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War on Poverty debate: By the numbers, there's little argument in Minnesota
"It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won."
The year is 1964 and President Johnson is talking not about the war in Vietnam, but about an "unconditional war on poverty in America."
Today, that Southeast Asian conflict is long past, but the call to arms to fight poverty continues. Five decades later, critics say the war against poverty has failed, while others argue that government programs such as unemployment insurance and food stamps have helped millions of families get by and staved off higher poverty levels during the Great Recession. Speakers will review and evaluate the War on Poverty at a conference Thursday in St. Paul called a "Minnesota Poverty Call to Action." The event is hosted by Minnesota Community Action Partnership and is open to the public.
Have the lives of the poor in Minnesota improved since LBJ declared war on poverty? And how many still need help?
To help answer those questions, MinnPost asked state demographer Susan Brower to compare poverty numbers from 1960, the closest U.S. Census data collection to LBJ's declaration of war, to Minnesota's most recent statistics from 2010-2012.
"We see how far we've come,'' said Brower after reviewing the data.
No question, there has been significant progress in reducing poverty in Minnesota. Across the state, the poverty rate overall is 11 percent — almost half what it was in 1960 at 21 percent. (The poverty level in the United States is 15 percent, down from 19 percent in 1960.)
Further, the Minnesota stats show poverty in a variety of demographic categories — from age to race to geographic location — is way down from 50 years ago. (The federal government defines poverty according to annual cash income and family size. For a family of four in 2014 the poverty level is $23,850.)
One of the biggest beneficiaries of five decades of government programs has been the 65-and-older group: poverty among older Minnesotans dropped from 39 percent to 8 percent.
Break the numbers down by race and ethnicity and you'll see poverty among all persons of color today is still a startling 28 percent, but down from an unconscionable 43 percent in 1960, though there were many fewer persons of color living in Minnesota in 1960 than today. For whites in Minnesota today, the poverty level is 8 percent; in 1960, it was 21 percent.
Among various racial and ethnic categories, the results are more mixed. Poverty in Minnesota's Asian community has declined, for example, but among non-Hispanic blacks in the state, that number has risen — from 31 percent in 1960 to 39 percent today.
"Part of the increase in poverty we see among African Americans or Blacks can be attributed to compositional changes within that group," Brower explained in an email. "The African American/Black population in Minnesota has grown significantly, especially since 1990. Much of that growth can be attributed to immigrant refugees, many coming from East Africa where opportunities for schooling were few. We now see very high rates of poverty for many newer African-born populations. Over the same time, U.S.-born African Americans in Minnesota have had persistently high rates of poverty over the decades, and this is also a factor in the overall increase in poverty for this group.
"When we look at other racial groups, we see compositional and historical changes that have pushed the poverty rate in the other direction. Among Asian Minnesotans, for example, there has been a large increase in immigration from India. Indian immigrants tend to come to Minnesota already very highly educated, coming to the U.S. specifically to fill high-paying jobs. U.S.-born Asian refugee populations that have now been in Minnesota for generations have also been able to gain some economic foothold, which has slowed the rate of poverty for this group."
Rural poverty
Poverty in Minnesota's rural areas has also declined since the War on Poverty was declared. Some 27 percent of people in greater Minnesota lived in poverty in 1960, and today it's dropped to 12 percent. (The poverty rate for the seven-country metro area has remained steady over the years: 10 percent in 1960 and 11 percent today.)
The dividing line between the well-off and the poor in the Twin Cities metro is largely along racial lines, but advocates for the poor say the dividing line in rural areas is increasingly age.
(Despite her best efforts, Brower said her office could only uncover the 65-and-older poverty rates in rural areas for the 2010-2012 period: Poverty among older Minnesotans in rural parts of the state is at 9 percent, compared to 7 percent of seniors living in the metro. "Our usual sources for historical census data don't contain this breakdown for 1960 at the county level," she said.)
Officials who work with the poor in greater Minnesota see trouble ahead. "People often say the best cure for poverty is a job, but are you going to send Grandpa back to work? We're aging at an accelerated rate,'' said Bob Benes, who heads up the Lakes and Pines Community Action Council. The council serves Pine, Mille Lacs, Aitkin and Kanabec counties, which measure some of the highest poverty rates in the state.
Benes said the spike this winter in the cost of propane gas used for home heating demonstrated just how vulnerable low-income seniors in his area were as they tried to pay regular bills and skyrocketing fuel costs.
"People were coming in to take out loans to fill their propane tanks, or worse, putting it on their credit cards and paying 18 percent [interest]," he said. (Because of the sharp rise, the state expanded its fuel assistance program this winter.)
Benes said older people, still struggling to recover from the Great Recession, are selling off property to survive.
Energy assistance and food support programs, access to health care, public transportation and wider Internet access are all important in the fight against poverty, he said.
Officials report poverty has also settled in the suburbs. In suburban Hennepin County there a rapidly growing need for help, said Scott Zemke, director of program operations for the Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin. One example he pointed to is the rise in applications to the Energy Assistance Program in Hennepin County. At the height of the recession in 2008-2009, that number was 13,000; this year it jumped to 15,000.
Over the past five to 10 years, Zemke has seen suburban homeowners "aging in place'' as they retire but living on much smaller incomes — Social Security and sometimes pensions — because retirement savings were wiped out by the recession.
The recession left others paying home mortgages on salaries 50 percent to 60 percent of they had been before the economic crisis, Zemke said. "The recession has brought on a new wave of poverty,'' he said.
Success stories
Despite continued pockets of high levels of poverty in Minnesota, the War on Poverty can claim many success stories in the state, like that of Liane Heupel, 68, who lives with husband, Ken, on a farm north of Ogilvie.
When we talked, Heupel painted a life story of poor times and good, starting in the 1980s, from trying unsuccessfully to scratch out a living from farming to achieving economic stability, all the while dealing with emotional problems in the family and her poor eyesight. Legally blind, Heupel uses special glasses and reads from a computer screen with enlarged type.
She considers anti-poverty programs a necessary stop-gap to help struggling people. "I've always viewed these things — for the years we didn't have much to live on — as being something temporary, as something that people have access to when times are tough, but hopefully they can get past it and be self-supporting,'' she said.
"We did not get the cash and the food stamps,'' she said, though the Heupel family qualified and took advantage of Head Start programs for their three daughters. They qualified for government fuel assistance and weatherization programs, which were "a real life saver,'' she said, but never sought food assistance.
Heupel eventually found a good job as an employment specialist for Kanabec County, where 13.1 percent of people now live below the federal poverty line.
Heupel, now retired and a board member of the Lakes and Pines Community Action Council, an anti-poverty and assistance agency, added: "We're pretty comfortable now, but it's been a long road.''
And as state demographer Brower said, poverty numbers over the past 50 years — and life stories like Heupel's — show how far Minnesota's come in the war on poverty.
|Total (in households)
|Number below poverty
|Percent below poverty
|Number below poverty
|Percent below poverty
|Race and Hispanic Origin
|White (non-Hispanic)
|Of Color
|American Indian (non-Hispanic)
|Asian (non-Hispanic)
|Black (non-Hispanic)
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|Under age 5
|Aged 5-17
|Aged 18-64
|Aged 65 and older
|Native born
|Foreign born
|Employment status
|Total aged 16-64
|Not in labor force
|Urban vs. rural
|7-county metro area
|Greater MN
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Comments (38)
Before or After Benefits
Are these poverty rates before the variety of welfare payments that are provided? (ie medical, food stamps, housing assistance, heating assistance, welfare checks, etc)
If so, do you have any idea how many individuals are in poverty after their wages and the benefits are added together?
If not, what are the real poverty rates without benefits?
Just curious if we are comparing apples and apples.
This isn't a surprise at all..
Look at education...same thing. 40 years later we spend 120% more per kid but get the same results. If we really cared about the poor we would ask is shoveling cash into large government programs working? Perhaps we should start judging and holding politicians accountable on results not just good intentions.
If we also look at how we help the poor we would see we have an entire big business industry around "helping the poor" even if it doesn't help them it, they have a vested interest in keeping the bureaucracy afloat versus actually getting people out of poverty. The administrative class want people dependent upon government cause otherwise they wouldn't have a job.
If you look at the last three years, we have larger government, more people on assistance, greater wealth redistribution but the number of poor people are growing. Roughly 25 %of the poor in America are working and about 3 %work full time. Government largesse and debauchery can keep people from destitution, but it cannot provide a ladder out of poverty. Only jobs will do this. This is a fact.
So perhaps rather then sending our funds to help the poor to some central capital city with the bureaucrats taking a cut, and then just dumping it in the city; we should utilize local institutions that actually can help people instead of pretending to help. Allow people to keep more of their earnings as opposed to shuttling them off to DC and then as proven we will have prosperity for all. But then again the central planners wouldn't want that. Politicians have done more to keep people in poverty then any other force.
What's your source?
"Roughly 25 %of the poor in America are working and about 3 %work full time. Government largesse and debauchery can keep people from destitution, but it cannot provide a ladder out of poverty." For the most part, this strikes me as horsefeathers, not fact, but I'm willing to be persuaded. What's your source of information for the figures?
Most of those living in poverty, while they certainly pay sales and excise taxes like the rest of us, don't have enough income to pay income taxes, so "allowing people to keep more of their earnings" is a red herring, since they already keep almost all of their earnings – and they're still poor. And by the way, someone who earns $23,850 a year is being paid about $11.46 an hour – 18% more than the newly-passed $9.50 minimum wage. If that family of 4 is going by the usual guidelines, they should spend about $600/month for housing. I can't help but wonder what sort of market-rate housing is available to a family of four for $600/month, and where it will be located.
How About Some Actual Statistics (circa 2011)?
So, John Smith, while your suggestion of @25% working poor is at least accurate for Minnesota, perhaps we should visit the rest of the table, where we define what poverty means in this case (200% of FPG) which meant about $22,000 in income, which Ray properly identifies as much, much too little to really live on. $600 a month rent - yeah, sure! Try a $1000 a month plus for rent - or 70%+ in the worker's take home pay. Check out the percent that were paying over 1/3 of their income for housing on the table.
The public assistance need remains high. Wages are not nearly enough for many people to live on. And they are hardly living above their means. Government assistance is inadequate - does anyone really begrudge single people a maximum of $189 a month in food assistance (SNAP)? That's less than $2300 a year to supplement the needs - and unfortunately be the main source of income for food - for far too many. Frankly, SNAP benefits should have been raised to $250 or more maximum for single households this year, not reduced from $200 to $189 because a temporary waiver expired.
Greater wealth redistribution??
In the last three years? Only if you recognize that all that wealth went to the very rich and corporations. The poor and the middle class have suffered, but the right does not care as the Kock Bros and their ilk can make still more and buy more legislators. What a joke Smith - the right and you don't want to care for the poor or provide medical care or even let the vote, just hope they disappear.
Keep believing that narrative...
Yes it is the evil Koch brothers ...yes it is all their fault. Never mind that 8 out of the 10 richest business families are huge contributors to the Democratic Party. The party of crony capitalism and unfair markets isn't the right.
It isn't the party on the right telling inner city kids you can't control your own education choices and can't have that two hour a day internship at the local co-op.
Ever check who donates to the left...the largest companies...Goldman Sachs...the lefts largest supporter. The comcast merger that is turning into a monopoly play...big friends of the Democratic Party. Wal-mart... Same thing.
Keep pushing the same policies of the last 50 years that have destroyed the inner cities and created generations dependent upon handouts from the government without dignity.
Keep telling the poor that they are victims and have no choice but to have the good people of the left protect them.
But keep telling poor people those lies and make them dependent on handouts and you have yourself a nice voting segment that will keep those career bureaucrat elite in power but keeping the poor, poor so them keep voting.
Not surprising at all that the career politicians would keep using the class warfare rhetoric which has been in use since the French Revolution...cause if you don't make up problems and make things worse your "good intentioned" solutions don't get applied.
Too bad the left doesn't believe in free markets, free minds and free speech but some elite clerical class...that this ex hippie could see a mile away.
The people of the "professional" left think of themselves as progressive but it is the same policy and solutions that have been tried over and over and failed.
Please educate yourself some more if you really want to help people get out of poverty or keep believing and voting this false narrative and keep them poor just so you can have power and be puppets for the super wealthy.
Good points on money in politics
I strongly support getting money out of politics, and it sounds like you're with me on that note. Here's a little updated info, however, as I think a few of your stats were off the mark.
I'm not sure about business "families" but only 3 out of the top ten businesses made majority contributions to Democrats since 2012:
Comcast was one of them though which also makes me very suspicious of this merger which I think is a terrible idea. Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, has made 71% of its donations to the Republican party since 2012.
I really don't know where you heard that Walmart was liberal, definitely not the case:
I'm also curious to know how you feel about the conservative supreme court justices who seem to think that money = speech, because it sounds like you're against that.
What has the right tried?
Zero remarks or suggested programs from the right as to how to lower poverty when in power. Lower taxes don't help the poor nor do minimum wage jobs let them escape poverty. Sending the poor and middle class young people to war (see the totally worthless war in Iraq) is not a solution. Plus let's have some cites to your claims which have already been proved wrong. Or provide some real ideas besides the bs bootstrap argument.
A Different Perspective
Please remember that the poor and middle class benefitted significantly from the Bush tax cuts. I know I enjoyed the $1,000/child tax CREDIT. And I know "working poor" who get more back from the government than they pay in due to the Earned Income Tax CREDIT. I put CREDIT in CAPS because that is not a deduction, that is a CASH that comes right off your tax bill or paid to you from the taxes that others pay.
And now that the Democrats have eliminated the cuts that the well to do had fairly received as part of the original negotiation... The Liberals should be ecstatic. Yet they want more, more, more....
just a thought
Currently the cable companies are looking to become bigger monopolies. They consider it a 'free market' right. Cut out the competition is a legal free market action.
The Carnegies and Morgan's were ruthless in driving out competition during the hay day of the free market Barons. They kept the people poor. Destitution was the name of the game for most Americans. The 'barons' had the money, regulations were non-existent, and soup kitchens were all most had for their 'restaurants', the cities were unsanitary and dangerous because there were no regulations in that free market. You wouldn't want to live in those free market conditions.
Educate yourself on this 'free enterprise' time in our history. These 'Giants of Industry' were not out to help the American People or American labor rise above the conditions they lived in.
The huge positive impact that
The huge positive impact that Medicare has had on American seniors is clear in this report. I had no idea that the poverty level among retirees was so high before Medicare was enacted, or how significant has been the assistance. AARP has done, and continues to do, assessments of how many retirees live, just on the edge of poverty, only because of Social Security and the help of Medicare.
Those of us who follow such things have no doubt about the poverty level in which many of our elderly live, counting all their benefits. They are not getting rich off the taxpayer. I suggest that all doubters take a year off, and try to live on about $12K (gross income). Then tell us about it.
federal poverty level in 1960?
What does that 1960 income level tell us about the comparison with 2014? Did new programs in the intervening years make a substantial difference? How about the federal low income tax credit (and state)? What percent of qualified persons use them?
Let's not pretend that the War on Poverty is the same today as it was when it started over 40 years ago. Funding and programs to help the poor are far more measly and less available then they were from roughly 1965-1970. Funding has been hacked away by the GOPer party for 40 years. With some unfortunate assistance from certain Democrats.
Yes ?
Has the rate of poverty for 1960 in these numbers been adjusted for how poverty is defined today ? The family of 4 earning less then 25000 Are apples being compared to apples ? As was said by Mr S are the perentage for housing etc similar to % of dollars earned ? And whatvabout the need for two income families prevalent by need today ?
Picture Worth 1000 Words
Checkout this map...
It looks like most of the poverty reduction has occurred in rural MN. Maybe the decrease in the size of farm families, kids like me moving into the cities, the great commodity prices of late, the high land values, etc have done more to help the State's poor than any actions the government has taken?
It looks like Ramsey and Hennepin counties have stayed the same or gotten worse.
Still wondering if you have answers to the questions I asked above. Also, Is there a source where we can see more of the State Demographers data. I am interested to see how this changed over time. Thanks John
great commodity prices?
Of late? You don't do your own shopping for commodities much do you.
How does high land prices help the poor?
Rural Poverty
Look at the maps more closely. In 1960 a great deal of MN's poverty was in rural MN. The farmers had low technology, big families, there were many small family farms, processing was far away, storage and transport was expensive, equipment was miniscule by today's standards, etc.
Today in my home area, only 1 in 4 of the farm sites remain. The families are smaller, spouses work off the farm, processing is local, storage is cheap, etc, etc, etc. Therefore farm and rural families are finally earn incomes more equivalent to their wealthy city cousins. Thus rural poverty is way way down. Where as urban poverty is flat or up.
how to
How to divide the farm up. I grew up working on my father's farm and he had 5 children. Like a lot of families in the area did, he sold the farm to one of the larger farms in the area. No squabbling over who got the farm. That eventually reduced the number of farm owners in the area. Larger farms meant fewer farmers. Most of the children moved to the big city. Essentially nearly 3 out of 4 farm families moved the big city. Since the families were larger, more moved than are left. So now one farm has 2 children when back then 4 had 5 children. 15 of those children moved to the city then had children of their own. Rural poverty moved to the city.
Farm Kids in the Big City
Most of the farm raised kids I know who live in the city are doing pretty well. They tend to be pretty grounded and hard working. Maybe all those years of rock picking, barn cleaning, pulling weeds, bailing, equipment operation, maintenance, repair, animal care, etc helped.
Certainly would
Help the super rich to understand the value of work
Most City Folks
I don't think only the super rich need that lesson.
Even my city girl daughters seem motivationally challenged. And we are on them all the time to be doing something....
Rural America is dying as a result. Small town guy here, all the farms around us consolidated under the "agribusiness" model. Now its the only one left, all the other little population centers Ade gone. Perhaps you like planatation style living, but I think most of the folks in rural America might disagree.
Commodity prices and land values?
Yeah, that MUST be it.....I'm sure population density has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Please explain
What do you mean?
Back in the 1990s, PBS ran an American Experience program
called "The War on Poverty." Unfortunately, it seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, unavailable on DVD, even from the original producers, although there may be a few VHS copies floating around.
Two things stood out and are consistent with my memories of the era. One is that when the War on Poverty was announced, the face of poverty as portrayed in the media was white and rural: residents of towns with played-out coal mines in Appalachia, white sharecroppers in Mississippi. Only occasionally did these media portrayals show an African-American family in the inner city.
Once the Republicans were in power, the face of poverty suddenly turned black. When media figures talked about poverty, the illustrations were always of inner city African-Americans. This created the impression that welfare programs benefited black families exclusively.
Another thing the program brought up was that local bigwigs were fine with the War on Poverty as long as it was limited to charitable-type activities, such as nutrition programs or medical care. Once VISTA workers began telling poor people that they had rights--that mining companies had to offer just compensation for any land they used and restore it afterwards, that landlords were required by law to provide certain basic amenities, that employers were required to pay minimum wage and offer safe working conditions, that workers with grievances had the right to organize--the propaganda campaign against the War on Poverty began.
One by one, the War on Poverty programs were dismantled. The only remnants today are Head Start and a Job Corps that is so much a shadow of itself that I was surprised to hear that it existed when one of the street kids I used to work with went into a Job Corps camp to learn one of the building trades. (What is normally called "welfare" dates from the New Deal era, and food stamps were a Nixon program.)
Ronald Reagan was fond of saying "We declared war on poverty, and poverty won."
Like a lot of what Reagan said, that saying was cute but inaccurate.
Poverty didn't win. The U.S. surrendered by dismantling anti-poverty programs, deregulating in ways that allowed the robber barons to flourish, raising "shareholder value" to a holy and sacred and inviolable principle (no matter who else got hurt), lowering taxes on the wealthy while increasing military spending so that there would be "no money" for anything that benefits ordinary people, crippling the unions, allowing every aspect of the country's infrastructure to deteriorate, sending jobs offshore, and making it harder to get an education (a whole lot of federal student aid programs disappeared in the early 1980s). These were largely Republican initiatives, but they were implemented with considerable help from the accursed "moderate" Democrats of the Democratic Leadership Council, who worked with the Republicans to make "liberal" a dirty word.
So arguments about eliminating poverty are silly, since we haven't really tried to eliminate it since 1980.
A Different Perspective
The four anti-poverty measures that Goodman mentions, namely
Finish high school,
Get a job,
Get married, and
Don't have children until you get married.
don't work when the jobs available to a high school graduate tend to be minimum wage, if they can find a job.
My church's meal programs are full of single people who finished high school, are single and childless, and can't find a job that pays a living wage.
Catch 22
Until Americans are willing to:
- pay more for and demand higher "American Content" goods.
- deport illegal aliens who are taking jobs that legal residents could be doing.
- accept investments that pay somewhat lower returns.
I don't see this problem going away. Currently when costs increase in America, consumers just demand more cheap imports...
It is not rational to demand the lowest prices while demanding higher wages...
your mistake
is to think Americans prefer and demand cheap American products that are made overseas. The supply is cheap, and the demand is underfunded. The demand for the expensive products isn't there because it's underfunded.
- Fine substantially any and all companies who knowingly hire illegal aliens so they can avoid paying them even the minimum wage.
It is not rational to demand buying at higher prices while demanding paying lower wages.
Since price is set by the market, not the manufactured cost. Many of the products have similar prices for now. And if consumers are not willing to pay a little more for American goods to support American jobs... Who should?
As for fines, it seems we do charge them.
What is your source regarding military spend increasing?
Well for one thing, Reagan ran on increasing military spending
and he expanded it 43%.
Do you have a source that explains why you believe war on poverty spending has decreased? This source says it keeps increasing.
Not sure how credible it is...
The site seems to be devoted mostly to arguing against
climate change, but they are confusing welfare (survival) programs with poverty alleviation programs (job training, legal aid, work programs).
The former are naturally higher in periods of unemployment. The latter have been cut.
Money is There
The money is being spent. Now how do we convince the politicians to redirect it towards training?
We currently have plenty of trained people who are unemployed,
which wasn't the case in the 1960s.
We need a new WPA to jump-start the economy. We also need a "buy American" preference for government procurement, similar to the veteran's preference for civil service.
If you say that it wasn't the New Deal but World War II that caused recovery from the Depression, you're right, but in economic terms, World War II was the largest government jobs program the nation had ever seen, as most of the able-bodied young men were in the military and many others, along with large numbers of women, were working in support positions or building military hardware, as well as replacing the men who had gone to war. People who had standing in soup lines suddenly had steady incomes, and during a period when there was very little to buy.
Yes, Mr. Appelen, military spending IS government spending and being in the military is as much a government job as is being a forest ranger or working for the IRS.
We could cut the budget of the War Department down to strictly defensive purposes, like a normal country, and divert the money to REAL security: fixing and modernizing our infrastructure, seeking alternatives to petroleum for all purposes, putting more teachers into classrooms so that students receive more individual attention in those important early years, creating more public health clinics to take the pressure off emergency rooms and training more nurse-practitioners and PAs to staff them--the list of needs is endless.
As people had more money to spend, businesses would have more customers. If the corporate world is sitting on piles of cash (conducting a capital strike?) after being absolutely coddled since the Reagan administration and are still shedding employees and making the remaining employees work harder, then that's a failure of the private sector, and governments need to step in.
(Oh, and don't give me that nonsense about "high taxes" and "uncertainty." Business has always been uncertain, and any corporation that is paying high taxes has a lousy accountant.)
Buy American
Government already has a Buy American policy, it is the American consumers who don't. I have an older friend who works at a clothing manufacturer in Madison SD. Almost all of their orders come from the government because of the government's Buy American policy. Other customers are too cost averse.
Also, remember that one of the reasons government spending is increasing so fast is because they do spend most of their dollars here where it more expensive. I remember a story where the Indiana DMV or something tried to outsource their back office operations to India. Lord knows that came to an end fast once the public employee unions and tax payers learned of it.
I am not sure if pulling the military back within the American borders would save or cost America money. For better or worse we are reliant on our trading partners, and a stable peaceful world is really good for business.(ie exports and imports) What would happen if North Korea invaded South Korea? Or Japan? Or China took over Taiwan?
With cash accounts not paying any interest, I don't think many companies have their money sitting in a money fund. My guess they are invested in US and other very secure redeemable bonds. Meaning that they are likely funding our governments debt. I don't think they are Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money vault.
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Monday, January 18, 2016
Some People Don't Need to Plan for the Cost of Long-Term Care
Some people do not need to plan for the cost of long-term care. That may sound like a shocking statement coming from an elder law attorney, but it's true. Our firm holds seminars on many topics, one of which is "Don't Go Broke in a Nursing Home!" (If you'd like to attend one, just call our office at 806-765-8801 for upcoming dates and to reserve a seat in Amarillo, Lubbock or Midland, Texas).
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Scenario #3: You have so much in savings that you can absorb a new cost of $60,000 to $100,000 a year.
This means you will be able to entirely "private pay" or self-fund your long-term care over what could be a very long period of time. There are some people in this position – they can take on a new annual expense of long-term care without breaking a sweat. When deciding if this is you, remember that these numbers are for the current cost of the highest levels of care. At current growth rates, the cost of all types of long-term care will double over the next 20 years.
But if scenario #2 fits you – you've got lots of assets and you can afford to spend a big chunk of them on long-term care, then congratulations, you're probably fine in paying for your future long-term care entirely out of pocket. The bigger issue you may need my help with is making sure the pile of assets you're relying on isn't taken from you, or the loved ones you plan to give your stuff to, by the 4 Ds: debt, divorce, disability, and death. For more about how these can rob you of your assets and what you can do to build a "wall" around them, call my office at 806-765-8801 to get my book, "Don't Go Broke in a Nursing Home," register for my seminar on protecting assets, or call for a free initial consultation.
Scenario #4: You've built up some savings, but you'd like to know what might be available to help you pay for some of the cost of your long-term care, so your savings will last longer.
This, frankly, is where most of the people who hire me find themselves. This is what we do – help people assess what they have, where and how they'd like to get care when that day comes, and figure out how to get help paying for it so that they can protect their assets.
Where do you find yourself? The question to ask yourself is: what are my goals and what do I have to lose?
Wednesday, August 14, 2015
How Can $600 A Month in income be "too much" to the VA?
I actually got this question at a VA seminar I did in Lubbock recently. It happened at the break in the middle, as people got up to stretch their legs or grab another cup of coffee before I dove back into the main rules of eligibility for the VA Pension benefit that is so important to many of our clients in paying for care. It's called the "Non-Service Connected Pension with Aid & Attendance." Why the long name? Well there are two main monthly benefits that Veterans can be eligible for. One is service-connected disability compensation – which requires that the Veteran can prove that they have an illness or injury that was caused by their service. You will hear these Veterans say they've been assessed to have a percentage disability rating like 30% or 40% (can go as high as 100%). Their monthly benefit amount depends on that disability rating.
The other main monthly VA benefit for wartime Veterans is the VA Pension. This benefit does not depend on the Veteran proving any sort of injury or illness during their service at all. It is not a "service-connected" benefit. If you think of VA Pension as a layer cake, base pension is the layer on the bottom, but the "Aid & Attendance" layer can be added on the top to achieve the highest level of benefit.
Surviving spouses of wartime Veterans can be eligible for this benefit too!
So what is to be gained by claiming this benefit? Here are the tax free benefit levels by marital/dependent status:
Surviving Spouse of Veteran $1,149 per month
Single Veteran $1,788 per month
Veteran with Spouse/Dependent $2,120 per month
Nothing to sneeze at right! You can see why this important benefit is the missing piece of the puzzle in paying for care for so many of our clients.
So how do you become eligible? It's not as clear cut as you would hope.
There are 4 prongs of eligibility:
#1 Service Requirement
#2 Need for Care
#3 Asset Limitations
#4 Medical Expenses vs. Income
If you'd like to take part in an in-depth discussion of the rules and really understand the ins and outs of this benefit, call my office and sign up for our Veterans Pension seminar. It's free! Well, it will cost you two hours of your time, but it will be time well-spent for you or someone you love who could be eligible for this new income.
For purposes of today's discussion, I won't go into the details of all the rules. I want to focus on just the last one. Hands down, most of the people I talk to who have tried to apply for this benefit on their own have been denied because of #4 above: Medical Expenses vs. Income. And the denial letter they get won't help them understand why they've been denied. It will simply say they have too much income. This is what happened with the lady I introduced you to at the beginning of this post. Let's call her Wilma.
Wilma lives at home, but needs the help of her daughter on a regular basis to stay there safely. Her daughter attended the seminar with her. Wilma is the surviving spouse of a wartime Veteran and literally has $600 per month in social security income. She applied for VA Pension with Aid & Attendance, and was denied – for having too much income!
The real issue is that she didn't have enough countable medical expense. Under the rules for this program, the claimant must have as much medical expense as they have income to qualify for the maximum benefit amount! This one rule is the reason we see so many people be unsuccessful applying on their own. Or if they are approved, it's for something like $200 a month. Now, $200 a month is better than nothing. But $2,120 per month is a lot better!
As I talked with Wilma and her daughter about her situation and her need for care, I knew that we could help her get the full benefit amount, and that this would give her options for care that she would never otherwise have.
If you or a loved one would like more information about his benefit, call our office today for a free qualification assessment by phone. You have nothing to lose, and a whole lot to gain.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
What Is Elder Law?
What is elder law? This is a question I get all the time, and for good reason. Much of what we do today in our office is informed by a reality that simply wasn't true 30 years ago. That is: we are living longer, and are much more likely to need the care of another person before we die. Some of us will need an increasing amount of this care for a long time. And it's expensive!
So whereas traditional estate planning is about what happens when you die – who gets your stuff, when, and who controls it – elder law is about what happens if you don't die. What happens if you just live a really long time? How do you protect the assets you have so they will last the journey by getting help with your rising care costs?
That is the question we help families answer every day. It's complicated, and each case is a bit of a puzzle. To do the very best for our clients, we look at their situation in a comprehensive way: we start with their existing estate planning documents if they have them, and update them when they no longer work for them. From there we look at their entire asset picture to see how much they have, in what kind of assets and how it's held (titled). Getting this right is crucially important to the strategy we will pursue for our clients, and you wouldn't believe how many people don't really know what they have! But seriously, it's understandable because for many of the families we serve, our client is Mom or Dad, but the person who is helping us get the planning in place in really their daughter. She is the one who is giving us the information on what their savings consists of, and that can be a bit of a scavenger hunt sometimes, especially when Mom or Dad has Alzheimer's!
Whatever the case, we help our clients get an accurate picture of what they have because this is the starting point to finding resources to pay for care. Once we know the asset picture, we then look at the need for care and the cost. Is Mom going to be able to stay at home if she can find some resources to pay for in-home care, or is an independent living or assisted living community a better option for her because she needs people around her for safety and social support? Sometimes we find that the level of care that has been appropriate for some time now isn't. A sudden decline sometimes necessitates memory care in a secure facility so Mom can't wander, or full nursing care in a facility because the care needs are simply too great to be met anywhere else.
We call it the "care journey" and we rely on the family and the client's doctors to help us predict what that journey might look like, because which resources would be the best to pursue to pay for it (VA Pension benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, private sector long-term care options) sometimes depends on what type of care they currently need.
On that point, I want to back up a minute. I just mentioned the care journey, and the smartest thing you can do for yourself and your loved ones is to realize that most of us will have one! According to the U.S. Department of Health's 2010 study, 70% of people over age 65 will require at least some type of long term care services during their lifetime. And for women, the risk is greater – 79%. So you can see that the big question facing all of us at some point in time, either for someone we dearly love, ourselves, or both, will be: how do I pay for this care in a way that doesn't drain all of my savings? How do I make sure that I'm not out of money before I'm out of breath? The earlier you start planning, the better your options.
Helping families protect their savings and pay for the care their loved one needs is the work we do every day at our firm, and we love what we do. If you would like create a plan to have peace of mind in the future on your own care journey, or you have a loved one who needs care right now, give us a call. The consultation is free.
Monday, August 10, 2015
When Your Loved One Needs a Guardianship and How to Avoid It
There is a lot of confusion about what a guardianship is in the State of Texas and when it's needed. In fact, a lot of folks I run into think that because they can get a guardianship over a loved one if they need it is a reason NOT to do proper planning. Bad idea!
In our firm, we usually have several ongoing guardianship cases at a time. We serve our clients well, and the outcome helps solve a difficult situation, but I'm betting there's not one of our clients who, in hind sight, wouldn't avoid having to go down that road if they could go back and do some things differently.
What could they have done differently? They could have urged their loved one to get a good expanded durable financial power of attorney and a medical power of attorney in place while they still had capacity to do so. A person can lose capacity to make their own decisions and sign legal documents for a number of reasons. Sometimes it's because they have a catastrophic injury like a brain injury from a car accident or stroke. But sometimes it's a progressive disease like Alzheimer's or some other dementia. Many people do not understand that their spouse or their kids will not be allowed to simply step in and make financial and medical decisions for them if they lose the capacity to make these decisions on their own.
In some cases, the only recourse the family has in these situations is to seek a guardianship. Guardianship is expensive because the person seeking the guardianship must hire an attorney to represent them before a judge and prove that the proposed "ward" (the person who has lost capacity and can no longer make decisions for themselves) is indeed in need of a guardian. In addition, the court must appoint an attorney to represent the proposed ward, called an ad-litem, to make sure that their rights are protected. So, the loved one seeking the guardianship to take care of Mom or Dad now has to pay for two attorneys!
The headache doesn't stop once the guardianship is in place. Let's say you're the loving daughter who sees that Mom's Alzheimer's has progressed to the point that she is a danger to herself, wandering the neighborhood at night not knowing who she is, and she's been falling for every scam that comes her way – giving money to the Nigerian Lottery con artist who calls her on the phone and says her winnings will arrive tomorrow . . . if she will just pay the $10,000 processing fee by credit card over the phone. Because Mom did not give you the power to act as her agent on a valid power of attorney while she still had the mental capacity to do so, the court is going to require that once you have been named guardian, you must account for how you spend every single penny of Mom's money. It has to! You've forced an arrangement on Mom that has taken her rights away. The judge may have decided you are fit to make all of Mom's medical and financial decisions, but it also has to hold you accountable. This is done by requiring that you track expenditures of Mom's money and report annually to the court where and for what reason the money was spent.
If Mom had just signed a valid durable financial power of attorney and a medical power of attorney while she still could, naming people to act for her, all of this expense and record-keeping could have been avoided.
None of us knows when the unthinkable could happen – a car accident, stroke or other injury that could leave us without the ability to make our own decisions. And progressive degenerative diseases like dementia can cause a person whose abilities have been fairly stable at one level, to experience a sudden drop in capacity. Powers of attorney protect you by making sure the person or people you want making those decisions can step in and take care of your financial and medical needs. There are many different ways these documents can be crafted, and the financial power of attorney needs to have some very specialized language (not the ones on the internet) to allow your agent the maximum latitude to help protect your assets and pay for care, should you have a long (and expensive!) care journey due to illness or injury. But that is a topic for another day.
The best advice I can give you in this area is this: take action today to make sure you and your loved ones don't ever need a guardianship! Plan for peace of mind with good powers of attorney.
Answers For Alzheimer's Workshop – Saturday March 2, 2013
As an Elder Law attorney, at least half of the families who come into my office are living with a loved one who has Alzheimer's. From what I've seen, education is vital to help families understand the disease, and get the legal planning in place to protect the financial resources needed to ensure that loved one's quality of life.
So I want to invite everyone to join me at the Answers For Alzheimer's Workshop, Saturday March 2, 2013. This will be a one-day Workshop on a range of issues important to families dealing with Alzheimer's. The event is being held at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Academic Classroom Building, Room 110. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Lunch is provided.
I'll be speaking on the legal planning that helps pay for Alzheimer's care. Other topics will include: current research, driving, managing difficult behaviors, and stages of the disease.
Come with your questions ready, and take advantage of some great resources for Alzheimer's care assembled in one place. We're all in this together!
By the way, hope you didn't miss this amazing story on some cutting edge Alzheimer's research:
There's nothing more red, white and blue than the annual Texas Tech Red Raider Battalion ROTC ball. Miss Texas made an appearance as the date of Cadet Luke Guffey. And get this – he asked her to accompany him to the event in a video he posted on the internet! The night's featured speaker was Maj. Gen. Walter B. Huffman (Ret.), a former Judge Advocate General, decorated Vietnam veteran and the recipient of the 1995 Texas Tech Distinguished Alumni award.
You can read more about the ROTC Ball here:
If you're a veteran with medical expenses, you may qualify for a Special Pension for Veterans, which could provide you with up to $1,949 per month, even if your disability is not service-connected.
This little-known pension benefit, commonly known as Aid and Attendance (A&A), can provide a monthly income to offset the cost of needed medical care. It's available to veterans and the widowed spouses of veterans who meet the eligibility and income criteria. [Read more…]
Even if you were not injured while on active duty with the military, you may still qualify for certain Veterans benefits. These little-known benefits can provide you with monthly payments to help pay for medical expenses, even if your injury or illness was not received while on active duty.
For veterans, and their surviving spouses, who have medical need that requires at home or nursing home care, whether or not the medical need arises due to an injury or illness received while on active duty, there is a Special Monthly Pension, sometimes called a "Housebound" pension or "Aid and Attendance" benefit. To be eligible for the Aid and Attendance Benefit there are specific requirements for the veteran's time of service (must have at least one day of service during a "time of war" and 90 days of active duty service), medical need (either 65 years of age or older or able to show permanent total disability) and financial need.
The Special Monthly Pension is not just for those veterans who were injured while on active duty. Many veterans and their surviving spouses are now reaching old age, along with some of the debilitating illnesses that occur with old age. If the veteran or his or her surviving spouse can demonstrate financial need, they may qualify for up to $1,949 in monthly benefit.
This is different than Disability Compensation, which is a monthly income benefit for a veteran who was injured or who obtained a disease while on active duty (a service-connected disability). The monthly income paid through Disability Compensation is based on the extent of the injury or disease. To receive the compensation benefit, the veteran's injury must be reviewed and determined as to its level of severity from 0% to 100% in 10% increments. A key point to note is that the Disability Compensation benefit is not reduced by the veteran's income, either earned or unearned, or by the veteran's net worth.
There are a number of benefits available to veterans who served our country, but finding your way through the maze of the Veterans Administration can be a challenge. As with all veterans' benefits, it's important to seek the guidance of someone who knows the ins and outs of the system.
Only employees of the Veterans Administration, an authorized representative of a veteran's service organization such as VFW, or is an attorney accredited with the VA who is also licensed in your state can provide you with advice and guidance about veterans benefits. You may also benefit from the advice of an estate planning or elder law attorney and a CPA, who can help you structure your assets and income to best meet your health and financial well-being. But be aware, not all estate planning attorneys are accredited with the VA, but many attorneys accredited with the VA are also elder care or estate planning attorneys.
Finally, it's important to note that under federal law, no one can charge to assist you with completing VA paperwork. You can search the VA web site for a VA-accredited attorney in your state at:http://www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation/index.asp
If you are in the Lubbock, TX or West Texas area, give us a call and we will be happy to discuss your situation.
An estate plan is often thought of as something that only elderly people or people with a lot of money need. But a basic estate plan is important no matter what your net worth is, and especially important if you are:
- A parent of a minor child
- A homeowner
- A small business owner
- In a committed relationship but not married
- In receipt of an inheritance of property or other assets
Even a basic estate plan will ensure your wishes are adhered to after you die. [Read more…]
Today, I thought I would take some time to give you the top ten mistakes I routinely see people make in Medicaid Planning and Estate Planning. These are for your information, and as always, I encourage you to seek legal advice for your specific situation if you think you may be about to make one of these missteps.
1. Failing to seek competent legal advice and to sign legal documents prepared to fit your family's particular needs. Generic plans can't anticipate your family's individual circumstances. [Read more…]
If you are a Veteran or a Widow of a Veteran, you may be able to obtain tax free income from the VA to help pay for the cost of home health care, assisted living care, and nursing home care. The benefit is referred to as "Improved Pension" or "Non-Service Connected Pension." This simply means that the benefit is not related to a service-connected injury; rather, it is a pension benefit that may be available due to the Veteran's service to our country.In addition to the Pension, a person who is housebound or in need of the assistance of another person with activities of daily living may receive additional pay called Housebound Benefits or Aid and Attendance Benefits, which is a supplement to the Pension. The basic eligibility requirements are detailed below:
I. Basic Eligibility Criteria for Pension, Housebound and Aid and Attendance
All of the following criteria must be met before a veteran or widow(er) of a veteran can receive Improved Pension benefits:
- The veteran must have served at least 90 days of active service with at least one day of service during one of the following VA approved Wartime periods.
WWII – December 7, 1941 thru December 31, 1946
Korean War – June 27, 1950 thru January 31, 1955
Vietnam Era – August 5, 1964 thru May 7, 1975 (if serving anywhere)
Vietnam Era – February 28, 1961 thru May 7, 1975 (if in the Country of Vietnam)
Persian Gulf – August 2, 1990 thru the present
- The veteran must have received a discharge that is anything other than dishonorable.
- If the veteran is alive, he must be over the age of 65 OR rated 100% disabled.
- For a widow(er), they must have been married to the Veteran at their time of death and not have remarried after the death.
II. Improved Base Pension Rates
The claimant must meet all the criteria above (exception: Widowed spouses are not required to be over the age of 65). There is no set limit on how much net worth or income a claimant can have, but net worth cannot be excessive. The decision as to whether a claimant's net worth is excessive depends on the facts of each individual case. The amount of net worth/assets and income a claimant is permitted depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to: the age of the claimant and the amount of un-reimbursed medical expenses incurred by the claimant and the claimant's spouse.
BASE Pension Income Rates for 2012 the Claimant may be eligible for:
- Veteran with no dependents – $1,021/month; $12,256/year
- Veteran with one dependent – $1,337/month; $16,051/year
- Widow(er) with no dependents – $684/month; $8,219/year
- Healthy Veteran with Ill Spouse – $1,337/month; $16,051/year
III. Housebound Benefits
Housebound Benefits are an enhanced special monthly pension benefit paid in addition to basic pension. A claimant may not receive this addition without first establishing eligibility for basic VA pension. Pension benefits with a Housebound supplement are available to a veteran or widow(er) of a veteran who is determined to be disabled and is essentially confined to the home. The two ways to prove entitlement include:
- A single permanent disability rated as 100% disabling under the VA schedule and confined to the dwelling, or
- A 100% disability with another 60% disability, regardless of whether or not the person is confined to the dwelling.
Notwithstanding in the above two methods of proof requiring some sort of disability, a disability rating is not required for people aged 65 or older.
Pension with Housebound Status Income Rates for 2012 the Claimant may be eligible for:
- Housebound veteran with no dependents – $1,248/month; $14,978/year
- Housebound veteran with one dependent – $1,564/month; $18,773/year
- Housebound widow(er) without dependents – $837/month; $10,046/year
IV. Aid & Attendance (A&A)
Aid and Attendance is an enhanced special monthly pension benefit paid in addition to basic pension. A claimant may not receive this addition without first establishing eligibility for basic VA pension. Pension benefits with an Aid & Attendance supplement are available to a veteran or widow(er) of a veteran who meets at least one of the following conditions:
- Claimant is blind; OR
- Claimant is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity; OR
- Claimant is unable to:
- dress/undress or keep self clean and presentable
- unable to attend to the wants of nature OR
- Claimant requires the aid of another person in order to perform his or her activities of daily living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment; OR
- Claimant is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment.
Pension with A&A Status Income Rates for 2012 the Claimant may be eligible for:
- Veteran with no dependents – $1,703/month; $20,447/year
- Veteran with one dependent – $2,019/month; $24,239/year
- Widow(er) with no dependents – $1,094/month; $13,138/year
- Healthy Veteran with Ill Spouse – $1,337/month; $16,051/year
– veteran can get pension only when alive and spouse needs assistance
V. Accreditation by VA
As of June 23, 2008, the VA began REQUIRING that ANYONE who assists a veteran or family member with the preparation, presentation and prosecution of a claim for benefits to be accredited by and through the VA BEFORE they can legally provide assistance. Thus, to protect yourself while going through the VA process, make sure you are using an accredited agent. To check if a person is accredited, you can go to: United States Department of Veterans Affairs Accreditation Search and type in their name for confirmation. (A one-time agent – usually a family member – does not need to be accredited).
There are many estate planning attorneys, CPAs, and even elder care attorneys who can advise you on a lot of issues related to financial and estate planning. But notmany attorneys are accredited with the Veterans Administration, and without that accreditation, they cannot legally provide you with any assistance for veterans benefits.
There are many benefits available to veterans in different circumstances. Benefits are not only for those veterans who received a combat injury, or those who served overseas. All veterans have served this country, regardless of the branch of service, or whether they saw combat, or where they were stationed. And all veterans deserve the full benefits they are entitled to. [Read more…]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Go to the new home of the osu!wiki
Game Modifiers
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|Summary of the page
A game modifier is one of several optional modifications to gameplay the player can select. Some modifiers (mods) lower difficulty in various ways but assign a score penalty by multiplying the final score with a modifier less than 1.00. Other mods increase difficulty to provide a greater challenge and also reward the player with a modifier greater than 1.00 to the final score. Players who use the Hidden and Flashlight mods also gain the possibility to attain Silver S and Silver SS grades. Finally, some mods can alter the gameplay experience without affecting difficulty (such as the Relax mod, which you just move your mouse to the hit objects).
Game modifiers can be accessed by pressing "F1" at song select, or by clicking the "Mods" button near the lower left of the screen.
Note that when multiple mods are applied, the product of the score multipliers is given instead of the sum of them. For example, when Hidden and Flashlight are applied at the same time, they give 1.1872x because (1.06 x 1.12) = 1.1872, rather than (1.06 + 1.12 - 1.00) = 1.18. osu! used to round this number down to the nearest hundredth (0.01), so Hidden and Flashlight together would appear to give a 1.18x multiplier, denying the supposed number round up. Thankfully, a patch corrected this, and now Hidden + Flashlight rounds correctly to 1.19x.
Difficulty Reduction Mods
These mods make the game easier at the cost of decreasing the score obtained.
- Score multiplier: 0.5
- "Reduces overall difficulty - larger circles, more forgiving HP drain, less accuracy required."
This mod is intended to lessen the difficulty of beatmaps, at a cost to your score. It increases circle size while decreasing approach rate (AR), overall difficulty aswell as life drain; each of these by a huge amount. It also allows 3 "lives"; that is, when the HP bar is exhausted, the game pauses and it refills up to two times. This restart will stop the song temporary to fill up the HP bar and rhythm hint is the "ready" (depends on skin used). In addition, replays do not show the restart or restored HP, and so if a replay is watched where the player had to use a "life", it will appear as though the player continues to play at 0 HP.
However, some (if not most) argue that Easy Mode fails to make maps easier to play. They claim that circles become comically large, and AR becomes ridiculously slower. The mod has the potential of making the play area much more cluttered and harder to read, especially on insane or approved beatmaps. These points are elaborated upon in this feature request to improve the mod, by Lybydose.
For Taiko mode, the Easy Mode decreases the slider velocity (which is, the same as reducing AR in osu! mode), overall difficulty and life drain. Note that the amount of hits which are required to finish a spinner is reduced due to the reduction of overall difficulty. Unlike Standard and Catch the Beat, the reduced note score requirement to gain HP in Taiko makes the HP bar fill up much more faster to replace the 2 revival chance as it is impossible to fail in the middle of the song.
In Catch the Beat mode, the effects are the same as in osu! mode - all fruits fall slower (same as reducing AR in osu! mode), the camera is zoomed in (increased circle size in osu! mode) and 3 lives are granted. Despite only using one axis, however, the fruits' larger size and slower falling rate causes them to clump together, creating the same alleged problems as in normal osu!.
No Fail
- Score multiplier: 0.5
- "You can't fail, no matter what."
This mod makes the player incapable of failing when the life bar hits zero and reduces the amount of possible Performance Points by 10%. However, if the player has not scored any points during the map, they will not pass even if No Fail is used. Since this mod allows submitting scores with a very high miss-to-hit ratio, playing many maps with this mod can drastically lower one's accuracy.
In Taiko mode, since the gameplay does not end even if the HP bar is zero and only fails the player if their life is too low at the end of the map, this mod allows the player to pass at the end even if the life bar is lower than the required amount to pass.
In Catch the Beat mode, this mod acts exactly the same as in standard osu!.
Half Time
- Score multiplier: 0.3 (osu!, Taiko, Catch The Beat), 0.5 (osu!mania)
- "Less zoom" ("Zoom" meaning here means how fast the beatmap's BPM is)
Half Time slows down the speed of the song and beatmap for easier play. However, the BPM is not decreased to half the original, as the name suggests, but to 75% the original. This causes an increases in the length of the song by 33%. The method used to slow down may cause the song to sound "muddy" but vocals may sound similar.
In Taiko mode, all remains mostly the same as in standard osu!, including the slowed music. As a result, the density and approaching rate decreases. However, due to the way spinners are calculated in Taiko, this mod makes them to take more hits to clear and, since spinner points are not affected by multiplier, causes them to have a higher total value than without the mod. This leads to the increase in maximum possible score when Half Time is switch on for maps with very low combos and many long spinners, and the effect is more significant when Hard Rock mod is turned on simultaneously (which boost the hit required per spinner as well).
In Catch the Beat mode, the BPM is lowered by the same factor as in other modes. This mod also decreases the player character's speed, so many fruits that are ordinary without any mods are turned into hyperdash fruits in Half Time. In addition, the leniency for hyperdashes is increased, making it much easier to stop underneath the next fruit when doing a hyperdash.
Difficulty Increasing Mods
These mods introduce new elements to make the game harder and rewards the player in terms of an increase in score multiplier.
Hard Rock
- Score multiplier: 1.06 (osu!, Taiko), 1.12 (Catch the Beat), 1.00 (Mania, unranked)
- "Everything just got a bit harder..."
Hard Rock (named after the hardest difficulty of the DS game Elite Beat Agents) decreases hit circle size by 1 tick while increasing the overall difficulty, approach rate, and the HP drain by 2 or 3 ticks of their original value up to a maximum of 10. The difference in AR is often hard to notice except when used on maps with an original AR of 7 or greater, as it will push the AR to the maximum value of 10. Hard Rock can be a very difficult mod (especially on insane maps) as it not only demands higher cursor accuracy, it also requires the ability to read lightning-fast approach circles. Additionally, this mod flips the map on the X axis, so that elements that were at the bottom of the map are now at the top and vice versa.
In Taiko mode, Hard Rock increases slider velocity as well as overall difficulty. This is the most commonly used mod in Taiko due to it being the only difficulty increasing mod that does not require memorization or super-fast hitting on Hard/Insane maps. Note that hit required to finish a spinner is increased due to the increase of overall difficulty. Therefore, the maximum possible score of Taiko difficulties with Hard Rock on is larger than that of Hidden mod. However, this effect is insignificant in most cases because each hit in spinner gives a score of 300, which is even smaller than a typical score difference between a GREAT hit and a GOOD hit (550 points at 100 combo or above).
In Catch the Beat mode, Hard Rock has a multitude of effects. In addition to making the player character and fruits smaller (Circle size decreased) and increasing how fast they fall (AR increase), this mod can cause ordinary fruits to veer slightly to the left or right of where they were placed on the grid, requiring the player to make more chaotic movements and to use hyperdash. As this mod increases difficulty in a huge way compared to the other two modes, it is worth a 1.12x multiplier in Catch the Beat rather than 1.06x.
In osu!mania mode, however, Hard Rock will not affect the note placement. It will only raise the judgement difficulty (OD). For changing the note placement, see "Random" mod under Special. Using this mod on Mania will only allow unranked play.
Sudden Death
- "Miss a note and fail."
Sudden Death causes the player to fail the map if the combo is ever broken, creating an extra large miss figure and a full HP drain. Combos can be broken by missing notes, slider ticks, or failing a spinner, but will not be broken by missing a slider end (but may result in getting 100). This mod can be useful when trying to full combo a map, although many players dislike using it as it denies them a chance to practice the remainder of the map and get better at it faster.
Do note there are rare cases where the combo is broken but if the player managed to preserve at least a sliver of health by getting a slider tick in a very short time-margin right after the combo broke, the player can continue the map and no large miss figure will be imposed.
In Taiko mode, depending on whether you are playing using a mouse or keyboard, you may [1] instantly fail the beatmap [keyboard] or [2] unable to pass the beatmap with no HP gain where all HP is drained [mouse]. The second case seems to only happen when you managed to hit some notes using mouse before missing a note during play.
In Catch the Beat mode, this mod has the exact same effects as in normal osu! mode, minus the large miss figure.
- Click on Sudden Death again to get Perfect mod
- "SS or quit."
If you click the Sudden Death mod again, the Perfect mod will come out. When this mod is activated, any hit that decrease the accuracy will be counted as a miss and the song will restart automatically. While this mod give no score multiplier, it is more unforgiving (100% accuracy or auto reset until you give up) when compared to Sudden Death (as long as the combo did not break).
Double Time
- Score multiplier: 1.12 (osu!, Taiko) , 1.06 (Catch the Beat)
- "Zoooooooooom"
Double Time increases the overall beatmap's speed to 150% of the original, reducing the length of the song by 33%. This might be considered deceptive because the BPM is not actually doubled, despite being called "Double Time". The method used to increase the speed doesn't increase the pitch of the song, but can make it sound "muddy".
Because the song is sped up, the approach rate also increases, which often makes it quite difficult when paired with Hard Rock.
In Taiko mode, the speed is raised and the overall difficulty increased just like in osu! mode. Since the hit leniency is greatly increased on top of Taiko's already strict overall difficulty in addition to making slider ticks a lot harder to hit and reducing the value of spinners, Double Time is usually regarded as the hardest mod in Taiko, and is seldom used.
In Catch the Beat mode, the speed and approach rate are changed the same as in other modes. However, since Catch the Beat has no overall difficulty to increase, this mod does nothing more than a BPM and approach rate multiplier and is thus only worth a 1.06x multiplier. Being the opposite of Half Time, though, Double Time greatly decreases the hyperdash leniency, making fruits requiring hyperdashes nigh impossible to catch in some cases.
- Click on Double Time again to activate Nightcore mod
- "uguuuuuuuu"
If you click the Double Time icon again, it becomes the Nightcore mod which increases the pitch and adds a bumpin' bass beat to the background. The multiplier stays the same, and the beatmap itself is unaffected beyond what Double Time would do because Double Time will automatically be activated in order to use Nightcore mod.
This mod was originated from an April Fool joke.
- Score multiplier: 1.06 (osu!,Taiko,CtB) , 1.00 (osu!mania)
- <osu!, CtB> "Play with no approach circles and fading notes for a slight score advantage."
- <Taiko, osu!mania> "The notes fade out before you hit them!"
Hidden debuted in Ouendan 2, the second Japanese DS game. In osu!, it eliminates the approach circles and causes the hit circles to fade out shortly after appearing, forcing players to more or less memorize the timing and, to a lesser degree, placement. Numbers on sliders and their approach circles vanish, but the sliders themselves do not, so the player only needs to remember the timing and which end to begin sliding from. Turning on "Snaking Sliders" in the options can help with this.
In Taiko mode, the notes fade out about halfway through the screen, requiring that the player remembers their timing and color. However, sliders and spinners still cross the full timeline and do not fade out, except that the spinner has no approach circle to indicate when it times out. On maps with high overall difficulty, Hidden is used by experienced players to increase score instead of Hard Rock, because Hard Rock sometimes makes the timing window much too small.
In Catch the Beat mode, Hidden causes notes to fade out about halfway down the screen. This is the most commonly used mod in Catch the Beat, since the other difficulty increasing mods are very difficult. They either greatly increase approach rate (DT and HR) or require heavy memorization (Flashlight).
In osu!mania mode, Hidden can be used by pressing Fade In mod again. It is an inverse of Fade In where the bottom of the conveyor is blocked instead. Your Judgement bar will be invisible too, but not the keys.
Fade In
- Score multiplier: 1.00 (osu!mania only)
This mod is specially for osu!mania only. It causes notes to fade in as they approach the judgement bar. The speed at which they fade is based on your combo, with higher combos causing the notes to fade in faster and remain invisible for longer.
Clicking Fade In again will turn on Hidden mod.
For a comparison, see pictures below.
- Score multiplier: 1.12 (osu!,Taiko,CtB) , 1.00 (osu!mania)
- "Restricted view area."
Flashlight reduces the visible area of the screen to a small, illuminated section around the cursor. The visible area becomes smaller at 100 combo and again at 200 combo, returning to its original size if the combo is broken.
In Taiko mode, the position of visible area is fixed at the hitting area. The visible area shrinks at the same combo intervals as in standard osu!. Theoretically, Flashlight does not require memorization for every map, as unlike in the other two modes, all notes are guaranteed to be visible at some point in time. However, except on songs with a very low BPM or low combo, human reaction times generally aren't adequate for such a feat. When paired with Hidden, the flashlight size barely matters, as the notes are completely invisible at any combo, requiring the player to memorize the entire map.
In Catch the Beat mode, the flashlight is the same, except that it follows the character. The visible area is greater than in standard osu! or in Taiko, but is still quite a challenge as it disables you entirely from seeing notes on the top or the other side of the screen. When paired with Hidden, fruits are visible momentarily if you are directly under them until you reach 100 combo, at which point they become completely invisible.
In osu!mania mode, vision is restricted to a thin horizontal bar in the center of the screen.
Flashlight nearly ran out of batteries!
- 5 years ago, this mod has been subject to heavy controversy in the past, as its implementation makes it the easiest mod for hackers to cheat on. This mod has been made unranked before during a time of heavy cheater activity, but was restored not long after. \:D/
If you want to know more, refer to these two threads:
Special Mods
The mods listed below can't be used in conjunction with each other, except for Relax and Spun Out. Additionally, Auto can't be used along with Sudden Death/Perfect.
- Score multiplier: 0 (Unranked)
- <osu!> "You don't need to click.
Give your clicking/tapping finger a break from the heat of things.
- <Taiko>"Relax! You will no longer get dizzyfied by ninja-like spinners, demanding drumrolls or unexpected katu's.
- <CtB>"Use the mouse to control the catcher.
A mod in which you don't need to click. Simply hover your cursor over each hit circle and it will be hit with the correct timing automatically. Using this mod also hides the score, combo and misses (except in Taiko) and makes it impossible to fail the map, much like No Fail. Also, your spin per minute value will be doubled, allowing you to spin much faster and obtain a higher score than in regular play.
In Taiko mode, the correct color for the notes is hit regardless of the color of the button pressed, sliders do not stop you from hitting slider ticks if you hit too fast, and spinners can be cleared with any button sequence instead of alternating blue and red.
In Catch the Beat mode, this mod allows the character to be moved freely at any speed with the mouse.
Auto Pilot
- Score multiplier: 0 (Unranked, osu! only)
- "Automatic cursor movement - just follow the rhythm.
A mod in which you only need to click. The game moves the cursor for you, so you can focus on clicking with the correct timing. Using this mod also hides the score, combo and misses, and makes it impossible to fail the map, much like No Fail.
Auto Pilot is not available for use in Taiko or Catch the Beat modes.
Spun Out
- Score multiplier: 0.9 (osu! only)
- "Spinners will be automatically completed"
Spun Out is a mod in which the game does spinners for you, allowing you to relax during spinners, instead of tiring your arm out on them.
Spun Out is not available for use in Taiko or Catch the Beat modes.
- "Watch a perfect automated play through the song"
A mod that allows the player to watch a perfect playthrough of the selected beatmap. This mod functions exactly like a replay, allowing 2x speed to be used and comments on the beatmap to be seen and made. The Auto mod will always get an SS, except in special cases.
In Taiko mode, the Auto mod will attempt a perfect playthrough. It occasionally misses a tick on sliders that do not start on a whole or half beat and will not always be able to complete spinners on maps with a very high overall difficulty.
In Catch the Beat mode, the Auto mod will actually go beyond perfect and use unlimited speed to catch every fruit in a spinner, despite this being literally impossible for a human player.
- Click on Auto again to get Cinema mod
This mod will show background and storyboard only without the gameplay objects. You can use DT/NC/HT, and you can still hear the hitsounds of the respective difficulty selected. User comments and the Results screen are disabled. Background Dim will be set to 0%, Background Video and Storyboard will be turned on when this mod is in effect.
- Score multiplier: 0.66~1.00 (osu!mania only)
This mod will force all beatmap difficulties to use the selected K setting, ignoring the supposed K setting of the beatmap's difficulty at the cost of decreasing Score punishment. Using the 1K, 2K and 3K mod causes your score to be unranked.
Score multiplier only applies within this condition:
This table only affects beatmaps converted from Standard to osu!mania during play.
The mod does not work on osu!mania-specific beatmaps!
- Score multiplier: 0.70 ~ 1.00 (osu!mania only)
- "Double the key amount, double the fun!"
Introduced in 5th of March, 2015 build, this mod will introduce a second playfield with second set of control based on current xK count (7K -> 7K + 7K). For osu!mania specific mode, the xK is split to half (7K -> 4K + 3K). It is entirely possible to increase the key count to 18 Keys (9K [mod] -> 9K + 9K, applied to non-specific difficulties only).
A detailed explanation about the second playfield can be found in the osu!mania page.
Score multiplier only applies within this condition:
This table only affects beatmaps converted from Standard to osu!mania during play with Co-Op mod on.
The Co-Op mod gives NO penalty on osu!mania-specific beatmaps.
- Score multiplier: 1.00 (Unranked, osu!mania only)'
- "Shuffle around the notes!"'
This mod will change the note placement only. It does not affect the timeline note to hit and is not shuffled every time this mod is used. Take caution prior using the mod as certain note pattern will change to be easier/harder to do, as shown on the picture at the right.
Experimental Mods
WARNING: These mods does not appear on "Stable" build. Due to its experimental nature, please proceed at your own risk. Also, the current name is probably a placeholder name. It might change.
Special Mods
Target Practice
- Score multiplier: 1.00 (Unranked, osu! only)
Play a simple and consistent "Target Practice" game. The game will immediately end if you failed to hit the target once.
Inverse Mods
Not all mods can be applied at the same time. Some mods are the inverse of others, and will be deactivated if their inverse mod is selected.
These are a few notable examples:-
- Hard Rock is the inverse of Easy
- Sudden Death/Perfect is the inverse of No Fail, Relax, AutoPilot, and Auto
- Double Time is the inverse of Half Time
Unranked Mods
All of the special mods (except Spun Out) will cause any plays with them activated to be unranked and ineligible for addition to ranked or online stats. However, exporting a replay of one of these scores and loading it up into your game will cause them to appear on your local scoreboard.
In Multi-play, Tag Co-Op and Tag Team VS are under this category because it was not done by the skill of a player but as a whole group of players cooperation. Despite it is an unranked mod, player will still get a increase in total score by their own individual score rather than their group/team score.
Removed Mods
These mods were used some time ago, but are now resting here in peace.
This mod used to enable the player to use 10 keys. (Though, you could still use 5K + COOP to achieve 10 Keys)
Fade Out
This mod was similar to Hidden but was strictly for Mania. When enabled, this mod will place a curtain at the bottom of the stage (or top, if upsidedown stage is enabled), fading the notes out when before they reach the keys. This mod's functionality truly wasn't removed, but rather, it was called "Hidden," using the Hidden mod icon.
No Video
This mod does exactly what you might expect it to do, disable the video, if any. This mod's function was moved to #Visual Settings and the icon is no longer being used.
Visual Settings
How to find Visual Settings
- Visual Settings is below the screen, a few seconds before the beatmap starts. Having it open delays the beatmap from starting until your mouse pointer leaves it.
- You can pause the game to open Visual Settings (Does not work on Multi).
|Background Dim
|Darken the playfield.
|During breaks, the dim is -30% of the rate you set. No special effects at 100% dim. Also darkens Storyboard elements at 100% dim.
|Disable Storyboard
|Remove any elements of storyboarding, if any. Does not affect Kiai Time and Background Video.
|In maps with an epilepsy warning, this is recommended for affected people.
|Ignore Skin
|Don't allow the beatmap's custom skin, if any, to override the player's current skin.
The player's selected skin will be used.
|Requires a retry to take effect.
|Ignore Hitsound
|Don't use the beatmap's custom hitsounds, if any.
The player's selected skin's hitsounds will be used.
|Requires a retry to take effect.
|Disable Video
|Doesn't play the video, if any. This does not remove the storyboard. This is disabled by default, if there isn't a video to play.
|Requires a retry if activated after the song starts.


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