Each workday many of us comfort ourselves with the idea that someday we will retire and leave the rat race behind. For thousands of the nation’s Baby Boomers (those born 1946 through 1964), ready or not, someday has arrived and Social Security department is bracing for what they are calling America’s silver tsunami due to the large influx of retirees.
Over the next two decades, nearly 80 million Americans will become eligible for Social Security benefits, more than 10,000 per day.  To prepare for this wave of new filers, Social Security has developed a wide range of online services.
The age of full retirement for Social Security is gradually rising from 65 for those born before 1938 to 67 for people born after 1959 under a 1983 law that was enacted to shore up the pension program’s finances.
Last October, at an event hosted by Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, the nation’s first Baby Boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, filed for her Social Security retirement benefits online at www.socialsecurity.gov.  Ms. Casey-Kirschling, who was born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, became eligible for benefits in January.
“I know how important Social Security benefits are to Americans of all walks of life,” Commissioner Astrue said.  “Kathy has reached a personal milestone – she has made the transition from the workforce to retirement.  I could not be more pleased that she has chosen to make this transition by filing for her benefits online.” 
“We are already feeling enormous pressure from baby boomers being in their peak disability years and now we’re preparing for so many of them to file for retirement,” Astrue said
“Filing for Social Security benefits online is easy and convenient,” said Ms. Casey-Kirschling.  “I urge my fellow Baby Boomers to give Social Security’s online services a try.

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Grandparents spend nearly $1,700 on every new grandchild, and this number is significantly higher among first-time grandparents than seasoned grandparents ($1,882 vs. $1,501).
More than 70 million strong, grandparents are one of the largest and most powerful consumer segments in the U.S. today. This number will swell as more members of the massive Boomer generation become grandparents as well. By 2025, it is expected that one in four Americans will be grandparents. Today’s grandparents are quite different from generations past: they are active, online, youthful and open to new media and experiences.
“Becoming a grandparent is a momentous occasion - eighty-two percent of individuals said their lives had changed since becoming a grandparent and more than three-quarters of those said it was for the better,” said Heather Stern, Director of Marketing for Focalyst.
Grandparent Buying Power
Grandparents spend $50 billion annually on their grandchildren. The spending starts early with seventy-two percent of “Meet the Grandparents” survey respondents reporting purchasing items for their grandchild before the grandchild is even born.
Grandparents are also planning for the future. Fifty-nine percent of all grandparents surveyed believe it’s important to make financial investments for their grandchildren. Of those who made investments, nearly three-quarters (71%) say they want to contribute to their grandchild’s education. Other reasons ranged from a desire for their grandchild to get a financial head start (70%), or because the grandchild’s parents are not in a position to invest on behalf of their children themselves (40%).

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By. Sandra Jordan
ST. LOUIS (NNPA) - The pastor does ask for a commitment “in sickness and in health.”
“One morning, I was combing my hair in the mirror, and my hair started coming out in clumps. I started crying, and my husband came over and did the sweetest thing,” described Sandra Johnson, a 10-year breast cancer survivor. “He came over to me and kissed me in my bald spot and said, ‘Sandra, you know it was coming. Everything is going to be alright.’”
Whether married, a boyfriend or a significant other, men who support women with breast cancer also need encouragement sometimes and a chance for man-to-man discussions about living with cancer – the uninvited third party in their relationship.
“Some men will ask questions about how they can help their wives in certain situations,” Lloyd Johnson said. “They must continuously support their wives, love them and stay positive.”
Their journey beyond breast cancer started 10 years ago when his wife was in the shower. Sandra jokingly said to her husband, (who was a smoker at the time) “your cigarettes are going to be the death of me.”
Then she found a small, hard lump.
“Yeah, right,” was his initial reaction – however she was not joking.
Sandra immediately made an appointment with her gynecologist, which began a series of specialized, diagnostic exams.
“When they told me the doctor wants you to lie down and take the images, I knew it then,” she recalled of her appointment at Missouri Baptist Breast HealthCare Center. When she finally received the definitive word, Johnson said she was calm.
“I said, ‘Ok, how do we handle this?’”
When she told her husband the news, Johnson said her husband looked sad for a moment. That’s when their faith and resolve kicked into overdrive.
“I told him the Good Lord already told me that everything was going to be alright, and if I do what I need to do, He will do what He needs to do,” she said.
What she needed to do involved surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

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