ArcaMax

Hapag-Lloyd’s 500-passenger luxury ship MS Europa 2 knows the devil is in the details.

Pots of fresh orchids grace the suites, all of which are outside and with private verandas. The bank of closets, stocked with robe, bedroom and spa slippers, beach towel and branded tote bag, rivals the space found inside a large home. Not only does the ...Read more

Hello Toni,

I delayed enrolling in Medicare Part B because I was working with employer benefits. Recently I turned 70 and am retiring effective Jan. 1. I have enrolled in a Medicare Supplement Plan G and Part D prescription drug plan that also begin Jan. 1.

Now my Medicare stress has started, because I have ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For David Lincer, 67, the question of longevity once felt straightforward. He initially imagined living to 93 — close to the national ideal of 91, according to a recent survey. Now, numbers matter less to him than his physical health.

“I’m not interested in living life out in a bed just to say I made it to 100,” ...Read more

BROOKLYN, Ill. — Sr. Julia Huiskamp, all 4 feet and 10 inches of her, oversees everything at the Thomas Terry Community Center: the food pantry, the child care, the fundraising — even the transportation. Her resourcefulness has been honed over six decades as a social worker.

Huiskamp, now 90, has barely slowed from overdrive in a life spent...Read more

DALLAS -- When Troy Comardelle steps outside his apartment, one of the first things he sees is a sprawling blue-themed mural lush with flowers and wildlife.

He said it inspired him to be more adventurous with the decor in his own apartment.

“I just went with very bright primary colors and I have that very tall ceiling, … so I was able to ...Read more

Good morning, Toni:

I have been reading your Medicare column, and now I need your Medicare help. I am retiring when I turn 65 in April. I was hospitalized in November of 2025 with a triple bypass surgery. Last week I talked with the office manager at my cardiologist’s office about enrolling in Medicare and what I should do. She said for me ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — In a small fictional town in Louisiana, the six women centered in "Steel Magnolias" have forged a community among — and an ever-deepening relationship with — each other. In a real town in southeastern Pennsylvania, a group of women who have worked together for decades are bringing those characters and those deep bonds to ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Nurse Lacey Williams noticed Eva Lu Damianos' unique jewelry and clothing while the 90-year-old was recuperating from a broken leg this summer.

She could tell Damianos was "artsy," she said.

How artsy? She had no idea.

Damianos, a painter who has exhibited her work in galleries and at the Carnegie Museum of Art, was in the ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Laura Williams was a planner. She planned for the butterflies she raised in her backyard in Duncanville, Texas. She planned for power outages at her home, buying a portable generator just in case. She even planned her death.

Shortly after Williams went to the hospital with stroke-like symptoms, she decided to work with a ...Read more

DALLAS -- In a Dallas retirement home, Theresa Steward is skydiving. She squeals and yelps as the ground rushes up and snow-capped mountains slide past. Her body lurches forward, and she grabs at the air to steady herself. After landing safely, she appears relieved but exhilarated.

It may seem impossible to do what she has just done. But that ...Read more

Toni:

On November 6, when the government was still shut down, I turned in my Medicare enrollment forms signed by my employer to the local Social Security office. I never received anything from Social Security about being enrolled, so I went back to the office and found out that my paperwork was lost. I refiled a copy of the forms...Read more

You’re ready to leave the hospital, but you don’t feel able to care for yourself at home yet.

Or, you’ve completed a couple of weeks in rehab. Can you handle your complicated medication regimen, along with shopping and cooking?

Perhaps you fell in the shower, and now your family wants you to arrange help with bathing and getting dressed....Read more

You’re ready to leave the hospital, but you don’t feel able to care for yourself at home yet.

Or, you’ve completed a couple of weeks in rehab. Can you handle your complicated medication regimen, along with shopping and cooking?

Perhaps you fell in the shower, and now your family wants you to arrange help with bathing and getting dressed....Read more

Morning, Toni:

Recently, you wrote a Medicare column about various life policies available after 65, and I have a retirement insurance question.

In June, I’m retiring when I turn 70 and my wife, Anna, will be 68. Our retirement insurance issue is that recently we applied for a long-term care plan and were both denied due to our health issues...Read more

Hi Toni:

I recently enrolled in Medicare. This week, I went to see my primary care doctor and his office manager informed me that they are no longer accepting it. Instead I will have to pay the complete bill up front and be reimbursed by Medicare. His office is small, and the doctor will be retiring soon. I will need to find a new doctor.

Toni...Read more

Hi Toni: I am turning 65 and retiring from my current employer and will no longer have health insurance benefits, life insurance, dental and vision. My husband, James, will still be employed with benefits from his current employer.

James and I do not have a power of attorney or other legal documents in effect for both of us. A friend told me ...Read more

Hi Toni:

I never should have listened to my brother, who bragged about how his Medicare Advantage Plan was a great way to save money and not have to spend so much on my Medicare Supplement plan’s premium. I discovered that the eye doctor who was to perform surgery on my right eye in early January is not in my Medicare HMO plan. I should have ...Read more