(NAPSI)—Each year, Medicare Open Enrollment begins on October 15 and ends on December 7. It’s an important opportunity for eligible individuals to select a Medicare plan that best meets their current and potential health needs, and also offers crucial protection for unexpected costs.

Although it’s been 10 years since the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression hit the U.S., most middle-income boomers say they still don’t feel their finances have fully recovered. According to a recent study from the Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement, today, only 57 percent of middle-income boomers feel confident meeting their daily financial obligations, down from 65 percent before the crisis. Along with their smaller savings accounts, concerns about rising health care costs as they age could be feeding boomers’ lack of confidence in their financial futures.

Today, boomers expect to carry more debt into retirement; only 34 percent expect to retire debt-free. One of the main drivers of debt for this demographic is the nationwide increase in health care costs. Boomers—an estimated 74.9 million Americans aged 53 to 71 in 2017—will likely live to around age 85, on average, according to the Social Security Administration, and unexpected health issues associated with age can drain savings and increase the risk of added debt. Continue reading →

(NAPSI)—The National Museum of the United States Army is under construction, and four artifacts are already in place. These unique pieces of Army history are so large that crews pre-positioned them early in the construction process so the Museum’s walls could be built around them.

The first two artifacts were the M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle that led the 2003 charge from Kuwait to Baghdad, and the M4A3E2 Sherman “Jumbo” Tank, known as “Cobra King,” which was the first tank to break through German lines during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge. Crews then installed an LCVP, one of the few remaining Higgins boats certified to have carried troops ashore at Normandy on D-Day.

The fourth artifact, a Renault FT-17 Tank known as “5 of Hearts,” made history in World War I when it led an attack on enemy lines near Exermont, France. It is the only known surviving Renault FT-17 Tank used in combat by U.S. personnel. Continue reading →

(NAPSI)—Nearly everyone born between 1996 and 2010—Gen Z, as they’re known—owns a smartphone, Mediakix research shows. What many people don’t know, however, is that these young people are often as much into nature as they are into technology.

Fourteen-year-old Jake Reisdorf of California is a shining example. The subject for a school project was the impetus that turned an initial interest in bees into a full-fledged hobby and business, and the young entrepreneur now serves as founder and CEO of Carmel Honey Company.

He had taken a beekeeping course and used that information to create a website for a class project. His fellow students, however, seemed more interested in learning about honey bees than about website design. So Reisdorf procured a hive and began rescuing wild swarms. He now manages nearly 100 hives. Continue reading →