Category: October – November 2011
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Phone Scam Comebacks
Telemarketing scams have in some cases become more profitable than drug trafficking. Scammers have made millions of dollars by perpetrating over-the-phone schemes. Scammers use technology to disguise their locations, telling victims they are calling from federal or state agencies and providing phone numbers with local and United States area codes. The con artists hold out…
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Uplifting Choices
A Gift of Remembrance Have you ever owned something that became a prized possession? One of our donor’s fathers, a retired truck driver named John, purchased a new Lincoln Town Car years ago. For John, the Town Car was a special vehicle, a possession he delighted in maintaining as well as driving. For his daughter,…
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Exclusive Care for Kupuna
Kupuna Concierge offers a very effective approach to senior care at home. The beauty of seniors living at home is that they can keep and enjoy the lifestyle they spent decades perfecting. Sometimes all it takes to remain independent is a little day-to-day help. Kupuna Concierge provides personal assistants who help with errands, transportation, meals,…
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Five Ways Not to Fall
Falling down is nothing new. We have been doing it all our lives. We fell as infants, as kids, as teenagers and even, awkwardly, as adults. The price for an active, healthy life has been an occasional fall and normally it is no big deal. When young and strong, you fell and “bounced” right back…
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AARP: Saving Money on Prescriptions – Ask for Generic Drugs
Usually when a doctor prescribes a medication during an appointment, we take the prescription slip and head for the door. But a savings-savvy patient will pause and ask, Is there a generic version? This simple question may save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a year. Take Zocor, a popular drug that treats high cholesterol,…
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Building Houses, Building Hope
When Lehua Fuller first showed her Waimanalo home to Honolulu Habitat for Humanity staff, they were amazed. She had managed to raise 12 children in her four-bedroom plantation-style home, which was in grave disrepair. There were holes in the floor and roof, severe termite damage and problems with the electrical and plumbing. In Honolulu, Wallace…
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The Future of Estate Tax
You have spent a lifetime of earning, saving and investing — and paying income and capital gains taxes all the way along. So you may wonder why our government feels entitled to tax the value of everything that’s left when you die. The sad fact is, however, that the IRS and the State of Hawai‘i…
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Saving Family Stories for Generations
What do you really know about your grandparents or great-grandparents? Did you know that if family stories aren’t documented, they are often lost within two generations? My interest in this field piqued while attending UH, Manoa in 1993 in pursuit of a degree in Gerontology. In a Sociology of Aging course, the professor lectured about…
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My Travel Adventure in Tahiti: Snorkeling & Marine Life in French Polynesia
Hawai‘i is paradise but so are her Pacific sisters – the Islands of French Polynesia. Earlier this year, I drift snorkeled over coral reefs in the beautiful lagoon of Bora Bora, swam in shallow water with sting rays and black-tipped sharks, visited a black pearl farm and spotted spinner dolphins up close off the island…
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Put On Your Thinking Cap: Medicare Annual Enrollment Period
It is that time of year (and this year it is even earlier), when you need to take a moment to think about your Medicare health coverage. Is my plan still meeting my needs? Are my prescription drugs covered? Is it affordable? Are there new plans out there that may better suite my needs? Do…
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Elderhood Project
Mrs. Matthews [Linda Coble] and I went on a bus tour of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and points east in Canada. We had never been to that part of the world before. We had 20-plus fellow travelers along for the ride … and it was fantastic! While the scenery and food were great, the…