Mary Tritsch

AARP Kansas is pleased to once again to be part of the Financial Freedom Expo, set for Saturday, April 16, in Wichita. The Expo will provide participants with a wide variety of information and resources to promote financial literacy. This free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Urban Preparatory Academy located at 2821 E. 24th Street.

Every 2 seconds, someone’s identity gets stolen. That’s why AARP launched the Fraud Watch Network – to arm people of all ages with the tools they need to spot and avoid scams.

AARP Kansas is now in a new location in Topeka. In October 2015, the office was relocated to space on the southwest side of the city. The new address is 6220 SW 29 th Street, Suite 300, Topeka, Kansas 66614. The building is shared with the Community Blood Bank.

Stealing your ID, Stealing your Life: Using small bits of information found in your car, or your mailbox, con artists can steal your identity and your life.

AARP volunteers and staff from Kansas and Missouri attend a presidential campaign rally in Kansas City, Missouri in February 2016

Trained volunteers are available throughout Kansas from now until April 15 to help taxpayers prepare their tax returns. AARP Foundation is again providing free tax assistance and preparation for taxpayers with low to moderate income through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, in its 48th year, is the nation’s largest free tax assistance and preparation service, giving special attention the older population. You do not need to be a member of AARP or a retiree to use this service.

The following is testimony provided to the Kansas House and Human Services Committee on February 3, 2016 by AARP Kansas Director Maren Turner.

AARP Kansas volunteers and staff fanned out across the Statehouse in the first week of the legislative session delivering messages, attached to cookies, about the Kansas CARE Act that AARP is hoping to get passed into law this session. The sweet treat delivery was part of AARP’s 3 rd annual “Cookie Day at the Capitol,” to call attention to issues important to Kansans as they age.

On Wednesday, February 3, 2016, the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 2058, the CARE Act. The CARE Act, introduced at the request of AARP Kansas to support the state's more than 345,000 caregivers, will assist caregivers when the person for whom they are providing care is released from the hospital. The CARE Act allows hospital patients to designate a caregiver whose name is recorded in hospital records. If a caregiver is designated, the hospital must notify the caregiver when the patient is to be discharged and must give instructions on how to care for the patient.

Now that 2015 has come to a close, tax season is just around the corner and with it comes our nation’s largest scam: IRS fraud. IRS scams are the most common con and pose a continued threat to the American taxpayer. Using threats and intimidation, phony IRS agents have stolen millions of dollars out of the pockets of hard working Americans. Each year we see more sophisticated tools and technology being used to generate doubt and panic in even the most logical and educated taxpayer.