Seniors often may feel the need for someone who can help them in standing up for their rights when dealing with large corporations. Finding who can address your concerns in a satisfactory way becomes increasingly difficult when everyone is trying to push you to their website or insists you navigate their electronic telephone system. Thankfully some corporations take their responsibilities towards their customers seriously and are providing that much needed support.

A recent case with the Royal Bank illustrates what can happen. Seniors are living longer and becoming more educated, and this is forcing bankers to sometimes think outside of the box.

For example, a man in his late 80s went into a branch and asked to take out a five-year mortgage. He was in good physical and mental health, but the bank refused to commit him to a five-year loan that had a penalty for early termination. In this case, getting the senior his rights needed the help of the RBC Ombudsman.

Yes there is such a person: Wendy Knight is the RBC ombudsman. She was able to facilitate a resolution that kept everyone happy.

Banks are a group that is often criticized for poor customer service and the cell phone companies are on the low end of the scale too. Perhaps it is not surprising then that there is a Rogers Ombudsman, who is already making a difference. The company has now appointed its first ombudsman, Donald E. Moffatt. While he is supposed to act as a court of last resort, Moffatt will intervene quickly if he sees an injustice.

As ombudsman, Moffatt says he is independent from Rogers. He has no access to company records and has to ask for authorization from customers to check their files.

To get in touch, you have to go through three earlier steps, then send an email to ombudsman@rci.rogers.com or send a fax to 416-935-3604.

One might hope that the training that customer representatives receive would eliminate the need for an ombudsman. That is clearly not the case yet. Until it is, providing an ombudsman means that you can hopefully get a hearing even if it takes some effort to achieve that.

Post from: Senior Money Memos

Seniors Often Need An Ombudsman

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There are many hazards in dealing with banks and trying to ensure the security of your bank dealings and your money. A new hazard is that a Bogus bank manager may be calling local seniors.

The Niagara Regional Police have issued a warning about two incidents where seniors have been contacted by an individual claiming to be calling from the senior’s financial institution and posing as the branch manager. The caller appears to have sufficient information regarding the senior’s account to appear to be a manager.

Supposedly there is an investigation of an internal theft involving a teller. The senior is requested to withdraw a significant sum of money and meet the ‘bank manager’ away from the financial institution in an effort to catch the dishonest teller.

Once the senior meets the caller and turns over the money, the suspect thanks the senior for their cooperation and leaves the area. Police are warning the public that no financial institution would involve any of their clients in any such type of ’sting operation.’

Remember it is most important to shred all financial information before disposing of it and not release any personal information over the phone or by email unless you have initiated the call and are certain with whom you are dealing.

If some incident like this happens, you are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers. You can leave an anonymous tip or information at the Crime Stoppers toll-free number at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Calls are not electronically recorded or traced, and Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display.

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Is That Bank Manager Bogus

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Jack Layton, the leader of the NDP in Canada says that the Country faces a ‘national pension crisis’.

As you can find with a search on Google Insights, this same concern is expressed elsewhere around the world as shown by the following chart for searches on ‘pension crisis’:

Concern about pensions in the UK is several times that here in Canada and in the US pension concerns almost match those in Canada.

In a nutshell, the problem stems from people living longer while the global recession has severely damaged what people and pension funds had put aside for their retirement.

As Jack Layton said:

Fewer than 40% of Canadians have workplace pensions and those who rely on their registered retirement saving plans have seen “billions of those savings vaporize”. He urged the government to inject $700 million into the guaranteed income supplement to help 226,000 seniors living below the poverty line.

It seems quite clear that what was a Simmering pension crisis is now coming to a boil.

Monica Townson has written a succinct analysis of what is wrong and what can be done.  Her nine-page paper, commissioned by the Tommy Douglas Research Institute, contain two clear messages.

• The first is that there is no “magic bullet that will fix everything.” It will take a mix of reforms – some fast-acting, some long-term – to shore up the pension system.
• The second is that Canada has to get moving now.

Townson’s paper is available on the Canada Centre For Policy Alternatives website.

She highlights the weakness in each layer of Canada’s three-tiered retirement income system:

• Old Age Security was designed to keep seniors above the poverty line. One out of every seven unattached older women lives in poverty. It would take an increase in the across-the-board senior allowance or the low-income supplement to rectify this problem.
• The Canada Pension Plan was meant to top up the coverage provided by employers. But 62 per cent of workers have no employee pension. It would take a major expansion of the CPP – financed by another hike in premiums – to provide an adequate pension for all members of the workforce.
• Registered retirement savings plans were created to encourage Canadians to set aside money for their non-working years. Contributions are tax sheltered. But the vast majority of Canadians (69 per cent) don’t contribute.

Seniors have not been putting away savings anywhere else so the result is that millions of Canadians are heading toward retirement with too little to live on for the rest of their lives.

A solution will require that all levels of government work together and the Federal Government must provide the leadership in this if timely solutions to this pension crisis are to be developed.

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The Pension Crisis

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With retirement, your hobby will undoubtedly take a much bigger part of your life. Where do you find the space to do it? If it is golf, perhaps you even need to buy your own golf course. Most of us require a more modest space. In this guest post, Brian A Schmidt, Publisher, PrefabMetalBuildingKits.com offers advice on The Perfect Building for Your Hobby.

Hobbies provide a special diversion from the every day humdrum of life. Young or old we are drawn to hobbies by our interest. Because our interests are so diverse, the number and types of hobbies are diverse as well.

As we grow older, we don’t necessarily become less active. We are active in different ways. We have more time to spend doing the things that we would have liked to do when we were young but were always too busy ‘living life’ or ‘making a living’.

Many of the things we are talking about are considered our hobbies.

We all have hobbies of one type or another. Maybe you collect stamps. Perhaps it’s coins that you collect. Travel is one hobby that many active people (young and old alike) enjoy. Some may simply watch sports on the Flat Screen as a pass-time.

Many of us could benefit from having a hobby building in which to ‘play’. It could be a small twelve foot by sixteen foot hobby building. It could be a large open hobby shop of one thousand, five thousand or ten thousand square feet or even more. Either way, the sooner we get our hobby building, the sooner the real fun can begin.

Imagine having a building in which you could share your fun and expertise with plenty of room to work and to entertain friends and visitors.

Hablon weaving loom

A hobby building can be used for any number of pastimes. Perhaps your special hobby building will be home to more than one of your hobbies. You can enjoy working on your model railroad hobby while your partner works on a weaving loom.

The first thing that may come to mind for a special building is a hobby that involves cars. Hobby car builders, car detailers, car mechanics, car customizers; yes a hobby building is perfect for any car enthusiast (including the collector). But hobby buildings are certainly not just for car enthusiasts.

Quilters for example could benefit by have a building for their hobby with large open spaces and large walls to hang the completed or semi-completed works on. Just think… all of your components could be laid out or readily available virtually at your fingertips.

Scrap-bookers would find that a nicely laid out building with lots of cupboards, drawers, bins and table space would be perfect for their hobby.

Painters through the ages have had their studios. It’s that special place where they could go to be creative and get away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. A specially designed building to suit the artist’s personality would be a boon to any artist. (And a small gallery in part of the building could prove to be lucrative!)

Woodworkers would of course greatly benefit from a building that removes the noise and dust from the home and places them in a special building designed for the intended purpose. Room for all of the equipment and tools and large open spaces for assembly… ah, perfect!

Gardeners too know what a hobby building can do for them. All of those garden tools neatly stored… Potting benches to work on in inclement weather… Winter storage for bulbs and seeds… Perhaps you would even have a little greenhouse attached.

Now here’s something that you may not have thought about. No matter what your hobby is, a purpose built structure can become a meeting place for you and your friends to get together more often; possibly even a drop-in center for other enthusiasts in your hobby. Having friends over and discussing your fascinating hobby can be a great pass-time in itself.

As I mentioned earlier, hobby buildings come in all sizes. But they can come in all shapes and materials as well. Smaller buildings can be wood framed or made from light gauge metal while larger buildings may be wood or steel framed.

Even metal buildings do not have to look like the typical “box building”. In fact there is one pre-engineered steel building that has been built for an amusement park that looks like the Titanic – complete with ice-berg! What look would suit your hobby and personality?

Many of the smaller buildings are available in kit form for the do-it-yourselfer. Anyone that has handyman type skills would be quite capable of assembling these types of hobby buildings.

Pre-fab metal building kits are fast becoming the building material of choice for larger buildings. They can be designed and engineered to have any look you like while being able to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. These buildings are non-combustible as well. Oh yes… they also require much less maintenance than other building types.

Being non-combustible makes metal shop buildings ideal for hobbies that include soldering or welding – car related hobbies, metal artists, stained glass artists and the like.

Because metal buildings don’t rot, twist or crack and are unaffected by insects, there is much less maintenance on these building kits. That means more time for your hobby!

Let’s face it. We have worked hard all of our lives. We deserve to have a special place to enjoy our hobbies; a place where we can expand upon our talents; a place where we can invite our friends – because as you know, “There are no strangers, just friends that we have not yet met.”

Brian A Schmidt is author and publisher of Prefabmetalbuildingkits.com. His home is in a small community in Southwestern Ontario, Canada with his lovely wife Carol. Brian and Carol have three fantastic grown children and four wonderful small grandchildren. As the owner of a small construction company and construction manager for a few companies over the years he has had extensive experience in all sectors of the construction industry. These include commercial metal building kits, industrial buildings, residential buildings and institutional building. Gardening, woodworking in his hobby workshop and cruise vacationing take up his “free” time.

Post from: Senior Money Memos

Building for Your Hobby

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Google can save brains according to a report that Web Surfing Can Save Your Aging Brain. Researchers found that older adults who started browsing the Web experienced improved brain function after only a few days.

Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatry professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of iBrain. said that after just a week of practice searching, there was a much greater extent of activity particularly in the areas of the brain that make decisions, the thinking brain.

Further details of the research can be found in the paper, “Neural activation patterns in older adults following Internet training” by TD Moody, H Gaddipati, GW Small, SY Bookheimer.

In short, for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function. As people live increasingly long lives, such research findings are of critical importance in ensuring that the quality of life is maintained as much as possible.

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Google For A Healthy Brain

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As the evenings grow darker, many in northern climes would often be thinking about taking a vacation about now.  That is not a choice for many this year after the deep recession we have all undergone.  However for those who have funds, the New York Times suggests that it is high time to head South for hot deals.  If you are looking for a bargain vacation to tide you over until the holidays, then the article suggests you had better act fast.

While the travel industry is still hurting from the fallout, airlines, rental car companies and hotels have all been tweaking their businesses to ride out the downturn and push rates back up. And some of the efforts are working.

Bookings have begun to pick up in cities like New York and Chicago as business travel has begun to stir. That’s putting a damper on the deals that travelers have grown to expect. Meanwhile, the high season is approaching for cold-weather getaways like Hawaii and the Caribbean, which are hoping to make up for the revenue lost in the off-season months.

Nevertheless bargains are still to be found:

Expedia recently reported that air and hotel package prices for major destinations this fall have declined 29 percent compared with last season. And even with the latest round of capacity cuts, airlines continue to roll out aggressive sales. The average flier this fall is going to save about 10 percent compared with last year, said Joe Grus, the so-called fareologist at Bing Travel, the new Microsoft search engine that predicts airfare prices.

Some of the examples quoted in the article sound very promising:

• Mexico – Chain hotels, with lots of rooms to sell, are offering some of the most aggressive deals.
• Scottsdale, Arizona – Sprawling resorts, which were particularly hurt by the slowdown in conferences and meetings, are offering some of the deepest discounts.
• Florida – Florida’s heavy reliance on tourism, combined with a glut of hotel rooms added before the downturn, made it among the most susceptible places to the recession.

If you are one of the lucky ones, then you will need to consider your choices very carefully.  Exploring discount travel opportunities is clearly the first priority.  This may well help you decide which of the possible venues you may visit.  To ensure you have a great time and do not forget your choice, it is important to carefully map out your budget so that your money does not run out before the end of your vacation stay.

However it is quite clear that for those who can afford it, now is the time to be making your vacation choice. The rest of us can only hope that the winter will not be too severe.

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Best Bargain Vacations

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According to the RCMP, several Calgary residents tricked 24 elderly or disabled Americans out of about $3 million over a three-year period by telling them they had won a lottery. This lottery scam targeted U.S. seniors.

Between 2005 and 2008, the victims were contacted by letter or phone and told they had won a lottery or sweepstakes but were required to pay taxes, administration fees or lawyers’ fees before they could collect winnings, which didn’t exist.

One person sent in between $500,000 and $1 million, with the scam collecting about $3 million in total. Some people lost their life savings, and have been ostracized by family or have been forced to remortgage their homes. Others in their 70s had to return to work.

Investigators have arrested four people from Calgary, one from Burnaby, B.C., and one from Toronto. Canada-wide arrest warrants are outstanding for three other suspects who police believe are in the Calgary area.

Post from: Senior Money Memos

Online Lottery Scams Target Seniors

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We are not talking about dangerous driving wheels here, although you often read items flagging the Dangerous Presence of Senior Drivers on the Roads.

Driving may be a sensitive topic for seniors because their age sometimes affects their ability to drive. They are more likely to receive traffic tickets compared to young drivers. The two main reasons for this may be due to slower reflexes and poor eyesight.

In some ways, the wheels we are talking about here are even more dangerous. We are not directly referring to those hypnotic and addictive rotating wheels you will see in video slot machines at casinos, although that is getting closer.

As the Globe and Mail suggested there are Wheels of fate that are not always kind to seniors.

Subsidizing commercial bus fares to bring patrons to casinos – particularly during the times of the day when casinos are at their slowest – is common across Canada, with hundreds of trips daily. The Quebec government pays some of the highest bus subsidies of any province – more than $3.2-million over the past two fiscal years to transport patrons to its casinos, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Casinos du Québec spokesman Patrice Lavoie said the province lays out an average of $7 for each person brought to its casinos by bus.

Although such bus tours were long thought to be benign – retirement homes routinely shuttle residents to casinos as part of their entertainment – researchers now question whether these trips potentially set seniors up for future gambling problems.

Barry Hall, a professor of social work at the University of Calgary, says casino bus tours represent a shrewd marketing strategy that caters to the egos of lonely seniors, particularly women. “I have observed the buses … and I have watched very handsome young men come out and squire the elderly ladies who are absolutely enthralled that they are being treated as royalty.”

It is not only free or subsidized transport that is encouraging big losers to keep coming back.

NDP health critic Frances Gelinas says casinos know who the VIPs are and those at risk of becoming addicted, since they also tend to be the big losers who keep going back to casinos. “There is no link between the casinos and treatment. Casinos offer these people VIP cars, pick them up in black limousines and offer other enticing gifts,” she says. “Casinos know there will be people who have addiction problems and the government should do a better job of preventing and identifying problem gamblers before their lives are ruined.”

Gamblers are enticed by the manipulation of the casino environment once you step foot inside, Research shows the casino’s music, the pumping in of extra oxygen contributes to keeping people in their seats longer. Casino employees take whole courses on public relations to make the patron feel more welcome.

For example, the OLG has subtle messages, ‘if you don’t play, you can’t win,’ and people buy into that dream world. Casinos target every group out there, including seniors, by providing free transportation from seniors’ homes, to giving vouchers for free buffets, hotel stays and shows.

Some seniors are beginning to speak out. The P.E.I. Senior Citizens’ Federation is upset by these casino incentives.

They affirm that the government-owned casino in Charlottetown shouldn’t be encouraging people to gamble. It is appalling that Charlottetown’s government-owned casino gave nearly $100,000 in complimentary merchandise to its high rollers during the past year.

The bottom line on all this is staggering and extremely distressing. In Canada, gambling is a $13.67-billion business nationwide. Problem gamblers account for one-third of all revenues, studies show.

Post from: Senior Money Memos

Dangerous wheels for seniors

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It is often said that death and taxes are inevitable and cannot be avoided. It appears that bank fees can be added to the list. At least that would seem to be the case in the UK where Barclays is accused over ‘obscene’ fees for customers’ wills.

An Independent on Sunday inquiry has revealed some major high street banks, solicitors and will-writing firms advise clients to appoint them as executors on customers’ wills and levy fees of up to 4.5 per cent on the estate on death. On an estate worth £500,000, that equates to £22,500 – about four times as much as the fees that the best-buy probate firms charge.

An executor’s role is to administer the deceased’s assets and ensure they are correctly distributed between beneficiaries and the taxman.

Barclays has been criticised for using aggressive tactics to persuade customers to appoint it as executor. Barclays defended its actions, saying that it acted as executor only in a minority of cases and that its policy is to step down when asked to do so by a beneficiary.

Consumers are warned that some will-writing companies and banks insist on writing themselves in as a joint or sole executor in the first draft in the hope of getting the fees for doing the estate work.

A codicil can be added to an existing will to remove unwanted executors. However, it applies only if the person drawing up the will is still alive. As usual, it is buyer beware and you should read very carefully all the small print before signing that draft will. It may have sharp teeth.

Post from: Senior Money Memos

Bank Fees Beyond The Grave

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How safe are your savings? was a question being raised last year by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK as British people were investing £6bn in more than 170,000 Icelandic accounts. Nevertheless, just how stable was Iceland’s financial system? We now know the answer.

The UK has seen its own crop of financial disasters. In the wake of the high profile collapses of major banks such as Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley, you could be forgiven for wondering whether you would be better off stashing your savings under the bed rather than putting them in the bank.

There is a government-sponsored compensation scheme in place, called the Financial Services Compensation Scheme(FSCS), that will cover losses incurred by savers with a failed financial institution. However, this only applies to institutions that are regulated by the FSA. This is why savers with the failed Christmas savings scheme Farepak lost all their money when the company went bust, as Farepak was not regulated by the FSA. The FSCS will also only cover up to £50,000 of any individual losses with a particular institution.

So, if you want your money to be safe, you have to put it into an FSA-approved savings scheme. All UK registered banks and building societies are regulated by the FSA. The FSCS savings scheme only covers money deposited into certain types of accounts, such as current accounts, saving accounts, small business accounts, cash ISAs, and credit union. It does not provide protection for hamper schemes, savings stamps, pension plans, or stocks and shares ISAs. The reason for this is that these schemes count as risk based investments, rather than savings accounts, and are subject to a completely different form of protection from the FSCS.

If the company that provides you with the investment scheme goes bust, this does not automatically mean that you lose everything. These firms invest your money in shares, which you still own even if the product provider goes bust. However, if the shares are in a company that has gone bust, you have no protection at all. In the event of the company you have invested with going bust, you are entitled to get the first £30,000 of your investment back, plus 90% of the next £20,000. If your pension or life assurance provider goes bust, then you will be entitled to receive the first £2,000 plus 90% of the rest from the FSCS.

So is it still safe to save your money with a bank or building society in the UK? The answer is an unequivocal yes, although if you have more than £50,000 in savings, it would be sensible to spread it around various firms and savings schemes, so that if anything should happen, you can get all or most of it back. Another advantage of spreading it around is that you can often receive cash incentives for opening a new account. For example, Alliance and Leicester currently offer an incentive of £100 for new current account customers, which you could then easily deposit in one their savings accounts to get you started. Take a look at their website to get more information about their savings accounts.

Most countries have somewhat similar ways in which savers are protected when saving with established financial institutions. In the US, the Federal Reserve provides Deposit Insurance, while in Canada, the Deposit Insurance Corporation has a similar mandate.

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How safe are your savings

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