Author Archives: Robert Fowler

About Robert Fowler

Robert Fowler is President of Retirement Media Inc. which operates 55CommunityGuide.com and a number of other 50+ Boomer targeted web sites and social media such as Assisted Living Guide, Senior Community Guide, Small Town Retirement, City Retirement and Senior Center Directory. At age 64, Robert relates to others exploring their options at this stage of life.

Baby Boomers Health: 12 Tips for Old Guys

It all started when I needed a DVD for my Netflix queue. Despite the title, I selected a recommended movie titled “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” by Joe Cross which turned out to be an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health while traveling across America, juicer in tow, and inspiring others to do the same. It featured the benefits of eating better and getting a reboot by juicing. I gave it a try.

About the same time my friend David recommend a book by the title “Younger Next Year” with the sub-title Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond. It sounded like a book for women. I was wrong, it is a book for old guys and a very good one. It features the value of exercise as you age and gives you a plan and what to expect.

I had not set out to loose weight. I have been 203 lbs on my last three annual physicals and to be honest I thought the days of loosing weight were over. But the DVD and the book helped me loose 27 lbs in the last 60 days. Plus I have joined the fitness center in my neighborhood and workout 6 times a week. So by following this free advice it is working for me. So what are the health tips for old guys from these two sources that are proven to work. I will just list them the best I can remember from using them.

Health Tips for Old Guys

1. Cut down on the meat eaten. Fish and chicken are good. Consume more fruits and vegetables. Quit eating crap!

2. Try juicing and drink at least one green drink a day. I happen to live next to a Whole Foods with a juice bar and go there for a green drink every day. Or get a blender and prepare yourself.

3. Rather than 3 large meals try small meals with at least two snacks in between. I do snack at 9:45am and 2:45pm but your schedule may vary. I love a hand full on mixed nuts and cranberries and a piece of fruit for a snack.

4. Watch your portion size, especially with meats.

5. Exercise for 45 minutes a day six days a week for the rest of your life. Two days do strength training and 4 days of cardio. Vary your work outs.

6. Get a heart monitor, join a gym and get a personal trainer.

7. Simply your life and spend less than you make.

8. Shave every day and get regular haircuts.

9. Get some up to date clothes to keep your wardrobe up to date.

10. Be positive and don’t get too negative.

11. Care

12. Stay active and involved with people. Socialization is important and many ways to do that like meetups, clubs, hobbies, senior centers, volunteer and others. Get a project.

Read the book and see the movie for a better explanation and motivation. This works. Why not try it.

Do these things and the rest of your life can be great. You can live like your fifties until your eighties and beyond.

Don’t do these things and the relentless tides of aging will sweep over you and make you weak and sick and kill you early.

Retirement Savings Penalized by Interest Rates

Bernanke to Spend Billions to Keep Interest Rate Low


The Federal Reserve decided yesterday to spend an additional $40 billion a month indefinitely to keep interest rate artistically low. The Fed pledged to keep interest rates low through at least the middle of 2014 and longer if necessary.

I watched Bernanke’s news conference after the announcement and he wanted to address the concern he is hearing that savers are being penalized by the artistically low interest rates.  He basically said that yes it does hurt savers but in his opinion it was more important to help create jobs and support the financial markets.

Some critics say that this action takes from financially conservative investors and retirees and gives to those who take on risky assets like stocks.  Some even think that the Fed is actually trying to force money out of savings with the low interest rates and into the stock market.  Somehow that is supposed to be good, but for whom.

Certainly not good for those nearing retirement or already retired and wanted to keep their money safe while drawing a fair return in the form of interest income.

“Who would have thought that 5-year CD rates I bought a year ago at 2% would turn out to be a good deal. Savers are screwed, while the spenders will continue to thrive on free debt. At some point this will balance out, but time is slowly creeping away and I’ll likely be dead by the time it does.”  Mark, retired.

Older Baby Boomers and Seniors are certainly upset that they are not getting any interest on their dwindling retirement saving; how many will have to put their saving at risk in this pumped up stock market or in an overheated bond market and maybe loose a big portion of their saving?

Senator Chambliss of Georgia’s office in DC called me to reply to this concern and said that the Federal Reserve is a private and independent and the Senator has no control or say so in this matter.  Wow, that is scary. Senator Ron Paul seems to be the only one concerned about the effect that these manipulated low interest rates hurts those who saved for retirement while helping the banks and encouraging risky investments.

Well I don’t know the remedy to this dilemma we have of getting no interest on retirement savings.  Some have moved their money to dividend paying stocks and municipal bonds to get a higher return, but at what risk?

Mark says in his quote above, at some point this will even out.  When and how?  In the meantime we wait.

Age Related Hearing Loss

Age related hearing loss or presbyacusis as it is known in medical circles affects the lives of over 35 million Americans. Many individuals, in particular, those over the age of 65 who experience hearing loss choose to simply ‘live with it’ though there are plenty of means to manage the condition so quality of life does not have to deteriorate.  Maintaining a high quality of life is the reason why healthcare providers make attempts to increase the awareness of hearing loss and offer a wide range of means to manage the condition.

The Causes Of Hearing Loss:

There are a few common causes for ‘hearing loss’ as a whole. The reasons and therefore the means to treat hearing loss vary. In the case of hearing loss of the age related type, causes are almost always natural and will likely affect each and every one of us to a certain degree. In some cases it will be more severe and noticeable, in others just an inconvenience.

Our ability to hear is aided by tiny hair like cells that reside within the inner ear. These are tasked with capturing waves of sound in a wide spectrum of frequencies. As we grow older (and wiser!) these hair cells can deteriorate, die or become damaged and the result is a diminished ability to capture certain frequencies.  Gradual loss of hearing due to aging starts from a person’s 40s, though often becomes more apparent in the over 65’s. The inner ear is unable to regrow these hair cells naturally and the result is hearing loss of various degrees.  The ‘degree’ (measured in decibels vs. normal hearing) will vary from one person to the next based on the amount of inner ear hair cells that are damaged, family history, other medical conditions and exposure to loud noise over the years (NIHS – Noise Induced Hearing Loss). Age related hearing loss is completely natural and ignoring it is both unfortunate and can directly impact your quality of life.

Signs Of Age Related Hearing Loss:

Any concern you may have with regards to your hearing (as well as other medical conditions) should always be addressed with your healthcare provider, most commonly a family doctor as a first point of call.

Age related hearing loss will usually affect both ears to a similar degree, however because the process is gradual it is sometimes tricky to notice the difference. Overall, it is most difficult to hear high-frequency sounds, such as someone talking (particularly small children and women’s voices). As hearing loss develops it may become difficult to hear sounds at lower pitches. Common symptoms include:

·    A growing difficulty to hear in a noisy environment
·    High-pitched sounds such as “s” or “th” are hard to distinguish from one another
·    Certain sounds seem overly loud

Managing Hearing Loss:

As with any medical condition, a medical diagnosis from a health provider should be carried out. In this case it will take the shape of a hearing test. The test will normally take the form of pure tone based test and may include a speech-in-noise check that uses different types of background noise.

A hearing test is available to book from your local hearing center and from your family doctor (in its basic form). Once the precise cause and level of hearing loss is determined you will be offered a number of options that work on the principal of managing the condition using modern digital means.

The most common are hearing aids, a group of microcomputers that fit inside or outside the wearer’s ear and are tasked with amplifying external sound. Another group comprise of daily devices that have been adopted for use by the hard of hearing. Examples include amplified phones as well as cell phones, amplified alarms and aids designed to amplify the sound of a TV unit. Good results often come from using a number of aids as each is slightly better suited for a particular situation.

Guest article by Hearing Direct. UK based company of hard of hearing products from hard of hearing phone to hearing aids. You can join Hearing Direct on Facebook.