Answers For Elders Radio Network

Amanda Krueger joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders podcast to talk about how IT is used to prevent falls at Chateau Retirement. The interview was recorded on site at Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Washington. Amanda is Vice President of Health Services, and oversees the health and care provided at Chateau Retirement Communities. Amanda says, "About a year ago I started really diving into our fall prevention program at Chateau and a statistic just kept sticking in my brain. After a significant injury fall of an elderly resident, they have an 80% chance of mortality. How can I sleep at night knowing that? We have to do our best to keep our residents safe, so I started looking into technology [and chose] AUGi. It is a motion sensor, it is a technology that we have primarily in the bedrooms of residents, so that way it can monitor when they're in bed... You can set it at a high fall-sensitivity, and it'll alert the staff when our resident is getting out of bed. So if you have a resident or a family member that has dementia, and is not able to ambulate safely on their own, this protects them in the sense that our staff can get in there timely, before they're up out of bed, to prevent what could be a potential catastrophic injury with a fall. "It is an AI-sensing technology so if a resident isn't walking the same like they used to, it can send alerts to us that their their gait is off a little bit. And then it also just tells us that a staff member is spending 40 minutes a day [with them] when their care plan is for 20 minutes a day, so that could tell us that maybe that resident needs a little bit more care. Or they're spending 45 minutes in the bathroom, that can tell us that maybe they're needing a little bit extra care so they stay safe. "So it is a great tool for the staff... Every two weeks we're having a meeting with a member of the clinical team from AUGi... By getting those notices and getting in there within a couple of minutes – they call it AUGi saves If we're in the room by three minutes – we've had hundreds of saves since we've implemented this technology. Yes, we can't predict that it would have been an actual fall. But... if we're getting in there timely and preventing your loved one from being on the ground, that's that's going to be a win... And so the family members are loving that piece of mind, knowing that we have this technology in our community."Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit them online or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Shawn Godfrey, vice president of technology for Chateau Retirement, joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders podcast to continue their conversation about how technology can improve the lives of senior living residents. The interview was recorded on site at Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Washington. Suzanne notes, "Aa lot of organizations out there outsource their technology. You guys do not. You keep everything in-house. So you protect that data, it doesn't go to an outside source." Shawn says, "We maintain and make sure that everyone is safe when they're using our networks and using our services, and that we're not allowing third-party vendors to come in and stipulate their standards on top of what we have already done our due diligence with. "We do abide by HIPPA compliance laws. I look at compliance with these and the European Union or the California laws of privacy, and try to incorporate those types of things. Even though we're not held accountable to those standards today, who's to say that maybe next week or in a year or two that we won't be? Putting Chateau up to that degree of being in compliance with NIST and ISOs and HIPPA compliances really allows us to make sure for our residents and our employees, we're securing their data properly." Shawn adds, "We have technicians that are designated just for IT assets. Our residents... have computers and laptops, cell phones, televisions, [cars]. So I expanded our our realm of influence, so to speak, so we can actually help our residents directly, similar to a maintenance work order like 'I need a light bulb changed.' Residents can call down to the desk and say, 'I forgot my password for my email account,' and we have staff on hand that can come and help those residents write, reset passwords, and remove viruses from devices." Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit them online or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

The world is evolving, and technology is impacting senior living communities for the better. Shawn Godfrey, vice president of technology for Chateau Retirement, joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders podcast to talk about how they use technology to improve the lives of residents. The interview was recorded on site at Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Washington. Shawn says, "We're looking at how the technology will enhance our senior our seniors' lives and make it easier for them to age in place, and not have to move somewhere else because the services aren't available in the area. "I like to think of one of the roles I play is to help our seniors through their digital lifecycle, from sales and marketing is where it typically starts, [where] they take their information and their likes and dislikes. 'I like long walks on the beach with my puppy dog kind of thing, right?' And then translating that down to operations, and having that seamlessly transfer from one department to the other. So we use technology to smooth those edges between departments... really has helped us get to those data points of helping our seniors. We still need to be managers, but we don't have to manage our people as much now, and we can focus more on the seniors. "We we innovated, back in the early 2000s, having free Wi-Fi access for all of our seniors and their guests. And so Chateau has always been on that cutting edge of technology. It's a balancing act, because you don't want to be too far on the edge and get into the beta testing. I have to do my risk management very carefully and make sure that the technologies we are using are secured from a technical standpoint, but also it's usable for an end user." Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit them online or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks.

If are you able to take this on, what is all involved in taking care of a loved one as a family caregiver. Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for the last of their six-part series being prepared for difficult conversations and what comes after. Daphne says, "I recently met with a family where dad is about 85 years old and mom had passed away a couple of years ago. He's living in his own home and two weeks ago, got a diagnosis of very advanced cancer in his lungs that's metastasized to his stomach. And he has two daughters, one lives about 5 minutes away and the other is about 45 minutes away. And this family had cold water splashed in their face and they were beyond knowing what to do. So I got the phone call, and went over there immediately to help of navigate their next steps, because they had no one to be able to help dad. And Dad wants to die in his own home, and certainly has that right. And we can make that happen. "But it's going through the whole process of what that meant to his two daughters. And one of the daughters was on the phone because she lives 45 minutes away, and the other daughter was sitting in the living room with us. And you could see the stress. The daughters get along just fine. They're sisters. But there was a significant difference in their perceptions and perspectives and sense of responsibility from being 5 minutes away or 45 minutes away. And so as you're thinking about becoming caregivers as family members for someone, really try hard to be outside of yourself and see the big picture." When Suzanne was caring for her mom, she says, "Nobody sat me down and said, Mom's not going to get better. What we're doing is not to make her better. It's to make her comfortable. If they just would have said that to me, I would have had a completely different perspective. But health care professionals, they don't do a good job oftentimes of educating the family of where are we at in the process." Daphne explains, "Health care professionals are on automatic pilot. This is what they do day in, day out. And it's not necessarily that they don't want to. It's just an oversight sometimes. Or it's a time issue, having 15 minutes with you in and out. So as a family caregiver, you might have to be thinking about the companionship and the socialization, boredom. You become the person that sits down and listens to dad's stories, or reads a book to him, or watches the old Westerns with him and seriously are engaged in it. And it's not your time to be taking care of your own bills because Dad does need socialization. He's lonely." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne Davis * Hear more podcasts with Daphne Davis Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning

How do you pay for care? And care is expensive. You will be in stick shock to learn how much senior living costs. You may also be surprised at the reality of a senior loved one's actual level of functioning. Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for part 5 of their six-part series being prepared for difficult conversations and what comes after. Daphne says, "There's an element of planning that I hope our listeners will hear and know that you can't wait until you're 70, 75 years old to think about this. It really is a sweet spot, about 55 to 60, to be thinking about this in terms of considering even long term care insurance, in terms of maximizing your buying power with your estate. But having resources and hearing the shock of the cost of care is where I see shoulders drop, where I see families lose hope, The twinkle goes out of their eye and they're like, We can't afford that." Daphne goes over some finances options, including the basics of what to consider for reverse mortgages, Aid in Attendance, Medicaid, and life settlement. She also talks about the level of care your loved one might really need. "Your intentions are spot on. Your heart is in the right place, but you don't see, sometimes, your loved one with the eyes of reality. I'm not taking anything away from all of your family caregivers out there. But you see them differently than professional eyes. Rational eyes are here to help your mom have the highest quality of life as possible. Still keep her independence, but not stress her out because she doesn't always get her arm in the sleeve, or it's hard for her to pick out something in the closet to wear, because there might be some condition issues. Set someone up for success." As an example, Daphne says, "Mom is in a community now and we're really understanding that if there's any kind of cognition challenges, Mom does need help getting to the dining room. Turning left or right, or getting on the elevator and what floor am I on, is too much. It’s not quality of life to stress somebody out with figuring out what button am I supposed to push? And you might be there on one day and mom pushes the button just fine. But at 8:00 in the morning for breakfast, she wasn't synapsing as well. Or mom or dad – and this is universal – can pull it together for the people that they want to please or not be a burden to. And really, as a family member, you need to listen to the people who are caring for your mom day in and day out who are the professionals. You have to have an element of trust there." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne Davis * Hear more podcasts with Daphne Davis Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate...

Some legal paperwork is exceedingly difficult to work around if it's not filed. Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for part 4 of their six-part series being prepared for difficult conversations and what comes after. Daphne says, "I am not an attorney and I'm not giving any attorney advice here today. But I will give you real life perspectives to consider, and that is do not avoid getting the paperwork done. The biggest one is power of attorney. It lets you speak on behalf of the person while they're still alive. And there's different paperwork for after they've passed away. But power of attorney is while someone is alive, and anything can happen at any time. I don't care if you are 30 years old and have three kids and you don't have power of attorney paperwork, you should worry about that. You should have a power of attorney paperwork. "If you're 80 years old and you haven't talked about this yet, and you don't have a power of attorney, you should really – I'm going to use the word – worry about this. This needs to be taken care of. It creates so much chaos, so many hiccups to get over, hurdles to get over, makes protocols and systems work so much slower, if you don't have a power of attorney in place. I hope you heard me really loud and clear. It's really important. It's a very important document." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne Davis * Hear more podcasts with Daphne Davis Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Learn what you need to know about how the best referral agents help focus senior living choices. Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for part 3 of their six-part series being prepared for difficult conversations and what comes after. Daphne says, "I'm transparent. I'm going to choose places that meet your highest values. I'm going to tell the communities this is the highest value. This is why we're here. When the agent is with you, and you're doing your tours, I think that the agent should be very involved in the questions, to be sure to ask. The agent is going to know the pluses and minuses of the community. And if the agent doesn't have a relationship with the community of care in such a way that they can be honest and upfront that says, here's an area that you're going to have to compromise on, I don't think that's a transparent agent. "You’re making a big decision. Agents should help you walk through the pluses and minuses and you should be able to walk away after seeing the third community walk away and be able to say, I want this from A and this from B in this from C, because then the agent did their job. They didn't stack the deck. They made your job hard. And all three of those communities are viable options. Now you, the family, get to fine tune it." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne Davis * Hear more podcasts with Daphne Davis Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning

Referral or placement agents are an information post. Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for part 2 of their six-part series being prepared for difficult conversations and what comes after. First, Daphne explains what a referral agent does: "We call ourselves an information post. We are never decision makers. In the whole United States, there's a whole plethora of people just like me who help you gather the information that's pertinent to your state... We we are like a conduit between you, the consumer, and the people who provide housing and care and where the people who know what's going on in this housing and care industry. We find out about you, the unique consumer of what are your highest values, what works for you in this housing and care community, how some of the logistical pieces that work. "An agent who has your best interest at heart will meet with you. There are some situations that because we're so mobile that we hold Zoom meetings because some of the siblings or the decision makers might be out of state, but usually we try very hard to meet one-on-one. In choosing to work with a placement or referral agent, there's no expense to you. The expense is to the community of care, right? Because we work off of their marketing budget. We are an extension of their community. That doesn't mean we have exclusivity to recommend to 5 to 10 places. A good agent should be working with all communities of care in the state. And based on your highest values, be able to have all of those communities of care as an option for you. At the same time, we function as kind of a clearing house or a person who's doing your vetting. I personally feel after 25 years of doing this job, that there's no way for any consumer to know the real nuts and bolts of a community of care. It's impossible for me to know everything about every community, because there's so many new ones." As to the best reasons why you should bring in a referral agent, Daphne says, "You need to have the hard conversations. You are the family, but to actually facilitate them and to know how to walk through this is very difficult for family member to family member. And the number one reason is because you have a primary relationship, and that primary relationship usurps everything else. In most situations, mom and dad still stay mom and dad and you're still the child. That's what it comes down to. 'You're not going to tell me what to do. You're not in my head. You’re not here every day. You bounce in four times a year to see us, and you think you know what's going on with us?' Why would you even consider having somebody like me come into this equation? First of all, it doesn't cost you anything. But the primary reason is, you keep your primary relationship. Let the agent be the one who has these hard conversations. We’re the professional, we are the expert. You are not. You might be a nurse, you might be an occupational therapist, you might be a police person, you might have been an EMT, but you are not the expert [in this area]." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne...

Are you in denial over the next chapter of caring for someone you love? Or are you ready? One of the things we hear a lot is, mom and dad are just fine. They're getting older, but they still do this or that. But the fact is, oftentimes, families are in denial and maybe they're not fine. Daphne Davis from Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Podcast for a six-part series on whether you're in denial, and about having difficult conversations. Daphne says, "I'm going to say in 2025, currently I'm seeing a lot of skepticism, a lot of fear, a lot of lack of trust, a lot of what ifs, and that it's becoming okay to to maintain the status quo. Even though there may be people quietly suffering, overtly suffering, things can start sneaking up on you... I have never seen so much inaction. That causes a ripple effect of suffering. And so what I mean by that is, it's easier to go along with what whatever mom or dad says, whatever the aunt or uncle says, whatever your wife or husband says, it's just easier to go with. They said they were fine, So they're fine. Rather than doing any investigation or listening to your gut or stepping outside of yourself, knowing this is going to take time, energy is going to interrupt your pattern of life. But in the in the long run, you will have this relationship that hopefully to their last breath will be meaningful and beautiful." Regarding how to start tough conversations, Daphne says, "This is how I do it personally and professionally. And that's to name the thing that you're most afraid of. Just name it. It will lose power. Dad, I know this is going to be a hard conversation. I want you to hear my heart, not just my words. I know this is not a conversation that that we're wanting to have, but trust me that it's one that's going to be good. Name what you're afraid of. Yeah, I know you want to keep doing your laundry, but going up and down the stairs to get to the basement, to the washer is making me so afraid of the consequences if you have an accident. And here comes the end. The defensiveness. 'I'm fine. I haven't. I haven't fallen down the stairs yet. I'm not going to.' I know you're not planning to, but, Mom, you're in your eighth decade of life and your body is not the same. It's not going to bounce back like when you were 40. Mm. All those things they rest in logic. They do rest in the what ifs, and a lot of people don't want to live in the what ifs." Reach Pinnacle at 1-855-734-1500 or visit PinnacleSeniorPlacements.com. To final a referral agent in your area, visit the National Placement & Referral Alliance website search. Learn more: * Pinnacle Senior Placements at Answers for Elders. * About Daphne Davis * Hear more podcasts with Daphne Davis Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning

"We're not talking about major life changes, just ways of being a little more mindful of what we do for our health." Wellness and fitness coach Kelly Fennelly joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about taking care of our health as we age. For some issues, particularly when recovering from falls, talk to your doctor. There are services out there, that is home health, that Medicare actually pays for. You can have physical therapists come into your home, or an occupational therapist, and for a limited period of time, get on a program to regain strength. Kelly does in-person and Zoom coaching for those looking for sustainable health goals, with personalized coaching for individual body and lifestyle goals. She is an ACE Senior Fitness Specialist and ACE Health Coach. Check out her website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning

Wellness and fitness coach Kelly Fennelly joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to share her best ways to improve our health as we age. 1) Movement. Move daily. Water exercise is great if you have arthritis, 2) Protein. Have eggs in the morning, add white beans to a shake, or have a yogurt shake. 3) Balance. Kelly suggests some simple ways to improve balance. Kelly does in-person and Zoom coaching for those looking for sustainable health goals, with personalized coaching for individual body and lifestyle goals. She is an ACE Senior Fitness Specialist and ACE Health Coach. Check out her website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning

Healthy living as we age means moving. Fitness and wellness coach Kelly Fennelly joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about how to keep moving. Suzanne shared this quote from Dick Van Dyke quote: “At 30, I used to exercise to look good. At the age of 50, I would exercise to be fit. At 70, not to be padded to a bed. And at 80, to be able to live without assistance. And now at 99, I do it purely out of defiance." Kelly talks about balance, exercise, movement, diet, and being healthier as we age. Kelly says, "I have one client, I'm trying to get him to walk [more]. He's 84. He does a little bit of walking on the golf course, but there's a cart. So what I did was leaned into walking the dog so many times the during the day and during the week... And when his wife takes the dog out, then he will do certain a certain amount of time just walking through the house. So we got it. So it doesn't have to be on a treadmill outside necessarily. It. It just has to be moving." Kelly does in-person and Zoom coaching for those looking for sustainable health goals, with personalized coaching for individual body and lifestyle goals. She is an ACE Senior Fitness Specialist and ACE Health Coach. Check out her website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Fitness and wellness coach Kelly Fennelly joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about changes that happen to our bodies as we age, and what to do about it to keep ourselves healthy. What do you eat? How do you move? What kind of exercises do you do? The discussion turns to eating more protein. Suzanne had read that a 150-pound woman over the age of 65 should divide their weight by three to compute that she needs to eat 50 grams of protein per day. Keely says, "Some of the the research that I've seen, it's even greater than that. They're saying, possibly, 30 grams per meal. So then that would be 90 per day. It is a little struggle for some, because if they're not doing breakfast, or or however your meal schedule is, it can be challenging." Kelly provides some recommendations for various ways to incorporate that much protein into our daily meals. Kelly does in-person and Zoom coaching for those looking for sustainable health goals, with personalized coaching for individual body and lifestyle goals. She is an ACE Senior Fitness Specialist and ACE Health Coach. Check out her website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning

At Answers for Elders this week, we continue our conversations to open up the hood, peel back the curtain, and talk about what goes on behind the scenes at senior living communities. And we're honored to have conversations today with two incredible C-level executives here at Chateau Retirement. Angel Audino Averman, the Chief Financial Officer of Chateau Retirement, joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show from Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood. Suzanne points out, "You've seen the industry change, where management companies come in and everything keeps changing. It makes you guys so much different in the fact that you can keep that consistency." Angel says, "We own the real estate. And we partner with our mortgage lenders and HUD, being a primary lender for us. And we were fortunate to refinance most of the portfolio 3% over a 30 year term. I know that we sat on a very stable foundation. And so the fact that the Godfrey family owns the bricks and mortar and the operations, it's one phone call when we need to make a decision." Angel adds, "There's two generations of family in the Chateau and the family members who have worked here in the past and the grandchildren that have worked here, that continues. And we can point to a half a dozen families employee families where it's the mom and the dad, it's the kids, it's the grandkids. So that family element is there as well, or will have a resident come in and their grandchild is looking for a job. And and we say we'd love to have them. So it's a community, and it's not the physical building. It's how it feels... "We invest in years of service. So we celebrate that every year at the holiday party. And it's $100 for every year of service. So if you think about 350 employees, and the benchmarks of three, five, 10, and every five years after that, the idea being that it's not so much that we want you to stay because it reduces our cost now, but the way that we train, the way that we develop employees, we can't get that traction [by] constantly turning people every six months. "Most of our suggestions come from our employees. And Jim [Godfrey]'s famous for saying, 'What's the dumb thing that we should stop doing?' And I thought, that's an interesting way to ask that question. He's truly interested – you're the boots on the ground, what do you see that we don't?" Family-owned Chateau Retirement is Greater Seattle's expert in senior living, with a legacy of success in its culture, tenure, and dedication of staff to its residents. This episode was recorded at Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Washington. Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit Chateau at https://www.chateauretirement.com or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/ Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

This week, we're going to open up the hood, peel back the curtain, and talk about what goes on behind the scenes at senior living communities. And we're honored to have conversations today with two incredible C-level executives here at Chateau Retirement. Jason Brooks, the Chief Operating Officer of Chateau Retirement, joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show from Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood. Jason says, "We've been family owned from the beginning. And having that family ownership really translates down to treating people with love, dignity, respect. We feel like our job is to take care of our employees, because we know that a happy employee who loves where they work, who has been there forever, is going to treat the resident better... Literally 25% of our workforce have been here ten years plus. "We really want to bring in people who have a real cultural fit, have a real caring sense to them, a real sense of wanting to to serve and do well for other people. If they need to learn how to be a better server or be a better caregiver or be a better maintenance guy, we can teach them all of that. What I can't teach somebody is to care. I can't teach them to have that heart. They have to kind of come by that a little naturally." Jason adds, "You also have to be very responsible with your growth and your trajectory. You know, we're 25 buildings, we're looking at expanding here shortly again, but we've built three buildings in 25 years. It was very steady. It was very purposeful... Unfortunately, there's a lot of companies that get into, 'the Silver Tsunami's coming!,' so they want to build as quickly as they can and capture as much of that as they can. And then they end up either being highly leveraged or they don't actually own the property. They're managing it for somebody else. So they don't actually get to make the call. Jim [Godfrey]’s always kept a very conservative fiscal approach to everything, which has really allowed us to do the right thing by our employees and by the residents from day one. "There's a couple of different [financial] models out there, right? Some people are beholden to Wall Street, because they're publicly traded. And as share prices dip, they have to make sacrifices financially, and cut back services and programing. Or somebody comes in, at their management company, they could be a management company and have to report to several different ownership groups. And then it gets really complicated, because you can't have the same programing if you can't fund things all the same. If you're if you're a management company for multiple people, building A and building B, even if they're in the same town, may be completely different. It could be a completely different culture that's being run through there, because of how they have to manage the financial aspect of the business." Family-owned Chateau Retirement is Greater Seattle's expert in senior living, with a legacy of success in its culture, tenure, and dedication of staff to its residents. This episode was recorded at Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Washington. Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit Chateau's website or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Hear some examples from Rob Haynie of what people have done with the proceeds from selling their life insurance policy. Rob joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show. Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and is a charter member of the Association’s PPC committee, which is charged with the regulatory and legislative activities of the industry. The Managing Director of Life Insurance Settlements, Inc., he has been proactively in the industry for more than 31 years. Rob describes a family who had been donating money to a ballet center, but were running low on funds around 2008. "The money that would be going to the 501c3 [the ballet center] was not going to go to them, because they were going to lapse the policy. So they were losing money. Their financial planners said, 'What about a life settlement?' He said, 'What are you talking about?' They said, 'We're going to sell the policy.' "Two things happened. They immediately donated the money, what they got, to the 501c3, who was able to take it tax free. But the key thing was, the donors, he and she were both alive, were able to write off the donation while they were alive. And they also were able to go to the ballet center and see their name above the doors as you walked in for a number of years, before they passed away." Rob adds, "Your life insurance policy is like any other assets you own. It's yours. You can do with it as you please. You can find out what it's worth – exactly what it's worth, today – by going through a process, a free non-binding appraisal, and then at that point you will have a decision to make as to what's best for you. And you can sell some of your life insurance policies. We can split a policy in half. You can sell half, and keep half. But at the end of the day, we just want you know there are options." Email Rob Haynie at rob@lisettlements.com, call his cell phone at 954-599-4433, or learn more at the LI Settlements website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Rob Haynie joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about selling your life insurance policy for cash. Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and is a charter member of the Association’s PPC committee, which is charged with the regulatory and legislative activities of the industry. The Managing Director of Life Insurance Settlements, Inc., he has been proactively in the industry for more than 31 years. Suzanne asks, "What are people most confused about with life settlement?" Rob answers, "That they don't understand that, they think there's a catch, they're missing something. "It isn't too good to be true. It's a life insurance policy. You own it. You can do whatever you want with it. And if you can get more money then you can from the carrier, you have every right to get it." Email Rob Haynie at rob@lisettlements.com, call his cell phone at 954-599-4433, or learn more at the LI Settlements website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Believe it or not, you don't have to be sick to sell your life insurance policy. You can sell it and repurpose the proceeds in a life settlement. Rob Haynie joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about how Life Settlements work. Rob is the Managing Director of Life Insurance Settlements, Inc. and serves on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA). He has been proactively in the industry for more than 31 years. Rob says, "Life insurance policies are not designed to pay a death claim. They are priced to know they're going to lapse. You don't have to be sick to sell your life insurance, it's just another misnomer in our industry. "I've been saying it for 30 years: we're putting the life back in life insurance... We are helping people with life expectancies exceeding 20 years to sell their policies. I sit on the board of LISA [Life Insurance Settlement Association], and I was told the other day we do a market data collection study every year. On average, when you talk about things you could do with the settlement money versus not having so much money, we determined that the typical seller gets 5.2 times to as much as 7.8 times. This is on average. So if you were about to give up your policy for $100,000, and now you're going to get make it up $500,000, that's a big difference... "There's a lot of fear about Social Security. A lot of people are living on Social Security right now. So the idea of knowing that this is a resource, it eliminates a lot of that uncomfortableness, knowing that they're going to be okay no matter what happens." Email Rob Haynie at rob@lisettlements.com, call his cell phone at 954-599-4433, or learn more at the LI Settlements website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Rob Haynie, Managing Director of Life Insurance Settlements, Inc., joins Suzanne Newman on the Answers for Elders Radio Show to talk about Life Settlements: selling your life insurance policy and repurposing the proceeds. Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and is a charter member of the Association’s PPC committee, which is charged with the regulatory and legislative activities of the industry. He has been proactively in the industry for more than 31 years. Rob explains, "A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to a third party – we'll call that person an investor – and for money that is greater than the cash surrender value, or certainly in the case of lapsing, but less than the death benefit. And it's all based upon someone's life expectancy and the cost of insurance going forward from that. They might have been 45 years old when they bought it and they had a whole list of reasons down on a pad of paper... [Maybe there's been] some chaos in the financial sector of the person's household. Most people will lapse the life insurance policy, or surrender it for the cash, because that's the only thing they know to do. The insurance company is certainly not going to tell them they could [sell it]. "You can sell your life insurance policy. We've always kidded the life insurance industry, saying, 'You should be telling people they can sell the life insurance policy because they could turn around, take the proceeds and buy something else you offer, as opposed to letting it lapse or surrender.' "They can take the proceeds from the settlement, and we use the word repurpose that, and buy something that fits their current needs, such as an annuity. So instead of paying money, they're getting money every month off of an asset they didn't know had any value." Email Rob Haynie at rob@lisettlements.com, call his cell phone at 954-599-4433 or learn more at the LI Settlements website. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Legacy Estate Planning Legacy Estate Planning Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement

Chateau Gardens memory care director at Chateau Valley Center Michelle Oleas joins Suzanne on the Answers for Elders podcast with Lacy Steed, Vice President of Life Enrichment for Chateau Retirement. This episode was recorded at Chateau Valley Center in Renton, Washington. Michelle and Lacy talks about how memory care interfaces with with Life Enrichment at Chateau, and how they work together. Michelle says, "They're both very important entities, but I don't look at it as separate entities, rather independent pillars. That is very important to enhance the quality of life of our residents. Nursing, we take care of the medical part. We give the medications. We want to keep them safe. While life enrichment, they're there to provide social interaction, meet their spiritual needs. There's just so many things that work hand in hand that are both essential in providing the needs of our residents." Michelle says, "Usually in dementia, we cannot dwell in the past nor the future, right? They live in the moment. When I have a family member come up to me and say that was a wonderful event, and my mom was really happy with what was going on in memory care, that really hits me hard, right? Because at the end of the day, we're here for the residents. Whatever time they have left, we want to make sure that they do have quality time. We always hear, 'Oh, they have dementia. They won't remember any more.' That's not true. Because at that moment, if you made them happy, then they know – something made them happy. So I think that's a very important piece with these activities." Lacy adds, "Memory care holds also a special place in my heart. My grandmother suffered through dementia, and it's just a horrible disease. So we work very closely with all of our nursing staff and our caregivers and med techs. We try to be very involved in memory care, and we are working on having weekly morning meetings with the teams to make sure we're all on the same page. It's everyone's job to enrich people's lives, especially for memory care. In memory care, it takes a lot. It takes a village. I have so much respect for nurses and memory care, and it's a hard job. And dementia and Alzheimer's, and we couldn't do it without them and vice versa." Chateau Retirement provides independent living, assisted living, and memory care services. They have been locally owned and family operated for more than 25 years. Chateau Retirement has three communities in Washington's Seattle/Puget Sound area: Chateau Pacific in Lynnwood, Bothell Landing in Bothell, and Chateau Valley Center in Renton. Visit Chateau's website or call 800.960.1944. Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks. Mentioned in this episode: Chateau Retirement Chateau Retirement