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Senior Scene

Lottery and sweepstakes scams

The chance of winning a lot of money is certainly alluring, and con artists are ready to exploit our eagerness to win big money. Sweepstakes and lottery scams have been around for a long time, and they’re still going strong. A retired North Dakota couple recently lost nearly $90,000 to a prize notification scam that started with a telephone call. The call supposedly came from the California Gaming Commission claiming they had won $1.7 million. The initial contact in a sweepstakes scam is often a call, an email, or a piece of direct mail offering congratulations for winning some big ...

Ask Rusty: Does paying SS tax now increase my benefit?

Dear Rusty: I started drawing my benefits at age 62 due to being laid off from my job at age 60. I have continued working part time and been paying Social Security and Medicare taxes ever since. I am now 66. I have been told that even though I continue to pay these taxes, it will not help increase my monthly social security benefit. Is that true? Signed: Working Beneficiary Dear Working Beneficiary: Paying into Social Security and Medicare through “FICA” taxes withheld from your paycheck doesn’t change your Social Security (SS) benefit amount. Those taxes aren’t held in a ...

Books brought to your door

People have relied on books to provide entertainment and education for hundreds of years and public libraries have supported these needs for almost as long. However, not everyone in Minot is able to make it to the library to check out books. Fortunately, the Special Services program at the Minot Public Library assists these people by delivering materials to individuals who live in Minot and are unable to come to the library. The Minot Public Library delivers books and audiobooks monthly to people who are homebound, have a visual or physical disability or who are living in an assisted ...

Life Lessons from the last year

My only sibling died this summer. She had cancer. Over the last year (since her diagnosis), I have learned a lot of “life lessons.” I hope you can benefit from my experience as well as the related research on these topics. Lesson One: Pay attention to your body and tell others when things seem amiss. My sister should still be here. She did not know a key piece of growing older as a woman. She did not know that spotting after menopause is a sign to seek immediate medical attention. I knew this, but she did not share her information until it was too late. Lesson Two: Share ...

Hello Senior friends

Before long, weather will be cold again, so enjoy this nice weather. Our residents have been enjoying the summer, spending time outdoors. We have been going to the zoo, air museum, country drives, patio fun with music along with” I Love Ice Cream” truck and other food trucks & the NDSF Senior Day, garden walks, a flower show, a car show & a carnival with cotton candy and snow cones. We always encourage families to come with us on outing. Coming up in September 17th The Harvest Festival will be held at the Moose club from 2pm to 4pm, with coffee, pie, entertainment, dancing, bake ...

Estate planning considerations are for “young people,” too

The arrival of the covid Delta variant has many of us wondering when life will return to what we knew before. It has also brought estate planning issues top of mind for the “younger” crowd, specifically those between 30 and 50 years old. In my own family and circle of friends I have witnessed multiple ER visits and an ICU stay due to COVID for those in that demographic. This raises two important questions: (1) Have those in younger generations in your family completed their estate planning? and (2) If so, do you know your involvement in their planning, even if it is just in a ...