Category: April – May 2015

  • Do You Know IRMA?

    Millions of Medicare beneficiaries with Original Medicare or other Medicare health plans understand the costs associated with their Medicare Part B coverage. The premium for Medicare Part B is usually deducted from the beneficiary’s social security payment, or can be billed separately or paid by a third party. Medicare Part B coverage is provided to…

  • “No Sweat Cooking”

    Yumm!! George Yoshida and Derek Kurisu released their new cookbook–full of tasty, local-style recipes they demonstrate on their wildly popular Hawai‘i Island daily cable TV show, “Seniors Living in Paradise.” The recipes are easy. On air and in the cookbook, that translates to “any man can cook,” “one-minute cooking,” and even “slam-’em-together gourmet cooking.” George…

  • Do I Have a Tip for You!

    It takes creativity to stretch our dollars, save steps and get our chores done efficiently so we have time for family and community FUN! Let’s share what we’ve learned. Our world is changing, but not everything. The younger generation teach us technology; we teach them wisdom. In our time, “fast” and “inexpensive” was the name…

  • Lost in Translation

    Did you play the game “grape vine” as a child? You whisper something to someone who whispers it to another, until the last person gets the message. The last person says the message out loud. At best, it is a very garbled version of the original message. Think about estate planning. People tell their attorney…

  • Never Ever …

    Retired. No gold watch. No pension. Just — retired. Now what? Since I have been retired, I realize there is really no such thing. Life goes on. You may spend a little time watching “Family Feud.” You may spend more time working on your golf swing or with friends and relatives you haven’t seen for…

  • Social Security Brain Teasers

    Test your knowledge or learn a few things today — with this in mind, tease your brain with these bits of Social Security trivia: When was the Social Security Act signed into law, and who signed it? When did Social Security begin paying disability benefits? Is there any significance to the digits in your Social…

  • For Love … of Money: Sham Marriages

    When it comes to love and relationships, we are particularly protective of our elders. We scrutinize new companions who come into their lives; when our kupuna decide to marry, we get concerned about the new partner’s intentions. Stephanie (not her real name) called my office, she was panicked. She just discovered a life her father…

  • Message from The Editor

    “Volunteerism, the heart of community” weaves through our April/May issue. Family, neighbors, places of worship, civic and social clubs, public events and government programs all depend on the generosity of volunteers. Thank you for your service. Highlights An editorial featured here by Dr. Christy Nishita, at UH Center on Aging and the Hawaii Pacific Gerontological…

  • “I Want to Die Comfortably – at Home”

    National surveys say 80 percent of people want to “die in the comfort of their home,” but in Hawai‘i, only 22 percent of families use hospice services. Hawaii also ranks high (number 2 in the U.S.) in emergency room deaths. Are we getting what we want? Dr. Angelo Volandes from Harvard Medical School recently spoke…

  • Hawaiian Pie Company Honors Great-Grandfather’s Baking Legacy

    In the mid-1930s, Yoshio Hori opened a bakery in Kohala on Hawai‘i Island, selling pastries, breads, cookies and pies. He meant to name the bakery after himself, but it became a westernized version of the Japanese name due to a packaging order miscommunication. His son, Richard Sr., recalls, “My father told (the salesman) the name…