Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 2, 2015

13

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 2, 2015

HOW TO SEARCH FOR LOST PENSION MONEY 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

FYI - STC (SENIOR TEXTING CODES) from Jonathon McKee

Since more and more seniors citizens are texting and tweeting, there appears to be a need for a STC 
(Senior Texting Code). If you qualify for senior discounts, these are the codes for you:

ATD: At The Doctor’s

 BFF: Best Friend Farted

 BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

 BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

 CBM: Covered By Medicare

 CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center

 DWI: Driving While Incontinent

 FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers

 FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

 FYI: Found Your Insulin

 GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!

 GHA: Got Heartburn Again

 IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?

 LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

 LOL: Living On Lipitor

 LWO: Lawrence Welk’s On

 OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

 OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.

 ROFL… CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing…Can’t Get Up

 TTYL: Talk To You Louder

 WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?

 WTP: Where’s The Prunes?

 WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

......................................................................................................................

HELPFUL HINT: Got Ants? To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are 
coming in and cover the hole with petroleum jelly. Ants won’t trek through the jelly. If they are 
coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of 
chalk.

........................................................................................

FOR YOUR FUNNY BONE 

An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male 
pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, 
“They wouldn’t take me out while I was alive, I don’t want them to take me out when 
I’m dead! 

 ~ ~ ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … May Birthdays*

Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, Donna Mathieson, 
Dorothy Murphy, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie Sheridan, Joanne Anthony, 
Carole Axline, Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Annie Scalzo, Janet Ten Eyck, Jane Thomas, 
Ray Burley. . *To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 
626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required.

..................................................................

Quote of the Week: “Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” 

 Henry David Thoreau

...................................................

ACTIVITIES: Unless listed differently, all activities are at the Hart Park 
House (Senior Center) 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre

 

 YMCA San Gabriel Valley Intervale Senior Café: Monday-Friday at 12:00 Noon 

(Participants are urged to arrive no later than 11:45 A.M.) 

All seniors 60 and up can take part in the lunch program. There is a suggested donation of $2.00 
for those 60 and over and $3.75 for non-senior guests. Daily reservations are necessary as space is 
limited. Please call 24 hours in advance...626.355.0256

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS: Every Tuesday morning from 10am to 11am. 
Join instructor Barbara Dempsey as she instructs you in the art of hula.

BINGO: Every Tuesday beginning at 1:00pm. Cards are only $0.25 each! Everyone is welcome to 
join. May be canceled if less than 5 people.

FREE BLOOD PRESSURE TESTING: 2nd Tuesday of the month from 11am to 12pm. No appt. 
is necessary.

BRAIN GAMES: Tuesday, March 17th, 11am -12pm, improve your memory and strengthen your 
brain. Activities facilitated by Swati Puri, Community Liaison for ComForcare Senior Services in 
Pasadena.

FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION: Wednesday, March 18 from 10:30am to Noon. Attorney Lem 
Makupson is available for legal consultation. He specializes in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, 
and Injury. Appointment are required by calling 626-355-7394.

CHAIR YOGA: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 11:45 am, except on the third Monday of 
the month. A suggested donation of $5 at one of the classes is requested, but is not required.

CASE MANAGEMENT: Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month. Case Management services are 
provided by the YWCA and provide assistance in a variety of areas. Appointments are required and 
can be scheduled by calling the HPH Office at 626-355-7394.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: Every second Thursday of the month the Hart Park House Senior 
Center celebrates birthdays of our patrons. The free birthday cake is provided by the Sierra Madre 
Civic Club.

GAME DAY: Every Thursday starting at 12:45pm. A regular group of seniors play poker. Other 
games available for use.

TAX ASSISTANCE: Every Thursday February 5th through April 9th from 1:00pm-2:00pm. Don 
Brunner is available for income tax consultation. Appointments are required, call 626-355-7394.

FREE STRENGTH TRAINING CLASS: Every Friday from 12:45pm to 1:30pm with Lisa 
Brandley. The class utilizes light weights for low impact resistance training. All materials for the 
class are provided.

SENIOR CLUB: Every Saturday at the Hart Park House Senior Center. Brown bag lunch at 11:30am. 
Club meeting at noon. Bingo 12:30-3:30pm. Annual Membership is only $10.00.

LUNCH & LEARN PRESENTATION - Thursday, April 16th, 2015 beginning at 12:00pm

Tanya Mazzolini from The Kensington will give a talk about French artist Henri Matisee while 
demonstrating a project in his style of art. Matisee, known for his use of color and his fluid and 
original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily 
as a painter. Matisse is commonly regarded along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Dunchamp, as one 
of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the 
opening decades of the twentieth century. 


Dear Savvy Senior:

What tips can you offer for tracking down a lost 
pension from a previous employer? 

About to Retire

Dear About:

 It’s not unusual for a worker to lose track of a 
pension benefit. Perhaps you left an employer long 
ago and forgot that you left behind a pension. Or 
maybe you worked for a company that changed 
owners or went belly up many years ago, and you 
figured the pension went with it.

 Today, millions of dollars in benefits are sitting 
in pension plans across the U.S. or with the Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal 
government agency, waiting to be claimed by their 
rightful owners. The average unclaimed benefit 
with PBGC is about $6,500.

 `To help you look for a pension, here are some 
steps to take and some free resources that can help 
you search if your previous employer has gone out 
of business, relocated, changed owners or merged 
with another firm.

Contact Employer

If you think you have a pension and the company 
you worked for still is in business, your first step is 
to call the human resources department and ask 
how to contact the pension plan administrator. Ask 
the administrator whether you have a pension, how 
much it is worth and how to claim it. Depending 
on how complete the administrator’s records are 
you may need to show proof that you once worked 
for the company and that you are pension eligible.

 Your old income tax returns and W-2 forms from 
the years you worked at the company will help you 
here. If you haven’t saved your old tax returns from 
these years, you can get a copy of your earnings 
record from the Social Security Administration, 
which will show how much you were paid each 
calendar year by each employer. 

 Call 800-772-1213, and ask for Form SSA-
7050, “Request for Social Security Earnings 
Information,” or you can download it at ssa.gov/
online/ssa-7050.pdf. The SSA charges a $136 for 
this information.

 Some other old forms that can help you prove 
pension eligibility are summary plan descriptions 
that you should have received from your employer 
when you worked there, and any individual 
benefit statements that you received during your 
employment.

Search PBGC

 If your former employer went out of business or 
if the company still is in business but terminated 
its pension plan, check with the PBGC, which 
guarantees pension payouts to private-sector 
workers if their pension plans fail, up to annual 
limits. Most people receive the full benefit they 
earned before the plan was terminated. The PBGC 
offers an online pension-search directory tool at 
search.pbgc.gov/mp/mp.aspx.

Get Help

 If you need help tracking down your former 
company because it may have moved, changed 
owners or merged with another firm, contact 
the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit consumer 
organization that offers seven free Pension 
Counseling and Information Projects around the 
U.S. that serve 30 states. For more information, 
visit pensionrights.org or call 888-420-6550. 

 If you, your company or your pension plan 
happens to be outside the 30-state area served by 
the projects, or if you’re trying to locate a federal 
or military pension, use Pension Help America 
at pensionhelp.org. This resource can connect 
you with government agencies and private 
organizations that provide free information and 
assistance to help your search.

 For more pension searching tips, see the PBGC’s 
free online publication called “Finding a Lost 
Pension” at pbgc.gov/documents/finding-a-lost-
pension.pdf.

 

 Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. 
Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.
org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today 
show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.


KATIE Tse..........This and That

TINY BUBBLES


This is an article that I wrote 
several years ago, before we 
embarked into the brave new 
world of Common Core and 
computerized “smart” tests. 
I hope you enjoy this quaint 
look at what standardized state 
testing used to be like.

 Spring is here ! Blossoms perfume the air 
as I walk through our beautiful town. While 
this season is a time for celebrating nature’s 
rebirth, it comes with the ominous raincloud of 
Standardized Testing! I truly feel sorry for high 
school students facing this academic adversary; it 
seems like competition grows fiercer every year. 
When I was in high school I had a healthy concern 
about the test, but I didn’t give myself an ulcer 
attending tutoring classes or pouring over SAT 
study guides (okay, I bought one, but I didn’t pour 
over it). What did strike fear in my heart was the 
dreaded GRE (Graduate Record Examination), 
which all us aspiring college students had to 
take before entering grad school. If you haven’t 
had the pleasure, the GRE is a sort of SAT on 
steroids. I’ve tried to repress memories of this 
daunting experience, but I still recall the practice 
CD Rom with its algebraic equations and writing 
prompts such as “defend or refute the use of trade 
embargoes.” I frantically typed while watching a 
red time clock tick down (because a test is always 
scarier if it’s timed!). I wondered what any of this 
had to do with my application to a field in the 
Health and Human Sciences. All’s well that ends 
well, I think that CD eventually found its way into 
a celebratory bon fire.

 If you have elementary school kids you’ve 
probably received newsletters alerting you to this 
upcoming crucial week. Make sure they’re well 
rested, fed, and at school on time! When I was 
a student, my teachers always stressed having 
a good breakfast on testing days, but I never felt 
any smarter for it. The truth is, however, that 
it’s the teachers who are really stressing out over 
these fateful booklets. One careless kid can swing 
the school’s whole API (Academic Performance 
Index), which in turn can taint the district’s 
AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) report. Next 
you have home values dropping because the 
neighboring city’s kids did better on this one test, 
taken one week, targeting what is sometimes a 
very narrow range of skills. Since this test is of 
supreme importance, it necessitates that teachers 
sign a statement testifying they’ve been trained 
in the handling of test booklets. Every day after 
school, the booklets are locked in bins and stored 
in a secure location (I kid you not!). Your child’s 
work will be stowed away with the same level of 
protection given to documents of national security.

 Considering the magnitude of this exam, it 
is understandable how teachers can be tempted 
to become irate when students casually flip over 
reading sections, fill in random bubbles and turn 
in a seven-page exam after three minutes. While 
we all hope our kiddos will put their best effort 
into this ordeal, you can’t help understand why 
some kids burn out after hours of math, science, 
writing, and reading about gripping topics such 
as mural artists and memoirs of a childhood in 
England during the Industrial Revolution.

 One of my friends in education is fond of telling 
about one of her students (probably nearing 
middle age by now) who spent a considerable 
amount of time completing his test before turning 
in a sheet with all the B’s bubbled in except the last 
item, which was left blank. When she asked why 
he didn’t fill in that one he said, “I didn’t know the 
answer.” Moral of the story: sleep well, eat a good 
breakfast, and color in a variety of letters.