Senior

Downsizing Seminar at Livermore Valley Senior Living

Are you thinking about simplifying your life and don’t know where to start?

Concerned about making a move when you also have a home to sell?

Worried about what to do with all the “stuff” you’ve accumulated?

Learn the TRUTH about what it means to make a post-retirement move in today’s market by attending this information packed 1 hour seminar at Livermore Valley Senior Living.

Bring your questions and ASK THE EXPERTS!

April 30th 2:30 PM
Livermore Valley Senior Living
3356 East Avenue, Livermore, CA

About Our Experts:

Laurie Moore is the Bay Area Manager of Gentle Transitions. Gentle Transitions is a pioneer and specialist in the art of senior relocation. The mission of our service is to ease the moving process for seniors and their families. They help plan, coordinate and supervise all aspects of a move. From planning and packing to picture hanging and making beds, they take care of every detail. Their commitment and goal is that their clients are comfortably and securely settled in their new homes the evening of their move.

Annette Junell is one of the top real estate agents local senior communities refer to when they have a client moving into their community. She has been assisting homeowners move since 2000. She and her husband Brett specialize in assisting Seniors who are looking to move from their current home to a more easily maintained home whether that is a smaller home or to one of our many local Senior Communities. They handle every aspect of the home sale with the goal to make the transition as smooth as possible for their clients.

Excellent communicators

I highly recommend the Junell Home Selling Team. Brett and Annette were wonderful to work with, they have excellent communication with their clients. Their staff is outstanding, they made me feel like I was their only client. Thank you. – Mary Warren

Handle problems well

Gail saw your presentation on downsizing at the Senior Center. She was impressed and thought that we should interview you to sell our home.

Your team works very well together. Anyone can do a great job when everything runs smoothly, it is when things don’t go smoothly that you find out how good someone truly is. We were frustrated with the work on our home. Your team took control and handled the completion of the work so we could focus on our move and not what needed to be done to our home. Thank you.

Without you and your team, this move could have been so much more stressful. Making a move after 40+ years is stressful enough without adding more to it. We certainly appreciate all you all did to make our move such a positive experience. Hopefully we will not have to experience another move in our lifetime. – Tom and Gail F.

What can you do to help stop elder financial abuse?

Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans over the age of 65 has been the victim of a financial scam? And, that telephone scams alone account for $30 Billion every year?

Brett and I have had clients who have been victims of a financial scam. We want to do whatever we can to help prevent this from happening to others. The best way we know how is to provide information.

True Link, a San Francisco based company, has developed a VISA card that can be personalized with a fraud blocker. An adult child or spouse can set up a True Link Visa card for a loved one.

How it works:

True Link maintains a growing database of scams and problematic merchants. This offers an extra layer of protection on a True Link Card.

You can:

Set a maximum amount per charge
Block purchases from specific stores and types of merchants
Allow only transactions made in person
Receive instant alerts about charges that might be suspicious but shouldn’t be blocked outright
Disable or limit ATM withdrawals

Your loved one can use the card wherever VISA debit cards are accepted. If any suspicious charges do occur, you’ll be notified immediately via email or text message.

You can adjust your fraud blocker on your True Link account as often as you wish and even temporarily block the card entirely without canceling the account or requesting a new card.

In our opinion, True Link offers a great way to help your loved one maintain their independence, but at the same time help protect their financial assets. To get more information or order a card go to www.TrueLinkCard.com.

Recognize Warning Signs that your loved one may be a victim of financial abuse:

Unexpected or frivolous purchases or spending
Packages in the mail, unwanted magazines, unexpected renovations
Complaints about inability to pay bills or overdraft schemes
Discussions about “sure thing” investment schemes
Discussions about giving or lending large amounts of money to friends or family members.

Know the Scams

Medicare Fraud
Telemarketing scams
Investment Schemes
Sweepstakes/Lottery Scam
Grandparent Scam
Unscrupulous Charities
Door-to-door / service providers
Hidden or recurring charges from online and TV orders

Take Preventative Steps

Register on the Do Not Call List by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the Senior’s phone.
Review bank and credit card statements together for any suspicious or recurring charges.
Inform Seniors of common scams and what to do if they think they are being scammed.
Post a cautionary note by their telephone.

Learn More

FBI’s Full list of Scams: fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors

Better Business Bureau: bbb.org

Local Law Enforcement

Adult Protective Services: napsa-now.org

Eldercare Locator: eldercare.gov or call 1-800-677-1116

Wheels for Meals Ride 2013

Brett and Bryce riding up Patterson Pass, Wheels for Meals 2011.

This is the 5th year that Wheels for Meals has raised money to help feed Seniors through Meals on Wheels. Just last year, this ride provided 22,000 meals to seniors in need! If you are a cyclist and want to participate or if you would like to volunteer to help go to Wheels for Meals Ride. The ride is on October 19, 2013. There is still time to register. They accept up to 1,200 cyclists. There are 3 rides to choose from, 15 miles, 35 miles and 70 miles. The early bird special to sign up ends on September 20th.

Brett, Bryce and I rode the 70 mile ride previously. There is a photo of Brett pulling our son Bryce up Patterson Pass on the front page of the website, www.wheelsformealsride.com. Brett is right behind the lady in the photo. Bryce is behind, Brett, you can’t see him from that particular angle, but know, Brett is pulling an extra 50 lbs up that hill!

Looking for a little camaraderie? Then get your friends, family and colleagues involved! Register to fund raise and join a team! Have some fun, get motivated and work together. Last year over $137,000 was raised to support Meals on Wheels.

Recommended by Heritage Estates

Thank you for all your help selling our home. You were recommended to us by Heritage Estates. From the first time we met, we knew you were looking out for our best interests. You took the time to ask questions and really get a feel for what was important to us in the move. We had lived in our home for many years. Not only were there lots of memories, but also a lot of treasures that we could not take with us to Heritage Estates. I enjoy wood working. Giving up the garage space and workshop was difficult. You referred us to Donna Christner-Lile who was able to help us downsize all our belongings. You helped organize to have the items we could not or did not want to take with us to Heritage Estates disposed of.

There were plans to fix up the home for sale. You had even gotten bids on the cost of the work so we could make a decision to do the work or not. In the end, we didn’t do any work to our home, since you brought in a buyer who was interested in purchasing our home in it’s current condition.

We loved our home and all it had to offer. However, we were at a time in our lives where we needed to move on. Thank your for helping to make that process easier for us. You allowed us to focus on our move and you took care of everything else.

– Hal & Marian Schulte