by Jayson Cohen American Legacy Solutions

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, August 31, that proposes asking for reviews on changing certain rules for tax-deferred retirement savings such as 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts, or IRAs. Trump signed the order during a scheduled visit to Charlotte, N.C., and asked the Treasury Department to review the rules for mandatory withdrawals from 401(k)s and IRAs. These mandatory withdrawals are better known as RMDs, and they are required in the year the owner of these tax-deferred accounts turns 70 1/2. According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is promoting these actions to better prepare the workforce for retirement.

The executive order has tasked the Labor Department to consider permitting small businesses to join together in offering combined 401(k) plans, as detailed by POLITICO. Currently, the Labor Department does not allow unrelated small businesses to offer joint open multiple employer 401(k) plans. The executive order is requesting the Labor Department to search for ways to decrease administrative and paperwork requirements that might be prohibitive to small businesses offering savings plans.

These open multiple employer plans would supposedly help more small businesses to offer their employees savings plans because of the decreased expenses incurred if the plans are jointly administered by several businesses. As reported by POLITICO, Preston Rutledge, assistant secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the Labor Department, said “Basically, we will be trying to find policy ideas that will help make joining a 410(k) plan a more attractive proposition for small employers.”

Currently, holders of tax-deferred retirement accounts are required to begin minimum withdrawals from the accounts beginning the year they turn 70 1/2. These RMDs are predetermined amounts in a table set by the IRS according to age and must be taken on an annual basis. The purpose of the withdrawals is for the government to start collecting the taxes owed on these accounts, which have enjoyed tax-free status until then.

According to CNBC, the reviews would be of the life expectancy tables from the IRS for the purpose of updating the tables, which may allow retirees to withdraw lower RMDs from their tax-deferred retirement accounts. These tables were last updated in 2002, and the average life expectancy has risen since then from under 77 to 78 1/2, as derived from data compiled from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and noted by CNBC.

This would be helpful to retirees because the tax hit of these withdrawals can be spread out more over a longer period of time. Taking large withdrawals can significantly increase income levels, which translates to a higher tax bracket for many. These smaller distributions can also help those who have inherited tax-deferred accounts and are taking distributions.

If the rules for open multiple employer plans are relaxed, small business owners could join with other, dissimilar small business and implement savings plans for their employees. That could help these business owners attract more skilled employees because of the retirement savings plans added to their employee benefit packages.

Are you thinking about an Independent Living lifestyle outside of your own home? One where you no longer need to cook, take care of the water heater, leaky roof, or overgrown yard? Or perhaps you are just looking for a retirement living environment that provides more social interaction, and the opportunity to develop new friendships.

On Thursday March 7, from 12 noon to 2pm, Cypress Place Independent Living in Ventura will be offering a free Lunch & Learn presentation to discuss the Independent Living lifestyle.

Come discover what retirement living is all about – and when to know it is the right time to move. Experience a Cypress Place Senior Living chef prepared healthy buffet. Enjoy exploring the options available to active seniors not ready for assisted living, but ready to enjoy an enhanced, vibrant lifestyle outside of their own home.

Lunch is free, but space is limited, so please call 805-650-8000 to rsvp.

Cypress Place Independent Living is at 1220 Cypress Point Lane, Ventura. To learn more about Cypress Place Senior Living of Ventura, visit their web site at www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com.

Exercise is safe for almost everyone. In fact, studies show that people with arthritis, high blood pressure, or heart disease benefit from regular exercise and physical activity. In some cases, exercise actually can improve some of these conditions.

Your heart keeps your body running. As you grow older, some changes in the heart and blood vessels are normal, but others are caused by disease.

Choices you might make every day can contribute to heart disease.

To keep your heart healthy, be more physically active. Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most or all days of the week. It doesn’t have to be done all at once-10-minute periods will do.

If you smoke, quit. It’s never too late to get some benefit from quitting smoking.

Follow a heart-healthy diet. Choose low-fat foods and those that are low in salt. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and foods high in fiber.

Keep a healthy weight. Your healthcare provider can check your weight and height to learn your BMI (body mass index). A BMI of 25 or higher means you are at risk for heart disease, as well as diabetes and other health conditions.

You can take small steps to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes by reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, moving more, and making smart food choices. If you already have diabetes, exercise and physical activity can help manage the disease and help you stay healthy longer. Even if it just means that you go and walk the dog for 10 minutes, every little helps. The weather shouldn’t put you off either which means you might want to purchase the best waterproof shoes so you can go out in all weather.

Put away the remote control-get up to change the TV channel. Stretch during commercial breaks.

Walk around when you talk on the phone.

Take more steps by parking the car farther away from stores, movie theaters, or your office.

Learn more about preventing and managing diabetes from the National Diabetes Education Program.

Exercise is safe for almost everyone. For people with arthritis, exercise can reduce joint pain and stiffness; the most common symptoms of this condition. Alongside this, regular physiotherapy sessions, from somewhere like the Activa Clinics in your area, can also assist with arthritis-related problems, as well as being able to massage any aches and pains that you may be experiencing from your increased exercise. Did you know that exercise can also help with losing weight, which reduces stress on the joints?

Flexibility exercises can help keep joints moving, relieve stiffness, and give you more freedom of movement for everyday activities. Examples of flexibility exercises include upper- and lower-body stretching, yoga, and tai chi.

Strengthening exercises will help you maintain or add to your muscle strength. Strong muscles support and protect joints. Weight-bearing exercises, such as weight lifting, fall into this category. You can use bottles of water or soup cans if you don’t have weights.

Endurance exercises make the heart and arteries healthier and may lessen swelling in some joints. Try low-impact options such as swimming and biking.

If you have a chronic condition, before beginning any exercise program, talk with your health care provider about the best activities for you to try.

You may need to avoid some types of activity when joints are swollen or inflamed. If you have pain in a specific joint area, for example, you may need to focus on another area for a day or two. With constant joint inflammation, sufferers can feel at a loss on how to best help themselves, exercise is a great one to take up, but it can also be combined with alternative treatments that are also natural for the body. Medical marijuana has taken great strides over the years in proving to be a positive pain reliever for those in need, dispensaries like imperial mo have been a staple in providing that relief to registered users and will continue to do so as demand rises.

Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones to the point where they break easily-most often in the hip, spine, and wrist. Osteoporosis is more common in women, but men also have this disease.

The good news is there are things you can do at any age to prevent weakened bones, such as including regular weight-bearing exercise in your life, eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, stopping smoking, and limiting how much alcohol you drink.

Your bones and muscles will be stronger if you are physically active. Weight-bearing exercises, done three to four times a week, are best for preventing osteoporosis. Walking, jogging, playing tennis, and dancing are examples of weight-bearing exercises. Try some strengthening and balance exercises too. They may help you avoid falls, which could cause a broken bone.

Grey Law provides Ventura County residents 60 years or older private, one-on-one legal consultation via phone or in-person. Call 805-658-2266 for more information and to make an appointment.

Social Security Questions, Medi-Cal, Medicare, Powers of Attorney, Advanced Healthcare Directives, Landlord Tenant Questions and other issues which concern our county’s seniors.

by Patty Jenkins

If you are like a lot of people, when you hear the words Parkinson’s Disease you are likely to think of someone who has shaking arms and/or hands or other involuntary bodily movements. That is usually just the tip of the iceberg for people who have this disease. The Parkinson’s Association of Santa Barbara and the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group are pleased to announce a joint meeting with a presentation by Neal S. Hermanowicz MD on Tuesday March 12th from 2:15PM to 3:30PM at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 4575 Auhay at Arroyo, Santa Barbara. We invite you to take this opportunity to hear Dr. Hermanowicz talk about the many facets of Parkinson’s Disease and his clinical and trial experiences treating this very individualized disease.

Dr. Hermanowicz is a board certified neurologist with fellowship training in Movement Disorders. He is a Professor of Neurology, and Director of the UC Irvine Program for Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders. Dr. Hermanowicz is also the Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Neurology at UC Irvine.

Dr. Hermanowicz spends the majority of his time in patient care and is also engaged in clinical research, clinical trial and education. He has published numerous articles that can be found on PubMed.gov, the National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health and other medical journals.

The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group and the Parkinson’s Association of Santa Barbara (PASB) welcome the public along with our Group members, their care-partners and new friends who find themselves navigating the challenges of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological conditions. We want to thank Acadia Pharmaceutical for sponsoring this important and informative meeting.

Refreshments will be served and reservations are not required. There is plenty of free parking where the March 12th meeting will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church; 4575 Auhay at Arroyo; Santa Barbara. Directions: Driving north on 101, exit at Hwy 154 and turn left at State Street. Travel on State until you pass under the RR tracks. Continue for 3 blocks and turn left onto Auhay Drive. On Auhay, turn left onto Arroyo.  Drive 1 block and turn left into the church parking lot. The meeting is in the first building on your left. For more information feel free to call PASB at 805-683-1326 or Patty at 805-766-6070. The Ventura Parkinson Disease Support Group will resume regular meetings at our Ventura location on April 10th.

You probably don’t remember having chickenpox as a child or getting a chickenpox vaccine.

If you have had chickenpox, you are at risk of shingles, and you won’t soon forget the severe pain it can cause.

The first sign of shingles is usually pain, which can be severe. After a few days, a person with shingles may develop a rash and fluid-filled blisters. Shingles can also cause burning, numbness, itching, and sensitivity to touch.

If you have had chickenpox, you can get shingles at some point during your lifetime. Almost one in three Americans will get shingles at least once, and the risk increases with age.

There are some medications available that can improve some of the shingles symptoms. These antiviral medicines do not cure shingles, but they can shorten the duration and lessen the severity of the illness.

A shingles vaccine can lower the risk of getting the illness. A new vaccine, Shingrix, was approved in late 2017 and is much more effective than previous vaccines.

If you think you may have shingles, visit your doctor as soon as possible to get treatment. If you haven’t had shingles, or even if you have, get a vaccine to give yourself the best protection from the illness.