Advocacy

AARP is working with Pollen Midwest, a nonprofit organization that promotes community building, to create the second annual Minnesota 50 Over 50 list. The crowd-sourced list will honor 50 Minnesotans 50 or older who are making a difference in their community.

In the next decade as many as 750,000 Minnesotans will reach retirement age. However, according to a recent AARP Survey, an alarming number of them haven’t saved nearly enough.

By Pamela Schmid

Premium Support Model Could Hurt more than 800,000 Minnesotans

By Pamela Schmid

Family caregivers in Minnesota now have more support. The CARE Act.

There are nearly 600,000 family caregivers in Minnesota who are taking care of an adult relative, spouse or friend. There are even more who are caring for children or grandchildren and most of these unsung heroes are doing so while working, raising families and trying to save for their kids college or their own retirement. And most are doing so without basic workplace protections. In fact, only 13 percent of Minnesota workers have paid family and medical leave through their employers. AARP Minnesota believes it’s time for a common-sense solution that allows Minnesotans to work and care for their families.

By: Kate Makowski

Right now, the Minnesota Public Utility Commission (PUC) is considering a request from Xcel Energy that could raise customer rates by nearly 10% or about $132 a year. If approved, Xcel will have raised rates on their Minnesota customers 6 years in a row. When utility bills go up it hits everyone's pocket book, especially those on fixed incomes or struggling to make ends meet.

Illness can cause an insurmountable amount of debt for couples -- especially when it requires long term care. These families facing debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's can't afford afford to pay for expensive long term care out of pocket but they also can't afford Medical Assistance. To qualify for Medical Assistance, couples are often forced to deplete their assets in order to qualify which means in order to care for one spouse both must enter poverty. For too many the only way to avoid this is divorce. Families should not have to go to such extremes to keep their loved ones safe and protected.