anyone that I do not know because I ...Read more

You know it’s going to be a memorable trip when you are greeted by a giant bottle of Bordeaux wine on arrival at the Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport. And it’s fitting for this adventure, a seven-day Chateaux, Rivers & Wine-themed voyage through France’s sumptuous Bordeaux wine country—home of some of the world’s most coveted wines—sailing...Read more

Gary Sergott felt weary all the time. “I’d get tired, short of breath, a sort of malaise,” he said. He was cold even on warm days and looked pale with dark circles under his eyes.

His malady was not mysterious. As a retired nurse anesthetist, Sergott knew he had anemia, a deficiency of red blood cells. In his case, it was the consequence ...Read more

Gary Sergott felt weary all the time. “I’d get tired, short of breath, a sort of malaise,” he said. He was cold even on warm days and looked pale with dark circles under his eyes.

His malady was not mysterious. As a retired nurse anesthetist, Sergott knew he had anemia, a deficiency of red blood cells. In his case, it was the consequence ...Read more

Toni:

I have just enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B because I turned 65 in June. I am still working, and my husband, James, and I are on my employer health insurance plan. I recently received a letter from Social Security saying that I am being charged a much higher premium for Part B because of my 2023 tax return showing higher earnings. Now ...Read more

If you’re stressed about running out of money in retirement, you’re not alone.

More than half (57 percent) of American workers think they’re behind where they should be on their retirement savings, according to Bankrate’s Retirement Savings Survey. Fueling the stress about retirement income needs are worries about inflation, a weakening...Read more

Home from a 5-mile run one August day, Mark Kleinschmidt couldn't stop sweating. He blamed it on the heat. Then his chest felt tight.

He sat on his bed for a few minutes. Once the pain subsided, he headed for the shower.

The tightness returned while he was showering. He got out, only to drop to the bathroom floor. Somehow, he managed to get ...Read more

A loud ringing and bright light jolted Adam English awake. Then he felt the bizarre sensation of a zipper closing from ear to ear across his face.

English tried to call out, but he could only make sounds.

Then he tried getting out of bed. He fell, hitting his head on the iron bed frame.

His wife, Joanne Pera, was in the bathroom around the ...Read more

Hello Toni:

Thank you for teaching my husband Charley and me the value of finding the right Medicare option for him since he retired at age 70 a few months ago. Charley wanted to pick a Medicare Advantage PPO plan because it had a $0 monthly premium and he could still keep his doctors even though many of the offices were out of network. He ...Read more

They gather several times a week in the parking lot of a Vons supermarket in Mar Vista, and no subject is off-limits. Not even the grim medical prognosis for 70-year-old David Mays, one of the founding members of the coffee klatch.

"It's one of our major topics of conversation," said Paul Morgan, 45, a klatch regular.

Mays is a cancer survivor...Read more

They gather several times a week in the parking lot of a Vons supermarket in Mar Vista, and no subject is off-limits. Not even the grim medical prognosis for 70-year-old David Mays, one of the founding members of the coffee klatch.

"It's one of our major topics of conversation," said Paul Morgan, 45, a klatch regular.

Mays is a cancer survivor...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Seymour Lemonick just accomplished something few 90-year-olds can dream of: staging his first art exhibition.

For the retired Philadelphia teacher and football coach — a sculptor and self-taught woodworker whose Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, home is a makeshift museum — it’s a pinch-me moment.

“This is beyond my wildest ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Seymour Lemonick just accomplished something few 90-year-olds can dream of: staging his first art exhibition.

For the retired Philadelphia teacher and football coach — a sculptor and self-taught woodworker whose Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, home is a makeshift museum — it’s a pinch-me moment.

“This is beyond my wildest ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- For a “real lesson in torture,” try calling your local Social Security Administration office with a question.

That’s what Marcia Chestnut, a 62-year-old former housekeeper from Philadelphia, sardonically suggests.

In February, Chestnut — who lives with various disabilities — received a notice from the SSA saying her ...Read more

We’re sipping hot chocolate and watching a mama bear and her cubs nose around the beach when we catch sight of a shower of ice chunks plunging into the waters of Alaska’s Disenchantment Bay.

Standing on the deck of a catamaran anchored half a mile from Hubbard Glacier, we had been hoping to witness such a scene: North America’s largest ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- For a “real lesson in torture,” try calling your local Social Security Administration office with a question.

That’s what Marcia Chestnut, a 62-year-old former housekeeper from Philadelphia, sardonically suggests.

In February, Chestnut — who lives with various disabilities — received a notice from the SSA saying her ...Read more