Tag Archives: insurance

Older Drivers—When Is It Time to Give Up the Keys?

Posted on by

A guest post by E. Donnelly

Local Autumn 11_237

An article from 2012 came to mind recently: a 100-year-old driver hit 11 people in Los Angeles. As I read through the details again it made me cringe as I have an elderly father and his driving is worrisome. These days, my dad lives with my wife and me (Mom died some time ago), and is well into his senior years. His eyesight is not what it used to be. His reflexes are slower.

It fills me with dread to think of what might happen if he ever got into a car crash. But being the old block of which I am a chip, he is adamant. He calls it “payback” for all the times I snuck the car out in my teenage years (and did some damage, too). All of this got me thinking. Should there be an upper age limit on driving? More importantly, can there come a time when old people just know that they have to let go? Continue reading →

The Oldest Generation—Income, Location, Disabilities, and Health Insurance

Posted on by

Last time we introduced a Census Bureau report that describes some characteristics of the oldest segment of our population—those 90 years old or older (90+). The group is small, mostly women, and mostly widowed. Still, about three-quarters of them live in households. Less than one quarter are institutionalized.

The median income in the group was $14,760 (2008 dollars)—that’s annual, per person, personal income. For men, it was $20,133, and for women, it was $13,580. Social Security has become nearly universal among this group: 92.3% of them receive it, and it is about 48%, or almost half, of the median personal income. The rest comes from investments, public assistance, other retirement income, or other sources.

During the same time, the median annual per person income in the US was about $27,500. The 90+ group has a per person income of about half the overall population.

Continue reading →

The Oldest Generation

Posted on by

All of us living in the last half can benefit from a portrait of the oldest among us. We can’t foresee an individual life, but we can guide ourselves more clearly if we know some averages or trends that describe our oldest brothers and sisters.

In November, 2011, the Census Bureau published a new report entitled: “90+ in the United States: 2006-2008,” in which it characterizes this oldest segment of the U.S. population. (PDF here)

The generation 90 and over is small. There were about 1.8 million (mm) people 90 and over during 2006-2008, which was about 0.6% of the total US population. About 1.55mm (88%) are white. Women far outnumber men: there are about 1.3mm women, and about 0.46mm men—almost a 3 to 1 ratio.

Continue reading →