AARP Bulletin - April 2012

Your Health ; In the News

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they do not plan to retire. 14

Washington’s new consumer watch- dog, the Consumer Financial Pro-
tection Bureau, is generating the first
federal regulation of large credit-report-
ing bureaus and debt collection agencies.
; Personal information from credit bureaus
on bill-paying promptness can influence
decisions on loans, jobs and insurance
coverage. Meanwhile, about
30 million Americans are
Watchdog Aims to
Control Credit Sharks

targets of increasingly aggressive col-
lection agencies. The CFPB has
proposed bringing these two
industries under federal su-
pervision in July. ; The bu-
reau’s Office for Older Ameri-
cans is the first federal body to
focus specifically on safeguarding
the financial interests of people age 62-
plus. ; Elder financial abuse is another of
the bureau’s targets. According to Hubert H.
“Skip” Humphrey III, a former AARP board
member who heads the office, the CFPB
will help older adults weed out false and
deceptive claims by financial advisers
who solicit them for invest-
ment and retirement
planning busi-
ness. The CFPB’s
website, consumer
finance.gov, also offers information
to help homeowners understand reverse
mortgages. A toll-free hotline (1-855-411-
2372) gives help and information about cred-
it card and mortgage problems. –Carole Fleck

; The Poll Personal Finance

; How many credit cards do you have?

; For what types of purchases or payments do you use your credit card?

None

34 16%

4-5 credit cards

11 16% Ages 18-49 50-plus

1 credit card

22 18%

2-3 credit cards

28 39%

After Sheryl Brereton, 70, of Severn, Md., fell
in January, her beloved black
Labrador retriever, Remmy,
was brought to her hospital
bedside. ; “We placed Mom’s
hand on his paw so she could
feel it,” says Brereton’s daugh-
ter, Ashley. “Remmy kept
his paw there as long as she
needed.” ; Hospitals have
long recognized the comfort
provided to patients by vis-
iting cats and dogs. A visit
with Valentine lifted Ethel
Cohen’s spirits during her
stay at Washington, D.C.’s Sib-
ley Memorial Hospital. Now,
though, more hospitals are
allowing family pets to com-
fort patients during recovery
or at the end of life. “The
pet is often the one to curl
up by your side and wants
to help you feel better,” says
Donna Dishman, executive
director of PAWS Houston.
The nonprofit group began

The Healing Paws of Pets

coordinating personal pet visits at Houston’s Methodist Hospital and expanded its program to other area hospitals and hospices. ; The University of Maryland Medical Center allows pet visits for patients admitted for more than a few days, says the Rev. Susan Roy, director of pastoral care services. The trend is toward “recognizing what is important to the patient and family so that those things [like pets] can be a part of assisting” patient healing, Roy says. —Susan Kreimer