| Assisted Living Well: Full-Service
Fixing leaky faucets used to be a regular feature of owning a second home. Now sellers of a new crop of vacation properties around Europe are promising an experience that is more about cocktails and hors d'oeuvres delivered to your door, masseurs on call after a long day of golf and a handyman around at anytime to fix the kitchen sink. "It's like having a private concierge in your house," says Stanley Fink, chief executive of London hedge fund Man Group, who this past June celebrated his silver wedding anniversary at his new villa at La Zagaleta in Spain. Home ... .
If you care full-time for aging parents, you may be due a tax break
If you care for an aging parent, you're not alone. The National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP estimate that 21 percent of all American adults care for other adults. Seven million Americans take care of someone 55 or older and live at least an hour away, a Pew Center study reports. And that number is growing - it is expected to double within 15 years.There is some tax relief for adult children who support their aging parents. You can reduce your 2006 taxable income by $3,300 if you claim a parent as your dependent.
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Construction begins on assisted-living facility
Construction has started on a new center at the budding University Village Thousand Oaks, a community for people 62 and older on Campus Drive just north of California Lutheran University. OakView, expected to open in early 2008 next to the village's independent-living campus, will be a 75,000-square-foot facility offering assisted living, Alzheimer's care and skilled nursing services for University Village residents and the public, according to the developer, Continuing Life Communities. .
Valley Humane Society forms alliance with hospice
And for someone who is dying, that special human-animal bond can be even more important in providing a better quality of life in those final days. I know how powerful animals are, said David Stegman, executive director of Valley Humane Society. He also knows that sometimes pets are considered a nuisance or an extra burden many families may not want to deal with while a loved one is dying. Through an agreement recently signed with Hope Hospice, however, Valley Humane has committed its resources to helping animals stay with their owners as long as possible. During a time of stress, a cat or dog is just as important as a member of the family, Stegman said. Valley Humane has agreed to help Hope Hospice further its goal of providing end-of-life care and griefsupport to patients and families in three ways.
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