Author: Harry S. Margolis

  • Can Technology Make Home Care Services More Affordable?

    Can Technology Make Home Care Services More Affordable?

    Neal K. Shah, the founder of CareYaya, a company that links students in the healthcare field with seniors needing assistance, has some strong opinions about elder care in the United States. The word Yaya means ‘grandmother’ in Greek and ‘caregiver’ in Swahili and Thai. As an acronym, it also means ‘You Are Your Advocate.’

    In a recent podcast, Mr. Shah told me about how CareYaya works and how we should transform elder care in the United States. Here are some extracts from our conversation:

    Risking Old Age in America: Why don’t we start [with] what CareYaya is and how you got into this business?

    Neal K. Shah: We are actively working hard to solve the elder care crisis by connecting people with very affordable care, probably the most affordable home-based care in America – approximately $20 an hour as compared to typical agencies charging $35 to $40 an hour.

    We connect everyone digitally through an online platform. Many…call it the “Uber of caregiving.” We have mobilized a workforce of over 50,000 college students across the country to care for the older adult population.

    ROA: I recently had a guest on who runs a home health agency. She would argue that they provide value added in terms of supervision and coverage if someone can’t make it. They also handle all the employer obligations, including FICA stuff and workers’ comp. How does that correspond with what you’re offering?

    Shah: We don’t directly compete with the home care agency industry just because the market is so large. Depending on which stats you look at, home health care is approximately a $500 billion per year market. The Rand Corporation put a study out that it’s one of the biggest markets in the country that…[often] operates in the gray market. So [a large share] of the market books informally.

    Of the $40 an hour that you’re paying [to an agency], something like $5 is going to franchise royalties, something like $5 is going to the local agency’s profit margin. Another $5 is going to extremely manual booking and scheduling and a massive team of people doing work that can be done better with technology. And then another $5 to $8 is going into advertising – a lot of Facebook and Google ads – and to local salespeople schmoozing with doctors and nurses.

    You just have this insanely inefficient infrastructure where more than $20 per hour of what you’re paying is wasted on frivolous stuff. And the person doing 99% of the work is capturing less than half.

    . . .

    ROA: You have commented that the United States is good at healthcare, but not good at “social” care. What do you mean by that?

    Shah: Health care plus social care…spending [is] around…18 to 20% of GDP per year. That’s also true of parts of Europe and parts of Asia. But in that distribution in the US the majority of that money is spent on medical care and a minimal amount on social care. We have great MRIs, PET scans, and all these pharmaceuticals. But [outside of Medicaid] there’s virtually zero spending from a governmental perspective on helping that person stay at home, helping that person stay safe, getting caregivers, that’s all out of pocket.

    So that’s what I mean, that these social services are grossly underfunded.

    . . .

    ROA: And you say that the longevity grift isn’t about living longer, it’s about the wealthy trying to buy their way out of being human. There are a lot of wealthy people investing in in anti-aging stuff. There are some doctors who argue we ought to be researching aging, not specific diseases or one organ at a time. You’re a critic of that approach.

    Shah: Yes. The spoiler: it won’t work for a couple of reasons. One, from a social impact perspective, aging and caring for the currently aging population is a now thing. We can’t wait.

    Second, these science experiments and fantasies of people I think have a low probability of success in my opinion. So there’s an insane overallocation of funding to something that, in my opinion, is frivolous and unlikely to happen.

    Listen to our entire conversation here.

    Topics

    00:00 Why Getting Care Help Is So Frustrating (Caregiver Reality Check)

    00:26 Meet Neal Shah & the Mission Behind CareYaya

    01:01 How CareYaya Works: Healthcare Students, Digital Booking, Lower Cost

    02:19 What Kind of Care They Provide (Home Care vs. Home Health)

    03:29 Why Home Care Is So Expensive: Middlemen, Markups, and Bad Experiences

    06:02 CareYaya’s “Costco Model”: Tech Efficiency, Reliability, and Better Pay

    08:03 Employer Paperwork & the Gray Market: Taxes, Workers’ Comp, and DIY Tradeoffs

    09:56 Neal’s Origin Story: From Hedge Funds to Family Caregiving

    12:48 Funding & Business Model: For-Profit, No Fees (Yet)

    13:54 What Are Impact Funds? Patient Capital for Long-Term Social Change

    16:23 Switching Gears: The U.S. Is Great at Healthcare, Bad at Social Care

    16:45 Why the U.S. Underspends on Social Care (Dementia & Cancer at Home)

    18:02 The Hidden Army of Family Caregivers—and the Trillion-Dollar Burden

    18:36 Boomers Turning 80: The Coming Care Crunch & Workforce Dropout Risk

    19:34 Who Should Pay? Private Sector, Tax Breaks, and Employer Elder-Care Benefits

    21:42 Preventing Hospitalizations: Loneliness, Home Support, and Medicare’s Incentives

    23:17 Medicare Advantage Critique and the Fragmented Payer Problem

    24:21 The “Longevity Grift”: Why Anti-Aging Hype Misses the Real Crisis

    28:37 Policy Advice: Invest in Home-Based Care and Build the Care Workforce

    30:29 Advice for Boomers: Plan Early, Save More, and Rethink HSAs

    33:05 Closing Thoughts and Farewell

    For more from Harry Margolis, check out his Risking Old Age in America blog and podcast.  He also answers consumer estate planning questions at AskHarry.info.  To stay current on the Squared Away blog, join our free email list.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • How To Eat Ramen In Japan – Etiquette And Unspoken Rules You’re Probably Breaking

    How To Eat Ramen In Japan – Etiquette And Unspoken Rules You’re Probably Breaking

    Learn the essential rules for how to eat ramen in Japan, including ramen etiquette, ordering tips, and common customs to know before visiting a Japanese ramen shop.

    The post How To Eat Ramen In Japan – Etiquette And Unspoken Rules You’re Probably Breaking appeared first on Going Awesome Places by William Tang.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • Air Force units earn honors for rescues during US evacuation from Afghanistan

    Air Force units earn honors for rescues during US evacuation from Afghanistan

    This post was originally published on this site.


    Three U.S. Air Force units recently received the Presidential Unit Citation for actions during a 2021 deployment, including efforts during the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

    The 55th and 48th Rescue Squadrons, as well as airmen from the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, all located at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, received the awards April 17 and Jan. 17, respectively, according to a service release.

    The two rescue squadrons and airmen in the maintenance group were included in the Personnel Recovery Task Force, a 176-member joint team specifically formed to carry out the noncombatant evacuation operation in Afghanistan.

    The release stated that the team, which encompassed airmen from 20 different career fields, included pilots, maintainers, intelligence personnel and Special Warfare Airmen who created their own “unconventional recovery network” by initiating their own operations, security and communications in a “rapidly deteriorating deployed environment.”

    The team saved thousands of Americans and at-risk Afghans, according to the release, and established a safe evacuation station for over 12,000 refugees between July 16 and Aug. 31, 2021.

    Every unit in the task force prepared through exercises, such as the Red Flag-Rescue, to learn how to perform outside usual duties, per the release.

    “But during this mission in 2021, our team also led security teams to fortify aircraft and key command and control positions and manned defensive fighting positions along unsecured airfield areas, providing front-line defense that prevented the NATO compound from being overrun,” Air Force 1st Lt. Sebastian Marano, the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s interim director of operations, said in the statement.

    In total, the task force operated through 864 hours of continuous alert over 53 days, assisting the safe evaluation of 124,000 people, according to the release. The force maintained its alert status until the last U.S. aircraft left Afghanistan.

    Another unit said to be crucial to the evacuation was the Combat Search and Rescue forces in the 66th Rescue Squadron, which executed air-to-ground operations, the release says. The 66th officially deactivated before April’s ceremony, so the 55th accepted the award on the unit’s behalf.

    The 58th Rescue Squadron was also included in the task force, but it too was deactivated before the ceremony. The 48th accepted the citation on its behalf.

    By the end of the operation, individual task force members accounted for one Bronze Star with Valor, 18 Bronze Stars and 151 Air Force Commendation Medals with Combat Devices for bravery and resolve under “extreme hazard.”

    “Every couple of years, there’s something that happens that defines the next generation of rescue Airmen,” U.S. Air Force Col. Jose Cabrera, 355th Wing commander, said in the statement.

    “Every generation has their time and I think we’re seeing that today — your defining moment,” Cabrera added. “This will go down in Air Force history as one of the greatest accomplishments of the Air Force rescue community.”

  • 1 Week Tuscany Itinerary In A Beautiful Villa

    1 Week Tuscany Itinerary In A Beautiful Villa

    A full 1 week Tuscany itinerary based out of a countryside villa in Chianti, featuring iconic hilltop towns, unforgettable wine tastings, and slow travel moments across Val d’Orcia. From sunrise photography spots to hands-on cooking classes, this guide covers everything you need to plan the ultimate Tuscany trip.

    The post 1 Week Tuscany Itinerary In A Beautiful Villa appeared first on Going Awesome Places by William Tang.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • Best Hilton Beach Hotels Around North America

    Best Hilton Beach Hotels Around North America

    Looking for the best Hilton beach hotels in North America? This guide highlights top oceanfront Hilton resorts, including luxury stays, all-inclusive options, and beachfront hotels across the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.

    The post Best Hilton Beach Hotels Around North America appeared first on Going Awesome Places by William Tang.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • 11 Incredible Things To Do In Sault Ste. Marie – Outdoor And Indigenous Experiences

    11 Incredible Things To Do In Sault Ste. Marie – Outdoor And Indigenous Experiences

    Sault Ste. Marie is a hotspot for outdoor activities, parks, beaches and history. Discover Indigenous history and experiences, eat incredible food, and explore stunning street art before setting off on awesome hikes.

    The post 11 Incredible Things To Do In Sault Ste. Marie – Outdoor And Indigenous Experiences appeared first on Going Awesome Places by William Tang.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • Could the US military handle a monster invasion? Monarch: Legacy of Monsters begs the question

    Could the US military handle a monster invasion? Monarch: Legacy of Monsters begs the question

    This post was originally published on this site.

    Season 2 of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” wraps on Apple TV+ on May 1, and the show will spend ten episodes doing what Pentagon strategic planners have presumably never done: war-gaming a Kaiju event.

    The series is built around a covert government agency monitoring giant monsters called Titans. It stars father and son Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell as different-era versions of the same Army officer — a soldier’s soldier who spends decades watching the brass refuse to take a threat seriously until it’s too late.

    The story is fiction, obviously. But as anyone who’s sat through a joint readiness exercise knows, the scariest scenario is always the one nobody planned for. So, let’s run the tape.

    The first problem is command authority. Under the current National Response Framework, a catastrophic domestic incident triggers a cascade of federal coordination flowing from local authorities up through FEMA, with the Defense Department stepping in for Defense Support of Civil Authorities. It’s a system built for hurricanes, mass casualty events and CBRN -chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear- incidents.

    A 300-foot amphibious creature leveling a coastal city technically checks the “catastrophic” box. Still, the chain of command for a threat that moves under its own power, does not respond to law enforcement, and cannot be detained pending arraignment is untested at best.

    In a real monster scenario, U.S. Northern Command would likely assume the lead for any domestic Titan event. The command has been quietly expanding its homeland defense footprint, with new component activations as recently as this past January. That’s encouraging, unless the thing you’re defending against walked right out of the ocean and into downtown Los Angeles. At that point, the question of what active-duty troops are actually authorized to do on U.S. soil becomes considerably more urgent.

    The second problem is weapons. The U.S. military’s most powerful non-nuclear conventional munition is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound bunker-buster delivered exclusively by B-2 Spirit bombers. It can punch through roughly 200 feet of reinforced concrete before detonating. According to Scientific American, the weapon saw its first real-world combat use last year against hardened nuclear facilities in Iran.

    The GBU-57 is, by any reasonable measure, an extraordinary piece of engineering. It is also a weapon designed to destroy static targets. A Titan-class threat that can absorb a fuel-air explosion and keep moving rewrites the targeting calculus entirely. Missiles, artillery, carrier air wings: all work against a threat that can be fixed, tracked, and killed inside a standard engagement envelope. A creature that is in the bunker presents a problem that the current inventory was not designed to solve.

    The third problem is the kill chain. Even if you could hurt the brute, authorizing the strike would be a bureaucratic event horizon.

    Nuclear release authority is well-defined. Authority to conduct a sustained kinetic campaign against a living organism the size of a skyscraper in a populated coastal city would involve rules of engagement, collateral damage estimates, environmental review, and at least one congressional staffer asking if the move requires an Authorization for Use of Military Force.

    Pick your favorite bottleneck.

    The “Monarch” universe eventually arrives at the uncomfortable conclusion that the military is not the main effort: Containment is. The joint force is extraordinary at destroying thingsbut it is considerably less adept at managing them.

    The season finale drops May 1 on Apple TV+.

    So is the U.S. military prepared to fight a Kaiju? The answer is a firm “probably not” – but they’re going to try anyway.

  • A 2.5-Week Colombia Itinerary

    A 2.5-Week Colombia Itinerary

    Last Updated on April 20, 2026 by Sarah Wilson My 2.5-Week Colombia Itinerary: Visiting Medellín, Salento, Bogotá, Villa de Leyva & Cartagena Colombia is full of contrasts: buzzing cities, colourful towns, lush coffee landscapes, colonial streets, Caribbean heat, and incredible food.  In 2.5 weeks, I visited Medellín, Salento, Bogotá, Villa de Leyva, and Cartagena. The […]

    The post A 2.5-Week Colombia Itinerary appeared first on LifePart2andBeyond.com.

    This post was originally published on this site.

  • ‘American Solitaire’ puts a veteran’s invisible wounds front and center

    ‘American Solitaire’ puts a veteran’s invisible wounds front and center

    This post was originally published on this site.


    Joshua Close has played a lot of roles. He’s been in FX’s “Fargo,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Netflix’s “Wayward.” But nothing quite prepared him for playing Slinger, the combat veteran at the center of the film “American Solitaire,” which hits select theaters Friday.

    Close drew on his own family to find the character. His cousin served multiple tours in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as a special forces member, and one conversation stuck with him.

    “He said he had to go back on his third tour because he didn’t feel safe at home,” Close told Military Times. “He felt more comfortable being in situations like Kandahar because he knew who the people were around him. He knew how to behave.”

    That kind of detail is exactly what writer-director Aaron Davidman was after. A first-time feature director, Davidman spent years traveling the country talking to people about guns, violence and the cost of military service before writing the script.

    A conversation with a former Army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a decade became the seed of the story.

    “He just impressed me with the real layered, nuanced, complex relationship to service, firearms, healing, reintegration,” Davidman said. “I decided to focus a story on a guy like that. What would it be like to follow a trained warrior and a reintegration through their eyes, through the experience of the veteran?”

    The result is a film that resists the chest-pounding war movie template.

    Slinger comes home from Afghanistan wounded and estranged from his young son, adrift in a country he trained to protect but no longer recognizes himself in. The film examines how, for some veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder and reintegration grief don’t manifest dramatically, but instead quietly erode a person from the inside.

    Co-stars Joanne Kelly and Gilbert Owuor round out the film’s central trio, each character at a different point on the road back. Owuor said the dynamic mirrored something true about group identity and the loneliness that can live inside it.

    “When you look closer and start to examine the different members in the group, you realize that even for them, that can start to break down depending on where you are in the journey,” he said. “And I think that’s a very scary place to find yourself.”

    Kelly drew on her own family, as well, including a cousin who deployed four times to Afghanistan as a nurse. The preparation opened a conversation between them that had never happened before.

    “I think it was one of the things I love about this job, the constant learning about humans, about different lives,” Kelly said.

    Davidman has partnered with impact agency Picture Motion to build post-screening discussions into the release. It’s a deliberate response to the isolation the film depicts, and to a broader cultural moment the filmmakers believe demands a quieter kind of conversation than the one usually surrounding guns and military service.

    “We’re not holding a screening, we’re convening,” he said.

    For Davidman, the most revealing research didn’t come from one-on-one interviews but from watching veterans talk to each other.

    “Watching these brothers and sisters share their stories, and they may not have even served at the same time or in the same branches, but there was a shorthand that was so informative,” he said.

    That earned specificity shows on screen. “American Solitaire” doesn’t reduce its protagonist to a symbol. Slinger is a man trying to figure out who he is once the structure that defined him is gone, a challenge researchers and clinicians have long identified as among the hardest parts of coming home.

    “I hope that people feel there is an accurate portrayal of veterans and of three-dimensional human beings going through real experiences,” Close said, “and that they can relate and feel less alone.”

    “American Solitaire” opens in select theaters Friday and is coming to VOD at a future date. More information at americansolitairefilm.com.

  • Strawberries & Cream Chia Pudding

    Strawberries & Cream Chia Pudding

    Friends, welcome to a land where you can float on strawberry dream clouds all day long. This chia pudding is next-level but still ultra simple (5 ingredients!). Just blend strawberries into your favorite milk, sweeten to taste, add chia seeds, and chilllllll.

    The result is a heavenly, fiber-rich snack or breakfast that tastes just like strawberries and cream but more sophisticated — mmmmmm. Let us show you how it’s done!

    Strawberries & Cream Chia Pudding from Minimalist Baker →

    This post was originally published on this site.