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In 1989, President George H. W. Bush designated the month of May as National Stroke Awareness Month. The purpose of this day is to increase public awareness about the warning signs of stroke and stroke prevention.
Strokes are the leading cause of adult disability in the United States and the fourth most common cause of death. A stroke occurs when blood flow through an artery to the brain is cut off either by a blockage or because the artery ruptures and bleeds into the brain tissue. More than 85 percent of strokes are because of blockage by a blood clot or plaque.
Blood vessels can become blocked by a buildup of plaque in the vessel wall. When plaque or a blood clot travels through the blood and becomes wedged in a blood vessel because the diameter of the vessel is too small for it to pass, it is called an embolism. A cardiac embolism is an obstruction that travels from the heart to lodge in a blood vessel.
The most common cause of a stroke is that blood stops flowing to the brain. In other words, blood is blocked by a clot or plaque in an artery leading to the brain—a process called atherosclerosis. These are called ischemic strokes. More than 85 percent of strokes are ischemic and are preventable because they are caused by cardiovascular disease. Cardio-vascular disease can be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle that includes eating right, exercising, and not smoking.
The other 15 percent of strokes are caused by blood leaking into the brain or between the brain and the skull. These are hemorrhagic strokes and happen when an artery leading to the brain bursts because it is weak or damaged from aging, or from years of high blood pressure. It’s important for you to know the cause of the strokes and to talk to your doctor to determine the best treatment.
Anyone can have a stroke. But according to the National Stroke Association, 80% of all strokes can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle. 75% of all strokes happen to people over age 65. But there are other factors you can’t control, such as age, family history, race, gender (men are more likely), or having a previous stroke or heart attack. Learn what you can do to reduce your risk of having a
stroke by talking to your doctor.
- Keep your blood pressure under control.- Find out if you have atrial fibrillation(Afib or AF).- If you smoke, stop.- Drink in moderation.- Lower your cholesterol.- Control your diabetes. People with diabetes are twice as likely to have a stroke.- Get regular physical activity.- Diet. Foods you choose to eat are another factor that determines your risk for stroke.- Ask your doctor if you have blood or blood circulation problems that could increase your risk for stroke.- See your doctor and follow up with any recommended testing and treatment!!!
Symptoms… Because tPA, a clot-busting drug, can only be administered to stroke patients within the first three hours of the onset of stroke, recognizing the symptoms of stroke is very important. Every second counts! Just a few hours makes the difference between recovery or learning to walk and talk all over again—or worse still—death.
If you think you might be having a stroke, don’t wait, note the time, call 911, and say, “I think I’m having a stroke. Please take me to the nearest stroke treatment center as quickly as possible.”
Don’t hesitate. Every moment you wait increases that person’s risk of permanent disability. You only have three hours from the time of your first symptom to receive treatment that can minimize the damage to your brain.
The American Stroke Association developed this easy-to-remember guide to help identify the signs of a stroke.
F – Face drooping. Is one side of the person’s face drooping or numb? When he or she smiles, is the smile uneven?
A -Arm weakness. Is the person experiencing weakness or numbness in one arm? Have the person raise both arms. Does one of the arms drift downward?
S – Speech difficulty. Is the person’s speech suddenly slurred or hard to understand? Are they unable to speak? Ask them to repeat a simple sentence. “The sky is blue” Can he or she repeat it back?
T – Time to call 9-1-1. If any of these symptoms are present, dial 9-1-1 immediately.
Check the time so you can report when the symptoms began.
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Featured Story 2 May 2018
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While there are many Americans who take advantage of Memorial Day as an opportunity for a three-day weekend trip to the lake, beach, or for a family cook-out, we should acknowledge the real reason for Memorial Day.
This is the day set aside for honoring those who have fought to keep our county safe from harm, and we have been doing so since the Civil War. After the Civil War, General John A. Logan issued a decree that May 30th will be known as a national day of commemoration and, initially, was known as Decoration Day, typically celebrated in the spring.
Decoration Day started as an informal day of remembrance for those heroes who gave their all for the cause! It didn’t matter whether they fought for the North or the South; both sides had their heroes, and the blood that was shed was for all Americans.
In 1971, Federal law made the last Monday in May the permanent, official, observance of Decoration Day and renamed it Memorial Day. These days, honoring the fallen is scattered on various days within each community by placing flags, flowers, or some other token, on the graves of soldiers.
As the USA became embroiled in World War I, more men and women were laid to rest. As we continued to fight for freedom in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Middle East Wars, more and more of our brave men and women have given their lives for the cause of freedom.
One of the traditions that many Americans are unaware of is that the American Flag should be raised at half-staff until noon, then raised to full height. Another is that at 3 pm local time, all Americans should pause for the National Moment of Remembrance.
Please take this day of remembrance and support our many veterans! If you’re not sure how you can help, just reach out to any of the dozens of Veterans’ support groups to volunteer. Whether it’s a monetary donation or a donation of your time, it will be appreciated. You can start with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website where it will list opportunities.
Three cheers for our GI Joes and GI Janes!
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Financial Tip May 2018
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Hey Marc! How will the tariff wars affect the stock market? Should I get out? What should I buy?
All good questions, for a person in the growth phase of life. Our clients, for the most part, are in the “I can’t afford to lose money” phase of life. So, perhaps a different question is more appropriate.
Hey Marc! How can I position my assets so that I won’t get hurt by market unpredictability?
You see, when your portfolio is allocated properly, the craziness of society and White House events don’t cause you financial concern. In yesteryear, not that long ago, we would use a calculation of 100 minus your age, should be positioned in equities (stock) and the rest in bonds, and you should only withdraw 4% to not spend down your nest egg to zero before your eyes close for good.
We don’t buy into that method. It just doesn’t work anymore. Bond rates are awful and as interest rates climb, bonds and bond funds that you buy today or bought within the last few years reduce in value. In order to get any kind of a decent interest rate, you seemingly have to tie up your money for an eternity. Mutual funds are loaded with fees; front end, back end, sideloaded (12B1 fees). Some brokers even sell portfolios that are made up of mutual funds that have loads built in (even if they are no load) and actually have the audacity to charge a management fee on top of the funds' management fees.
Maybe a more appropriate idea is to build a portfolio that has a portion in investments that can participate in the potential of the stock market but fully insures the principal. Maybe even guarantee income and returns. Position some assets in stable companies whose share prices don’t bounce around much but pay higher than average dividends. After all, we are looking for retirement income. All of this, remembering to keep a healthy amount in a cash position for emergencies and day-to-day needs. And, as important as all of that, ZERO to no more than 1.2% management fees on managed portions of your portfolio.
At American Retirement Advisors, we believe in a team approach. Your Retirement planning advisor meets with you first to discuss your wants, needs, and goals, as well as your family dynamics. We take a few minutes to take an inventory of what you have done so far. After the first meeting, the case goes to our Research Analyst who will review and organize all of the information. Then, one of our planners will allocate the portfolio for a starting position. The team will also review and rebalance as necessary, always keeping your goals, safety, fees, and return in mind. Compliance will then review, for appropriateness. The last step is you. It all gets presented to you. Take the custom-designed presentation book home to review. Come back in a week or so for more clarification. Like what you see, schedule the next appointment to implement the plan. We will then meet on a regular basis to take inventory of how the plan fits your life and adjust when needed. The entire planning process is a service that we provide our clients, free of charge. We just want you to be taken care of the way you should be.
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Success Story May 2018
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We received a frantic call from Brenda, a long-time client. She was somewhat panicked in that she had received several messages and
phone calls from a caller who identified themselves as calling from Medicare and wanted her personal details to correct a problem
with her file at Medicare.
Brenda was extremely suspicious and was reluctant to give the caller the personal information they were requesting. Good for her!
She called our office and asked if we knew of any program that was being carried out by Medicare to correct personal information
in her file. We assured her absolutely not! The IRS, Social Security, and Medicare will never call you on the phone requesting information of a personal nature unless you call them and they are calling you back. They will communicate by mail.
There are currently several phone scams involving phone calls to inform you of your new member cards arriving from Medicare and
the caller just needs to verify your mailing address and other personal information. Some other scams to watch for:
--In some cases, the caller makes threatening or intimidating statements to scare you into cooperating and giving up your
personal information. “Do you want your new card or not?”
--The caller states you owe money to the IRS and you are going to be sued or arrested unless you cooperate and give them your
information, or make an immediate payment for the amount they claim you owe.
--The caller states there is something wrong with your Social Security check payments and they need your personal information
to correct the problem, so your payments are not interrupted. They may even promise you that they can get an increase in your
monthly check amount if you cooperate.
--The caller claims to be calling from Social Security, alerting you that you are the victim of identity fraud and they need to purge
your file or correct some other personal info in your file.
--The caller says they are from the FBI and you are in violation of some federal crime and need you to pay the fine right now or be arrested.
--The caller states they are from some police department and your spouse, child, or grandchild was arrested and they need a
credit card payment for the fine or bail to release your loved one.
These fraud calls can sometimes be very convincing in that the caller manipulates your caller ID so that it appears that they are
calling from a government facility or legitimate government phone number.
If you don’t recognize the number, don’t answer the phone. In one case, the caller merely asked a question designed where you
would say ‘yes.’ The ‘yes’ was recorded, and the caller then used your voice recording to approve a transaction for a fraudulent
purchase.
If you receive one of these calls hang up immediately! Check your credit cards and bank account to ensure nothing is amiss.
Then report the call online to the BBB Scam Tracker or the FCC Consumer Help Center. Both websites allow you to write an
explanation of exactly what happened and when.
DON’T BE A VICTIM! DO NOT SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE!!!!
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We all have had an experience at one time or another of feeling slightly out of touch. Maybe it was a breaking news item, or a friend discussing the latest book or movie you have not been exposed to. I find this happening more often as we get exposed to increasingly new information, entertainment, politics, etc. When the out of touch moments happen, these incidents are what make you…you!
More and more, the “out of touch” syndrome is happening between grandkids and grandparents. While we realize that kids are learning as they grow, we as adults need to keep up with new technology to keep the communication open to
our younger family members.
My co-worker was shopping for a gift for her grandson recently. She called her daughter to get an idea of what to get as a gift? “Oh, he loves his Gameboy, just get him a new game cartridge,” she instructed. Well, that seems simple enough thought the grandmother. So off to the toy store to find a cartridge for the grandson. No problem she thought. As she arrived at the store to shop for the birthday gift, she was amazed at the hundreds of video game products, and quickly realized she needed help. Spotting a salesperson, she flagged them
down and asked, “I’m looking for a cartridge for my grandson’s Playboy”. The clerk had a puzzled look and asked, “How old is your grandson?” She replied that he was seven. “Hmmm…I think you mean Gameboy?” After realizing what she had originally asked and the mistake, they both had a good laugh! But it was an out of touch moment! My personal experience with out of touch happened while I was growing up and visited our grandparents, who never owned a TV. There was always the radio in the kitchen tuned to the local gospel music station, but no TV. Now, a positive side effect to no TV was that we always had several books to read or board games to play, and it forced us to go outside and play in the fresh air!
On the other side of the coin, I often have a reverse out of touch moment with a young person who does not know something that I would consider common knowledge.
So, what was your out of touch moment or incident? Who were you with? What was it about? Did you cringe, or get a good laugh
at what you didn’t know?
Whatever it was, it made you….you!
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Featured Story 1 May 2018
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As consumers, we hope there is someone look- ing out for us. The government regulates financial services, healthcare for retirees, anda myriad of other industries. Within this regulation, business looks to survive, and, hopefully, thrive. Regulators attempt to create a set of rules to curtail misinformation and protect their constituents. The current administration stated if a new regulation was to be enacted, two must be removed. As a small business owner (yes at $50,000,000 in revenue we are still a small business), that sounds good to me!
Marketers attempt to understand the rules set forth by the regulators and bring their products and services to market. Sometimes marketing organizations are disguised as National Lobbyist groups like AARP and AMAC. Sometimes they are focused on a narrow group of people, like the active and retired military, like USAA. Sometimes they are a travel agency with a famous auto towing service, AAA. Each of these national in-scope organizations are focused on making money by providing real or perceived value.
Sergio Zymon, the famous marketing genius who created “the NEW Coke” in the 1980s stated the following “The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more product to more people, more often and at higher prices.” Hmmm… Do you ever get any mail from any of these organizations??? One of the groups above has actually been accused of the same aggressive marketing tactics that it is supposedly working to protect its members from. Hint: you have to be over age 50 to join; talk about calling the kettle black.
Some of these groups imply they are working in your best interest but actually have no fiduciary responsibility. It’s just marketing. Protect yourself by asking good questions or find someone who will share all the research on every choice, in writing, before you buy something.