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6A Daily News – Saturday, July 7, 2012 Glory Days & maturity Q&A: How to handle gold's ups and downs eran financial adviser and vice president of Resource Group of Winter Park, Fla. He specializes in retirement planning, insurance and wealth management. He spoke recently with the Orlando Sentinel. QUESTION: You're well-known for advising clients to include gold and precious-metals funds in their investment portfolios — how have you handled the drop in prices this year? ANSWER: Well, we had a nice ride during the run- up in prices, and we took advantage of it. And, gener- ally, we remain bullish on gold in the long-term. But clearly, you have to be willing to sell if it doesn't work the way it is suppose to work. Some people took the buy-and-hold approach, and they're losing money now. Most sold at the right time. Now we are buying back in. ORLANDO, Fla. (MCT) — Al Baker, 59, is a vet- strategy? Q: How do you see it shaping up as a long-term A: Of course, you don't want to put all your money in gold funds or stocks; I advise about 5 percent to 10 percent, as a hedge against inflation and to boost your total return. That being said, I'd say now is a good time to buy back in and load up. Here's why: Though the dollar looks like it will go stronger for a little while longer — and that will drive gold prices down some — it is just a matter of time before the dollar falls back to its true value. And when that happens, even the people in Europe are going to run to gold. It has had an 11- year run-up in price; I don't think it has run out of stream yet. Q: Why have gold prices dropped this year? A: For one thing, big-money institutional investors sold out their positions. That often happens after there's a big price run-up. Now they are starting to go back in. Gold goes down when the dollar looks like a safe haven, and, at least for the moment, that is what has happened as the European debt crisis plays out and other currencies look like they're falling apart. Many countries are moving money to the dollar and U.S. Treasuries, but when Europe's debt situation gets under control, you'll see the dollar drop big time, which will boost the price of gold again. Q: How would you advise long-term investors if investors make? A: Obviously, not selling at the right time, not know- ing when it is time to take profits. Gold is like all hyped asset classes — when there's a run-up, you have to take some money off the table. This is more of an art than a science. You have to rebalance your portfolio, which in a sense is just another name for market timing. Some clients don't want exposure to gold at all, while a few of them, all they want to trade in is gold. Last year, we had some accounts that almost doubled their money. Since then, it's been harder to make money. And once you've had big gains like that, sometimes you just need to cut your losses and walk away from it. Q: Speaking of hype, how did you advise clients during the recent Facebook IPO? they are considering "adding gold" to their portfolios? A: If the dollar continues to go up for a long period of time, you have to sell out and take your profits. Don't just keep taking big losses. At the same time, if you're starting to get into gold, it is a good time to buy when prices are lower — just scale into it gradually by making it 2 percent or 3 percent of your holdings. Con- sider gold-based exchange-traded funds that limit your exposure; even gold-mining stocks are worth a look. They didn't do well in the run-up, and they are more volatile, but they are still undervalued. Q: What is the biggest mistake you have seen gold A: Oh, sure, I had clients calling about that. I told them to stay away from it. Why? Because it's an $8 to $10 stock, based on their earnings-to-price ratio. And there's no reason those shares should go any higher than that unless they pull a rabbit out of the hat that we haven't seen yet. The IPO was over-hyped. No doubt about it. His loved ones dreaded what might be next: a diag- nosis of Alzheimer's. Martin Rosenfeld had called too many times — confused and frustrated — from a parking lot outside his synagogue, after dri- ving there in the middle of the night for services that wouldn't begin for hours. Once a meticulous pat- DETROIT (MCT) — lifestyles When Alzheimer's isn't the real problem tern-maker in the clothing industry, he now nodded off mid-conversation. Spilled things. Mumbled. "We'd be getting calls all night long. He'd say, 'What time is it? Can I get up now?'" said his daughter, Shelley Rosenberg, whose husband, Don Rosenberg, chairs the Alzheimer's Association's Greater Michigan Chapter. MCT photo Rosenfeld's confusion, which turned out to be caused partly by sleep apnea, reflects what the head of Wayne State Uni- versity's Institute of Geron- tology worries is a growing trend in the number of Americans being wrong- fully assumed — even medically misdiagnosed — with Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia and perhaps the most feared disease of old age. "It's a real problem. If you're older and you get a label of Alzheimer's — even a hint that you have Alzheimer's — there's no more critical thinking about it. You're written off by a lot of people," said Peter Licht- enberg, head of the institute and a clinical psychologist who has testified in several probate cases in which a person's mental capacity was at issue. Lichtenberg, in a December paper for the journal Clinical Gerontol- ogy, highlighted two case studies: in one, a man's bouts of confusion and agi- tation in his late 70s were caused by illness and painful cellulitis, not Alzheimer's; in the other, an 87-year-old woman, who seemed suddenly con- fused, was suffering from depression. Lichtenberg's paper builds on research else- where that suggests that the difficulty in pinning down Alzheimer's makes misdi- agnosis too easy. The research is based mostly on small studies but also on an ongoing, long-term study supported by the National Institute on Aging, which is Martin Rosenfeld, 90, shown with daughters, Cookie Gonik, left, and Shel- ley Rosenberg, in Farmington Hills, Mich., on May 9, was originally diag- nosed with Alzheimer's but further tests showed it was sleep apnea caus- ing symptoms similar to Alzheimer's. part of the National Insti- tutes of Health. In cases reviewed so far, about one- third of Alzheimer's diag- noses were incorrect, according to the lead researcher, Lon White. "The diagnosis was dead wrong one-third of the time, and it was partially wrong a third of the time, and it was right one-third of the time," White said. The project, called the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, has been under way since 1991 and focused on the precise brain changes linked to Alzheimer's dis- ease and other types of dementia. Pathologists examined the brains of 852 men born between 1900 and 1919, about 20 percent of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer's. problem it is, but I see it too often," Lichtenberg said. The Alzheimer's Asso- ciation estimates that 5.4 million Americans are liv- ing with Alzheimer's. Lichtenberg's grandmother had the disease. A picture of her, dancing, sits in his office at Wayne State. But understanding how often Alzheimer's and other dementia are misdi- agnosed is hard to quantify. Sometimes, that's because loved ones have not yet noticed a decline; some- times, they don't want to face the possibility, Licht- enberg said. In the cases carrying an Alzheimer's diagnosis, two-thirds of the brains exhibited the types of lesions closely linked to Alzheimer's. Half of those featured other problems, as well, such as scarring on the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, White said. That didn't mean that those without the Alzheimer's lesions were otherwise healthy, "but what we're calling Alzheimer's is very often a mixture of different disease processes," White said. Lichtenberg said his concerns about misdiagno- sis in no way lessen the enormity of Alzheimer's impact. "I don't know how vast a Rosenfeld's most press- ing problem was severe sleep apnea that had aggra- vated the more manageable symptoms of undiagnosed Lewy-body dementia. Lewy-body dementia caus- es a visual processing dis- order, disrupts the ability to organize, plan and focus and can causes sleep prob- lems and hallucinations. A breathing machine at night made a dramatic dif- ference, said Shelley Rosenberg: "I'm thrilled. He is what he used to be. I have my father back." It's a difficult balance for the Alzheimer's Associ- ation: trying to raise aware- ness and boost early inter- vention efforts for Alzheimer's and other dementias, while also cau- tioning families and clini- cians not to jump to con- clusions. is tricky and is done, in part, by ruling out other McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: Do Members of Congress have to pay into Social Security? A: Yes, they do. Members of Con- gress, the President and Vice President, federal judges, and most political appointees, have paid taxes into the Social Security program since January 1984. They pay into the system just like everyone else, no matter how long they have been in office. Learn more about Social Security benefits at HYPERLINK "http://www.socialsecurity.gov"www.soc ialsecurity.gov. ___ Diagnosing Alzheimer's health problems, such as an undetected stroke or brain tumor. Even well-meaning doctors can be too quick to judge, especially when confronted by worried loved ones listing Mom's memory lapses, said Jen- nifer Howard, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association — Michigan Great Lakes Chapter. An expert evaluation by an interdisciplinary team that includes a geriatrician and neurologist is crucial, she said. "The brain is not just a physical structure. It's this incredible computer. It's constantly computing where resources are needed and redirecting, depending on energy is coming from and what task you need to do," said Rhonna Shatz, director of Behavioral Neu- rology at Henry Ford Hos- pital in Detroit. For that reason, a com- mon urinary tract infection, a sudden change in blood pressure or depression are all stresses on an older brain that, combined with other problems, can quick- ly short-circuit it, Shatz said. The result is acute con- fusion or delirium that, to an untrained eye, may look like Alzheimer's disease. "Pulling these things apart and the need for a real diagnosis — that's impor- tant so people can live the best quality of life as possi- ble for as long as possible," said Howard at the Alzheimer's Association. Social Security Q&A New or revised citizenship status (Only certain documents can be accepted as proof of citizenship. These include your U.S. passport, a Certificate of Natu- ralization, or a Certificate of Citizenship. If you are not a U.S. citizen, Social Secu- rity will ask to see your current immigra- tion documents); Age; and Identity. Take (or mail) your completed applica- tion and documents to your local Social Security office. 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