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GERONTOLOGY > FINAL EXAM > Flashcards

FINAL EXAM Flashcards

1
Q

What is median net worth?

A

The total value of all assets (house, other property, personal savings) minus any debts
o It’s low among young adults who are just starting their careers
o Rises steadily until age 65
o Begins to decline as people spend down their savings to pay for health care and living expenses

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2
Q

wealth of older people is tied up in what?

A

their homes

o Once the value of the home is excluded, the net worth of this group falls

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3
Q

The % of people with retirement savings accounts and the amount of retirement savings accounts is…

A

declining

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4
Q

what did the Housing crisis of 2008-2012 do?

A

home values, leaving people with less wealth and lower net worth

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5
Q

The collapse of the stock market in 2008 did what?

A

destroyed trillions of dollars of retirement savings and forced people in or near retirement to make serious adjustments to their plans

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6
Q

What most separates the low income elderly from the more affluent?

A

their assets

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7
Q

Baby boomer cohort has had ?? opportunities than their parents?

A

fewer

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8
Q

baby boomer cohort decisions that reduced the effect of adverse trends:

A

o married later than parents
o waited longer to have kids
o had fewer kids

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9
Q

what the most successful program of the American welfare state?

A

Social Security - has removed large numbers of older people from poverty

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10
Q

Attitudes have shifted slightly toward the view that ??? money is being spent on SS

A

too much, but support remains high.

• Majority of people feel that the government is spending too little or just about the right amount of SS

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11
Q

Why is the social security trust fund in jeopardy?

A
  • Aging of the baby boom generation
  • Slower population growth after 1960
  • People are living longer in old age
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12
Q

By 2025 there will be ?? workers paying into system and ?? retirees

A

fewer workers, more retirees
o By 2027 revenue coming into the trust fund will fall
o By 20040 the trust fund will be depleted

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13
Q

Options for SS reform

A

• Increase the retirement age
• Reduce benefits
o Lengthen the years of work needed for full benefits
o Decrease the return for high earners
o Decouple benefit increases from cost of living increases
• Increasing revenues
o Increase the present payroll tax rate
• Means testing
o Reduce benefits only to higher income individuals
• Privatization
o Allows individuals to divert a portion of payroll taxes to private accounts

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14
Q

what does a Defined benefit plan do?

A
  • Pays a worker a set amount for life upon retirement

* Amount based on years of service and prior earnings

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15
Q

Problems with DB plans:

A

o Access
o Vesting rules
o Not indexed to inflation
o Pension funds have been insufficient to cover those eligible

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16
Q

What did the Employee retirement income security act (ERISA do?

A
  • Established vesting standards
  • Set more stringent funding requirements
  • Established better methods of reporting plan benefits and finances to workers
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17
Q

What does Pension benefit guaranty corporation (PBGC) do?

A

Pays the benefits owed if a terminated pension plan has insufficient funds to meet its obligations to the workers

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18
Q

How is the PBGC financed?

A

financed partly by premiums paid by the plans or the employers who sponsor these plans

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19
Q

What is a Defined Contribution plan?

A

• The employer, the worker and employer, or the worker alone pays a fixed amount into an account that is invested on behalf of the worker
• Benefits at retirement are based on the amount that has accumulated in the account
o Most common is 401k

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20
Q

A DC plan is more ?? than a DB plan?

A

more common

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21
Q

Problems with DC plans

A
  • Workers may withdraw funds early for other needs
  • Participation is voluntary and rates of participation among low income workers is low
  • Workers are encouraged or required to place all contributions into company stock
  • Vulnerable to big fluctuations in value
  • Workers may choose risky investments
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22
Q

What is personal savings?

A
  • an individual retirement account (IRA)
  • Workers contribute a yearly amount without paying taxes on the income or the earnings
  • Employers may also set up voluntary savings plans for workers
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23
Q

Problems with personal savings:

A 
•	Problem is knowing how much to save and starting early
o	No one can predict the future
o	Labor market uncertainty
o	Health may decline
o	Divorce
o	Age of retirement
o	Future rate of inflation
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24
Q

Theory of Cumulative Disadvantage

A
  • the central premise of the theory is that those who begin life with greater resources have more opportunities to acquire additional resources
  • those who begin life with little fall further behind
  • inequality is not random among the aged but patterned
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25
What is poverty rate?
the percentage of people below the poverty level
26
Subgroups od the elderly that have high poverty rates:
- single - minority - female
27
Who has lower income in old age?
Women and African Americans or Hispanics | -whites are more likely to receive income from pensions, women are less likely than men
28
Women and minorities depend on SS benefits more for income BUT....
the benefits they receive are lower
29
Gender Inequality and Work
- paid labor for women in the last 50 years has increased - men do more around the house than they did 30 years ago - women employed outside the home still perform as much housework and child care as non-employed married women - familial responsibilities disrupt their employment
30
Gender Recognition
- presumes that gender equality can be achieved by taking into account the differences between men and women and taking measures to compensate the disadvantaged sex - Removing periods of child care from the computation of SS benefit levels could eliminate the penalty mothers pay for taking time out to care for their children - could provide child care credit under a special minimum benefit
31
Gender Neutrality
reformulating laws in gender neutral terms
32
Inequality in SSI
- three quarters of SSI recipients are women - average monthly benefit is very low - poverty among older women is less of a problem in other Western nations - U.S is the only country where single elderly women have higher poverty rates than older couples
33
Retirement Equality Act of 1984
- allowed pension-splitting to become part of a divorce decree - now the pension is considered part of the property settlement
34
who are poverty rates are higher for?
Puerto Ricans and Mexicans
35
What is the largest minority group?
African American Elderly
36
Asian Elderly had high rates of....
education
37
Which minority has the highest unemployment rates and highest mortality rates?
Native American Elderly
38
How are the dead presumed in preliterate societies?
the dead are imbued with special powers and considered potentially harmful to the living
39
Funeral rituals in preliterate societies:
- a dead person is never mentioned by the name after the burial o Ancient Hebrews regarded the corpse as unclean and not to be touched o Among most traditional; native American tribes, ghosts of the dead were feared
40
Hinduism belief:
transmigration of souls; o Passing of souls from one to another burning or burying women alive with their deceased husbands
41
Buddhists view on death:
• Buddhists do not fear death o believe that dying is an inescapable part of life o People who lead a good life and perform meritorious deeds for others will be rewarded in their next life
42
Die de los Muertos
day of the dead; communion between living and dead who return to visit; welcomed with food and drink
43
Shift in how death is viewed and dying are treated:
Deaths used to occur in ppl 14 and younger, now they occur in old age
44
epidemiologic transition
shift in the proportion of deaths among the young and the elderly
45
Kubler-Ross and the Stage Theory of Dying
o Denial: i dont have cancer, thats not me o Anger: get mad at doctor- "fix me" o Bargaining: make it right with god, i will do this if you let me see my son get married o Depression: sad, withdrawn, not enough sleep or too much, suicide thoughts o Acceptance: gone through all stages, make peace that they are going to die
46
Major criticism of the stage theory
stages do not occur in a fixed sequence
47
living wills
when individuals specify their wishes for treatment in advance in case they should become terminally ill
48
Complex issues with doctors using modern technology to keep patient alive at all costs:
o When should care cease? | o Should a physician assist a terminally ill patient who wants to die?
49
Attitudes toward end-of-life care
Whites are more likely than African Americans to to discuss treatment preferences, complete a will and give power to attorney; whites also more likely to limit care and refuse treatment if terminally ill
50
Passive euthanasia:
o Involves withholding or withdrawing medical treatment from the hopelessly ill
51
Active euthanasia:
o Also called assisted suicide | o Occurs when a physician, close friend, or relative helps an ill or disabled person terminate his or her life
52
Suicide among the aged
• Nearly a quarter of all suicides committed by people 65+ o especially high among men 85 and older o Elderly white men are the only group more likely to commit suicide than to die in an auto accident
53
Things that cause suicide risk to increase with advanced aged:
``` o Social isolation o Boredom o Sense of uselessness o Financial hardship o Multiple losses of loved ones o Chronic illness and pain ```
54
Hospice care
``` emphasizes quality over the quantity of life; allows terminally ill to: o Die easily and peacefully o No pain o At home o Special units of hospitals o Hospice facilities ```
55
5 sources of payment for hospice services
``` o Medicare o Medicaid o Private insurance o Private pay o Charitable donations ```
56
Women have a greater probability of becoming widowed than men because...
they live longer and are usually younger than husbands
57
Many men are totally unprepared to assume the role of widower because...
o Many have never prepared a meal o They eat poorly and skip meals o As a consequence, their health suffers
58
By age 62 ??% of adult children have lost both parents
75%
59
Loss of which parent is more upsetting?
Mother
60
What factors contributed to the economic status of older adults in 1960s?:
Marital status, sources of income, private pensions
61
Social security is paid for by what?
Payroll taxes - 6.2% and 1.5% for medicare
62
Competition among members of the baby boom generation has resulted in...
Fewer opportunities than their parent's generation
63
Which program is the most successful?
Social Security
64
Which option for social security reform discourages savings?
means testing
65
which country has the lowest payroll tax?
canada
66
What was passed in 1974 to alleviate problems with defined pension plans?
Employee retirement income security act (ERISA)
67
It is harder for older people to spend money because they spend their money on...
health care and housing
68
Older people can use their home equity to pay for their retirement
true
69
The SS trust fund is affected by the decline in birth rate
true
70
The public does not support SS
false
71
People have realistic perceptions of how much to save for retirement
false - 62% of younger population is saving for retirement now
72
The premise of the cumulative disadvantage theory is that those with greater resources will have greater opportunities to acquire more resource than those who have lesser resources to start:
true
73
Gender equality in old age can be attributed to:
familial responsibilities
74
Younger women make about ??% of what younger men do in the same occupation
88%
75
Which country has a society in which there is virtually no poor elderly?
Sweden because of how their economic system is set up
76
How many racial categories are represented in the 2010 census?
16
77
Native Americans have the higher ?? and ??? rates
Unemployment and mortality because
78
5 stages of the Kubler Ross Stage Theory of Dying
1. Denial 2. Acceptance 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Anger
79
Most payments for hospice care come from:
medicare
80
What services does hospice care provide?
Medications, treatment and pain management, Rehabilitation and support
81
Widowhood is associated with increased risk of ?? and ??
Morbidity and illness
82
The loss of a father is more upsetting than the loss of a mother: FALSE
Loss of Mother is more upsetting than father
83
By appointing a power of attorney the individual specifies their wish for treatment in writing in advance :
FALSE - living will

GERONTOLOGY (1 decks)

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