Answers For Elders Radio Network

Sean Joseph, CEO of Jordan River International Moving & Storage, joins Suzanne to talk about what happens on moving day.

Sean explains the rules for various local and longer distance moves. "Every state has different rules and tariffs for professionally licensed and insured moving companies. We will use Washington as an example, because it's pretty similar to most other regulated states. So when you just move within a 56-mile radius, it's a local move. Therefore, we'll calculate the hourly rate. We'll charge the customer by the hourly rate for the packing and for the actual move. We always recommend if any family member can do the packing, do the packing because you save money. 

"The other move option is called intrastate, which is long distance within the state. This will go by the mileage and the pounds on the truck. So we weigh the truck before and after. The hourly rate is not a factor, just the weight of the shipment. Similarly to this is the interstate move, which is across state lines. Every move across state line will be based on weight and mileage. If someone tells you that you want to charge you by volume, hang up the phone. There's no way in the world anybody can tell you the volume of your shipment. It's just the weight."

"You can save money by doing your own packing. We deliver the boxes to your door, the wrapping paper, everything that you need. If we didn't supply you enough, no problem. Another phone call, we will deliver it to you. We're not gonna charge you for this. We charge you per use. Order more boxes than what you think you need. We're trying to make it easier for the people.

"When people do their own packing, I would like to come to the house the day of the move and find boxes and furniture. And I would like to see the boxes all taped and ready to roll, because from the moment the truck stops, unfortunately, the clock starts. So we're not gonna charge you if you are organized and ready. I promise you, our crew will not waste your time. When we're moving a senior, we ask the guys to slow down a little bit, because they walk too fast for certain people, but they will be respectful of the time. We are not there to milk your clock.

"One time, I'm getting videos from the crew. It's a total chaos. And I first thing I said, the crew, we need to wait. I tell the person we'll come back tomorrow, please organize the place. If you can, if you don't have to leave today, because if we spend time to organize your place, your move would be much higher."

Sean adds, "Our customers ask me, 'Can you 100% show that you're going move my items from point A to point B without any damage?' I always say if I can promise you that, I'll probably be God, but I'm not God. Things can happen because we are human. I promise you the people I put into your house, I trust my family with them. They know my daughters, my daughters know them. You can feel safe and secure around my movers."

Learn more:
* Jordan River Moving & Storage: https://answersforelders.com/jordan-river-moving-and-storage/
* Jordan River's website: https://jordanrivermoving.com/

Hear more podcasts about:
* Senior moving: https://answersforelders.com/tag/senior-moving/
* Moving to senior living: https://answersforelders.com/tag/moving-to-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Particularly for people who have mobility challenges or health issues and require special preparations, moving requires planning. Sean Joseph, CEO of Jordan River International Moving & Storage, joins Suzanne to talk how to plan for a move, especially if you're downsizing or moving into a senior living community.

Sean says, "We will do the estimate, then help figure out the packing option, and then comes the move date. That's 1-2-3, it's planning, planning, planning. For the move that is the traditional move, let's say the family member is in good health, we can move from point A to point B, loading the boxes first, wrapping or disassembling the furniture, and doing the reverse: unloading all the furniture, setting it up the way the customer wants and then unloading the boxes in the right location.

"For downsizing, let's say from a house or an apartment to one room in a senior living, for example, at the time of the estimate, we will take the address of the destination. We will visit the destination, we will talk to the front desk to figure out what they need from certificate of insurance, to floor covering, to elevator reserve. We'll try to see the room so we can create a floor plan. It's very important when moving from a bigger place to a smaller place, we want to make sure [we know] what would be the best location for the furniture to give enough movement within the room.

"The other type of move, which is the most complicated, is usually when the senior has a medical issue like dementia, [or mobility or health challenges], we need sometimes to really copycat the one location, and that involves meticulous planning and moving. We had one customer that we had to make everything exactly the same. We needed to take pictures of all the cabinets before we packed them, and when we got to the destination, we put all the items back in exact the same order. Think about it – exactly the same order, because of the memory issues he had. And place medication exactly where it was before."

Sean adds, "It's important to pay attention to detail and listen, listen. Some moves like this will take a little bit more time. And I always tell the crew, please take your time. Slow down. Do not run, listen to the people. Sometimes they need more time. Slow down, constantly ask, what can I do for you?"

Learn more:
* Jordan River Moving & Storage: https://answersforelders.com/jordan-river-moving-and-storage/
* Jordan River's website: https://jordanrivermoving.com/

Hear more podcasts about:
* Senior moving: https://answersforelders.com/tag/senior-moving/
* Moving to senior living: https://answersforelders.com/tag/moving-to-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sean Joseph, CEO of Jordan River International Moving & Storage, joins Suzanne to talk about the variety of options people have when packing for a move, as well as how to pack if you choose to do it yourself.

Sean says, "We have a variety of options. A of course is full packing: we come — with the truck, with the boxes, all the packing materials — to the house. You leave the house as is, you wake up in the morning, wash your face, have a coffee, sit on the couch, and everything around you will translate into boxes.

"Option B: You can tell us what to pack. You can say, 'I will pack all my clothes, all the items that are not fragile that I can handle. You guys do the kitchen for me.'

"Option C: We can just supply you the boxes, we can show you how to pack items that you have concerns about, that you're not sure how to pack, but we supply all the types of boxes that you need in order to complete your packing. Also, if you have extra fragile items and you're really, really worried about it, we can crate it to make sure nothing will happen.

"Now, we need to discuss the process of some the packing. It's crucial to understand the idea of a packing is very simple: Avoid movement inside the box. If you avoid movement, you avoid damages. That's as simple as it is. That's how we even stack the truck when we're building the wall in the truck – avoid movement. You have a hole or something on a box, fill it up with a blanket or something, avoid movement.

"When we do the packing, we have smart tape. We color code every room. For an example, we'll mark the boxes with the kitchen in yellow tape. Every bedroom will have its own color code. All that is much easier for us and for the customer to know where the box is going because we can put it in the right location. We also will mark on the boxes where they came from, and the contents. We write what inside the box and leave those boxes that they don't really need [for downsizing] either in storage or in a garage. So then we can stack them nicely and just deliver to the room the boxes that they really need."

Learn more:
* Jordan River Moving & Storage: https://answersforelders.com/jordan-river-moving-and-storage/
* Jordan River's website: https://jordanrivermoving.com/

Hear more podcasts about:
* Senior moving: https://answersforelders.com/tag/senior-moving/
* Moving to senior living: https://answersforelders.com/tag/moving-to-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moving can be a daunting chore at the best of times, but downsizing a senior whose been living in their house for 50 years can be overwhelming. Suzanne is joined by Sean Joseph, CEO of Jordan River International Moving & Storage, a nationwide firm that specializes in working with seniors.

Suzanne says, "When I look back in my years of taking care of my mom, probably the most difficult and overwhelming situation was when it came time to moving her. As she declined, we had to move her three times. And the hard part for families is, there's all kinds of questions. Everything is overwhelming. This is someone that took care of me and my mom: Mr, Sean Joseph, the CEO of Jordan River Moving and Storage, specializes in working with seniors. You've been my dear friend for a very long time and I'm so grateful to have you part of the Answers for Elders team, because moving is daunting."

How do you start? Sean says, "Like I always say, knowledge and preparation is priceless. It starts always with the in-home estimate. We would like visually to see what we're dealing with. We don't like the information over the phone. Please welcome us to the house so we can take a look... We ask, where are you moving to? If we find out you're moving to a much smaller place, we know it's not all going to fit, or we're gonna build wall of boxes all around your walls around the house, you won't be able to move, and you might fail and you get injured. So we talk about the steps of downsizing, and we are always willing to help them sort. But the planning is the most important, and we establish trust.

"A lot of seniors are moving to a very small place, and a lot of times you try to copy their home for them. If they have dementia, you try to make it as comfortable as possible, so they can move around. It's hard for people, but I totally understand that people sometimes can't let things go."

Learn more:
* Jordan River Moving & Storage: https://answersforelders.com/jordan-river-moving-and-storage/
* Jordan River's website: https://jordanrivermoving.com/

Hear more podcasts about:
* Senior moving: https://answersforelders.com/tag/senior-moving/
* Moving to senior living: https://answersforelders.com/tag/moving-to-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about the gut-brain connection and how to balance your functional wellness to achieve optimal health.

"Think of it as like a two-way highway. What one does affects the other. The easiest way to illustrate that is, for instance, when you get nervous. You feel those butterflies in your stomach, right? There's a direct connection in the neurotransmitters, the chemicals that the brain sends for situations like that, fight or flight responses."

"Inflammation is one of the number one things that we deal with. and when I'm coaching clients, we are talking about inflammation. There's 22 different types. You have acute inflammation. Acute is, hey, I just fell, hurt my knee, it got swollen or I have the flu, and the body's response is to send those infiltrates into your system which causes inflammation. But I'm talking about chronic inflammation, inflammation from the processed foods that we eat, that will cause inflammation and leaky gut, and that causes a whole host of systems. That's why we can't eat what we used to eat. Our food greatly affects the inflammatory responses in our body."

Learn more:
Shawn Weiss' website: https://shawn-michele.com/
Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/shawn-weiss/
Six Pillars of Health: https://www.stress.org/live-better-by-building-on-the-six-pillars-of-health

Hear more podcasts with Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/tag/shawn-weiss/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about changes in our bodies that happen once we reach 50 years of age, and what strategies to use to maintain optimal health.

"One of the first things when you get over 50 that you're losing is muscle mass. And that is so important. Increase your protein, make sure your strength training. A lot of people feel conflicted about it. Should they be lifting weights? Absolutely. You should be doing resistance training. We're also losing bone density, and as we age, that could increase your risk for fractures. But you also see other things. Our bladder changes, it gets less elastic. The muscles in your pelvic floor start to weaken. There's two different types of incontinence, but you might see either urge incontinence or stress incontinence. The list goes on... our large intestines, hormonal changes, hydration can cause things like constipation so things are not metabolized.

"Stress reduction plays such a vital role. And if you look at even when I was in my 20s and 30s and society in general, our world is different. It is just a nonstop world. There's just a lot of chaos. People don't know how to navigate it. They're having incredibly high stress levels, which will start throwing out cortisol. It's gonna affect your sleep. It's going to affect your overall health. It creates anxiety. It's a vicious cycle, and that's why it's such an important pillar of health that we address. 

"Any time you exercise,  you're going to have an increase in blood flow everywhere. Many studies out there show if you're starting to have cognitive decline, daily exercise of any kind — just increasing activity levels — not only improves digestion, it improves sleep, it reduces behavioral problems, it reduces falls and balance issues. It's just so so beneficial."

Learn more:
Shawn Weiss' website: https://shawn-michele.com/
Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/shawn-weiss/
Six Pillars of Health: https://www.stress.org/live-better-by-building-on-the-six-pillars-of-health

Hear more podcasts with Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/tag/shawn-weiss/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Shawn Weiss joins Suzanne to talk about taking charge of the six pillars of health — nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, substance use, and personal connections — so that we can achieve optimal health in our later years.

Shawn says, "Health is not a one-size-fits-all for everybody, especially in the age where we're in now, with social media, where we're getting bombarded on a daily basis with contradictory advice. I deal with the six main pillars of health. And that for me is so easy to organize, because each one affects the other. I have everything in balance, which is the key. You have to be able to hit all of those pillars of health. One little off-balance system will exponentially affect the rest.

"I start off with exercise — of course, near and dear to my heart as a physical therapist, but confusion over 50 is OK. What type of exercise? How much do I do? How long do I exercise? Am I allowed to get my heart rate up high enough? So that's one of the main ones, and then we look at nutrition how to fuel your body properly. Gut health is the third one. Gut health and inflammation, inflammatory conditions, inflammatory foods go hand in hand. Then we look at stress, and stress is huge. You cannot remove all the stresses, and all the daily stressors that we have, but how do we learn to manage our daily stress? Sleep, that's the fifth one. And the last one is emotional health. And that's been huge, especially since COVID. So we include all of those when I talk with clients and coach them."

Shawn’s proactive approach to physical therapy focuses on wellness and prevention strategies for all of her clients, with an emphasis on fall management programs for the elderly in the assisted living setting. She currently serves on the Ohio Fall Coalition and Ohio Injury Prevention Partnership. She is also is an Instructor for Summit Professional Education where teaches nationwide for Continuing Education courses on Home Health Policy and Rehabilitation and has been a contributing member of Answers for Elders for more than a decade.

Learn more:
Shawn Weiss' website: https://shawn-michele.com/
Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/shawn-weiss/
Six Pillars of Health: https://www.stress.org/live-better-by-building-on-the-six-pillars-of-health

Hear more podcasts with Shawn Weiss: https://answersforelders.com/tag/shawn-weiss/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people want their family to remember them, they want to pass on something. What does it mean to leave a lasting legacy? What's a mistake, and what are some pointers? Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about matters of Inheritance and philanthropy with your estate.

What's Steve's definition of legacy? "It's probably different for everyone. I will say I came to this by having so many people that died without a plan, or it totally blew up, and their legacy was terrible. That's not what people want. People want to be able to pass on their assets and their values to their kids, their grandkids, sometimes it's the charities. And so I'd say a good lasting legacy is making sure the estate plan works, providing some protections for the next generation. So it doesn't implode if one of the kids goes through a divorce. And then passing on your values. So we have a legacy worksheet in each of our estate plans, where you could talk about the most important lessons you'll learn in life. And you can pass on that along with the money. That's accomplishing a lot if you can pass on not only money but values."

Learn more: 
Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/
Steve Waltar: https://www.waltar.com/our-firm/about-our-firm/
Books: https://www.waltar.com/resources/books-published-by/
Webinars and seminars: https://www.waltar.com/seminars/

Hear more podcasts with Steve Waltar at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/stephen-waltar/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about whether you might choose to have a will or a trust for your estate, and why.

Steve says, "Everyone needs a plan, right? So it's not a will or trust, it's a plan. A will doesn't work till you die, so you need powers of attorney, healthcare, et cetera. And then others would like to do a trust, and there's really common reasons to do a trust. You've got real property in more than one state. Our state's doubled the tax exempt amount. But I was meeting with a couple once – I might as well tell a story embarrassing about me. This was a retired pastor and I was ready to sign the fee agreement to do their will plan. And the wife says, 'how come Suzie Ormond says some people want to live in trust?' And I said, well, some people are worried about privacy, and they want to avoid probate. They said, 'we want to avoid probate. We want things private.' I said, some people want stronger incapacity planning. 'Well, we want that.' And after four or five things in a row. I said, let me draft you guys a living trust. And the financial advisor was like, 'you sold them a trust.' And I said, they wanted a trust. There's lots of advantages of a trust. Our job as a state planners is to ask a bunch of questions and design a plan that fits. 

"If someone's single, they have adult children, and they're not at all worried about giving outright to the kids, a will plan is just fine. In Washington sate, you can even do a transfer on death deed. So it's almost like a brokerage account where it goes directly to a beneficiary without court. There are times when a will is the only way to plan. In Washington, if you're married and you want to protect assets from the state of Washington for like a Medicaid lien and Medicaid planning.

"But for a lot of people, here's my little [diagram], it's maybe hard to see, but this is Homer and Marge Simpson. While you're alive, you could put assets in the trust and it breaks into the above-ground and below-ground, what that does is it doubles your tax free amount. It gives you creditor protection, it gives you remarriage protection. I don't care if my wife remarries if I die first, but I don't want it to go to a new spouse, right? I want to be for her and ultimately our children. So a trust is just bigger, better or stronger. It's not for everyone.

"We don't determine what plan people have. We ask questions and reveal and then they kind of self select."

Learn more: 
Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/
Steve Waltar: https://www.waltar.com/our-firm/about-our-firm/
Books: https://www.waltar.com/resources/books-published-by/
Webinars and seminars: https://www.waltar.com/seminars/

Hear more podcasts with Steve Waltar at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/stephen-waltar/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Waltar with Legacy Estate Planning joins Suzanne to talk about the particulars of choosing beneficiaries when planning for your estate.

Why should people create an estate plan? Steve explains, "I was in the hospital with someone with a bad cancer diagnosis yesterday. But all of us will eventually die. And if we own a home, or if we have children, the need to plan is high because without it  it may go to the wrong people, or you may not protect your children. Or if you're married, your spouse could remarry. I mean, [your estate] can implode, sometimes it'll go to the right people, but not the right way..."

When it comes to choosing beneficiaries, he says, "Often we will list our spouse, like on an IRA or a 401(k). But then we don't think about the kids. And it used to be, you could stretch IRAs over the life of a grandchild, and that stopped with the Secure Act. So there's lots of changes, and people often don't think of the backup beneficiaries, or they've really helped one kid through college and loans, and the other kid they haven't. So do they want to kind of equalize things? That won't happen if you don't have your own planning in place... The first part is taking care of you, all your life. Even spouses can't legally sign for one another, and they can't make medical choices if someone's in the hospital. So, maintaining control, protecting you while you're alive, that's a big deal. And of course, then the right people, or organizations, or grandchildren, or whatever, when you're gone, that's another big part of it."

If someone's never had an estate plan before, what do you think about? "Often, people ask, do I need a will or a trust? I'm like, 'I don't know yet.' I need to know what people own. I need to know if they're single or married, I need to know if they have minor children, if they have adult children, if they have any special needs children. And no two plans are exactly the same. So it's a process. There's a chance you could throw a dart and hit the right thing. What an attorney does is, they want to know the context, and once they know that, then we can say, ahh, this is a simple beneficiary designation, but this one better go to a will, or a trust, because you want to protect the beneficiary."

How often should you review your estate plan? Steve says, "We have a rule of thumb: every five years. Our clients get to come in and kick the tires, and just see now if your agent has gone bad, the kids are going through a divorce... there may be reasons that you need to tell us before that. But I think five years is a good rule of thumb. Two years ago, they changed all the rules on health care powers of attorney [in the state of Washington]. I had someone in this week, they did wills 25 years ago. [Back then] they were naming guardians for their children. They have grandchildren now. So the laws [change], the estates are different. Sometimes an estate was a million and now it's $3 million. Then you have to have estate tax protection, at least in our state of Washington. For federal laws, for wealthy clients, it's the federal estate tax exemption, it's going to cut in half in two years. The Hippa rule was nationwide and that blew up thousands, if not millions, of estate plans because you can't give authorized consent when you're in a coma, you have to give authorized consent when you have capacity."

Learn more: 
Legacy Estate Planning: https://www.waltar.com/
Steve Waltar: https://www.waltar.com/our-firm/about-our-firm/
Books: https://www.waltar.com/resources/books-published-by/
Webinars and seminars: https://www.waltar.com/seminars/

Hear more podcasts with Steve Waltar at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/stephen-waltar/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.