Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/63658
Glory Days & maturity — Four months into retire- ment, Jim Guenther has no regrets. MILWAUKEE (MCT) MCT photo Councilwoman Katherine Beiers brings enthusi- asm and dedication to her work on the council. Beiers, 79,won her category in the 116th running of the Boston Marathon. wins in Boston Marathon SANTA CRUZ (MCT) — Despite record heat, Santa Cruz City Councilwoman Katherine Beiers won her cat- egory in the 116th running of the Boston Marathon. "It was killer," Beiers, 79, said by phone after the race, just as she was grabbing her traditional post-race beer and dinner at a lobster joint. "It was so hot." Beiers finished the race in 5 hours 29 minutes and 58 seconds, a time that bested two other women in her cate- gory of female runners 75-79. The other women, 75 and 76, finished in 6:45 and 5:43, respectively. Beiers was to have a third competitor in her age group but the woman did not run the race. Beiers was the fastest female participant older than 75, beating the only other woman runner older than she. An 81-year-old triathlete nun finished the race in 5:38. Dozens of runners backed out because of the heat, which the Boston Globe reported at a record 87 degrees. Race officials had warned runners of the heat, offering to place them in next year's race instead. "People were falling all over," she said. What saved runners, Beiers said, were spectators bringing cold water and ice to the sidelines, where the water provided by the race had gotten lukewarm. The two-time former mayor said she poured water down her back, kept ice cubes under her hat and took energy gel every hour. Still, her finishing time was five minutes shy of what she needed to automatically qualify for next year's race in her new age category of 80-84. She said she intends to run a qualifying marathon during the coming year to get back into the Boston contest, which she has run nine times. Jim King, 68, a Santa Cruz attorney who ran regularly with Beiers for 15 years, said he wasn't surprised she per- severed last week. "She's not a quitter," he said. Despite heat, mayor, 79, Q: My cardiolo- gist says I have aortic stenosis and need a new aortic valve. He also mentioned that the FDA has approved a new procedure that replaces the aortic valve with- out open-heart surgery. This option sounds safer to me, but my doctor says this new option is not for everyone. Can you walk me through the pros and cons of these two approaches? Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. A: The short answer may seem facetious: Ask your doctors. In fact, it's a complicated decision that requires an individualized answer depending on your health, your preferences and — above all — the experience and skill of your cardiac care team. With that said, let's discuss some general considerations. The aortic valve is a three-flapped structure that ensures the one-way flow of blood from the heart's main pumping chamber to the rest of the body. In some people, the aortic valve becomes encrusted with calcium deposits that stiffen and narrow it, restricting blood flow. When people with aortic stenosis start feeling symp- toms such as light-headed- LASSEN MEDICAL GROUP Expands Red Bluff Urgent Care to 7 days a week. www.lassenmedical.com 2450 Sister Mary Columba Drive (530) 527-0414 That's because the FDA has currently restricted its use to people who are not good candidates for open- heart surgery. surgery technique for replacing a failed aortic valve, many people with aortic stenosis are asking, "Can I get this procedure?" The answer is "Maybe." ness or fainting, breathlessness, fatigue and loss of appetite, quality of life goes downhill quickly until the valve is replaced. Until recently, replacing the aortic valve required open-heart surgery. Now that the FDA has approved a no- An accountant, he care- fully calculated how much money he and his younger wife — who is still working — would need when he called it a career in January, a couple of days after his 66th birthday. Guenther, of New Berlin, Wis., felt like he was running out of energy as the head of Economics Wisconsin, an agency that helps schools and teachers instruct kids about econom- ics and money. He said it was possible that he could become bored with retirement, and want to work again. way now," Guenther said. "I don't want to do any- thing. This is pretty cool." Guenther is among the "But I sure don't feel that lifestyles Delaying retirement not worth it? MCT photo first wave of baby boomers — Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — who have reached tradition- al retirement age and wast- ed little time before saying goodbye to the working world. It's a group that a new study by MetLife Inc says so far has defied the popular belief that baby boomers will be working longer than planned because their retirement savings got trashed in the stock market downturn. Jim Guenther, who just retired in January, poses for photograph, after he polishes the dust from his 2008 Corvette as he enjoys retirement in New Berlin, Wis. "Despite the convention- al wisdom that boomers are ready to 'work forever' and significantly extend their formal working career, many of the oldest boomers are already well into the retirement phase," the study says. follow-up to a 2008 report that looked at the same seg- ment of boomers at age 62, The MetLife study is a and includes 450 of the same interview subjects from the original study. The study says 59 per- cent of the first boomers to turn 65 are at least partially retired. Forty-five percent are completely retired, and 14 percent are retired but working part-time. Of those still working, 37 percent say they will retire in the next year and, on average, plan to do so by the time they're 68. Almost 63 percent already are col- lecting Social Security retirement benefits. Almost all of the retirees — 96 percent — said they like retirement at least somewhat, and 70 percent like it a lot. Kelli B. Send is not sur- prised by the apparent eagerness of baby boomers to retire. "I just don't see a lot of people stay beyond 65, As you point out, it's easy to see why people might prefer the new approach, called tran- scatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI. The new valve is placed using a wire, or catheter, that is maneuvered into the heart from a blood vessel in the groin. Both the hospital stay and recovery are short- er and less painful than with open-heart surgery. The FDA based its approval on a clinical trial dubbed PARTNER. In this trial, 69 percent of the patients undergoing TAVI were alive after a year, compared with 50 percent A Full Service Nail Salon Tips N Toes Debi Stuhr Owner/Operator Antelope Blvd Suite "F" • Red Bluff Shop tipsandtoesnailsalon@clearwire.net http://www.tipsandtoesnailsalon.webs.com Cell of a group that received standard therapy, which included balloon valvulo- plasty, an attempt to increase the valve opening with a balloon-tipped catheter. PARTNER data present- ed at a scientific meeting in late 2011 showed that more than two-thirds of the peo- ple in the standard-care group had died after two years, compared with 43 percent in the TAVI group. Another analysis found that quality-of-life scores after one year among the TAVI group improved by 32 points on a 100-point scale, while scores among the standard-care group improved by only 4 points. But although it prolongs life and is less invasive than open-heart surgery, TAVI has its drawbacks. TAVI recipients in the PARTNER trial had more than twice the number of strokes and many more serious bleed- ing complications than patients in the other group. The bleeding problems were mostly related to the wide catheter that's used during TAVI. So it's important to look at the benefits and draw- backs of TAVI on an indi- vidual basis, taking into account your specific health status. That's where your heart team can be very useful in advising you. People who are treated with TAVI may live longer than patients who undergo standard therapy, but the procedure does have limita- they want to retire by 65 — even those who wouldn't appear to have enough money saved up for it. "I think what they're say- ing to themselves is, 'You know, I may not have the standard of living that I once could, but I'm going to retire anyway because I'm sick of working, and I'll just figure out a way to make it work,' " she said. She said many people seem to believe that once they become eligible for Medicare at 65 and start getting Social Security pay- No-surgery option for aortic stenosis not for everyone tions that need to be con- sidered, too. The FDA stipulates that a surgeon must help deter- mine which people with aortic stenosis are eligible for TAVI. Patients may be eligible because they have an unhealthy aorta (the main pipeline for blood from the heart to the body), chest tissue that won't heal well due to past radiation treatment, previous artery- bypass surgery that makes another surgery impractical or simply a very weak heart. The TAVI procedure is an prime example of astounding medical inno- vation. But it still takes old- fashioned experience and judgment to decide when to use this new technology. even though they say that's going to be the trend," said Send, who as senior vice president for Pewaukee, Wis.-based Francis Invest- ment Counsel talks regular- ly with individual workers about managing their 401(k) plans at companies that are clients of her firm. She said workers insist ments, they'll "make the rest of the math work." It's too soon to know whether that optimistic approach will be successful in reality for the first boomer retirees, but there's reason to be skeptical. A survey last year by the mutual fund company Van- guard found that the aver- age 401(k) retirement plan balance for those 65 and older was about $163,000. "There's a rule of thumb that you can pull out about 5 percent of your money a year — some advisers will tell you 4 percent — but in the range of 4 percent to 5 percent," Send said. "So for every $100,000 you've got put away, it buys you an income of $5,000." Even with Social Securi- ty and a pension payment — if there is one — that seems likely to mean some serious lifestyle adjust- ments for those who haven't saved enough. Last year, a study done for The Wall Street Journal found that the median household headed by a per- son 60 to 62 with a 401(k) account has less than one- quarter of what is needed in that account to maintain its standard of living in retire- ment. Nonetheless, Send said a recurring theme she hears during her sessions with rank-and-file employees is that many yearn for "life after work." Saturday, April 28, 2012 – Daily News 7A No Interest option with Regular Monthly Payment or *18 month *9.90% APR with 2.0% Monthly Payments Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date. If the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period. Or if you make a late payment.* 527-5828 Cal. Lic. #233456 *The Visa® credit card is issued by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. Special terms apply to purchases charged with approved credit at participating merchants until [05-31-2012]. The minimum monthly payment will be the amount that will pay for the purchase in full in equal payments during the promotional period. Interest will be charged to your account from the pur- chase date at the regular APR if the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period or if you make a late pay- ment. For newly opened accounts, the regular APR is [26.59%]. The APR may vary. The APR is given as of [04-01-2012]. If you are charged interest in any billing cycle, the minimum interest charge will be $1.00. If you use the card for cash advances, the cash advance fee is 5% of the amount of the cash advance, but not less than $10.00. Offer expires [05-31-2012].