Why Senior’s Corner?

During the first 15 years of being a Nurse, I worked in Long Term Care (Nursing Homes).  In addition, for about 5 of those years I wrote the monthly health advice column for a local seniors newspaper.  For many seniors, their needs and interests are quite different from those who are younger.

Therefore, we have Seniors Corner (with different posting categories) where all posts are primarily geared to those 55 plus.  This can be found by clicking onto Seniors in the main menu.  This will make it easier for seniors to specifically find what they are looking for. 

We encourage every senior and their family to check with their insurance provider and various government programs to learn what financial assistance may be available.  Some seniors may qualify for assistance through a government health program, veterans services, etc.  

I remember my grandfather was periodically struggling with different things financially.  We found out after he passed away, that many of those things he could have gotten assistance for as he was a World War 2 veteran.

There are also various tax credits that some seniors may qualify for (depending on their jurisdiction).  For example, some who have a disability that affects their activities of daily living, may qualify for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) here in Canada.  Tax Credits reduce the amount of Income Tax a person pays each year, thus increasing their potential tax refund.  After my mom passed away, I hired an accountant to do her final taxes.  It was then that we learned that she could have qualified for the DTC during the last 5 years of her life.  So instead of having to pay each of those years after her taxes were done, she could have been getting a refund instead.  That’s money she could have used for her disability challenges.

Far too often seniors are victims of various scams.  If a potential scam is noticed in Seniors Corner, or posted anywhere else on this site, we ask to be notified immediately and the appropriate actions will be taken as that is a direct violation of our Terms and Conditions.

Every once in a while, law enforcement will do press releases notifying the public of the latest potential scam.  We strongly encourage everyone to be aware of those notices in order to protect themselves.

My Mother in Law (who is in her 80’s) often gets those scam calls and we strongly encourage her to just hang up and not even engage in the conversation. Sometimes, she’ll get a door to door solicitor. For those we encourage her to either not answer the door, or for her to inform the person(s) that she will not discuss anything unless one of us is present.

There are two reasons why she often struggles with this advice that we give her.  One is that she lives alone and may want someone to talk to.  The second is that she feels if she just hangs up the phone, she’s being rude.  This is common as many of the current seniors were raised to be polite and respectful.  Unfortunately scammers do not adhere to the same mentality.

Many of the scams are intended to frighten the person, that if they don’t act, some negative consequences will happen.  

Seniors (and everyone else for that matter) are encouraged to be vigilant and mindful in all of their financial dealings.

Note: All posts in Seniors Corner run for 1 year each, unless otherwise removed.

Until next time, stay safe, healthy and strong.