Monthly Archives: September 2019

Are Women Prepared to Live Long and Prosper?

Are Women Prepared to Live Long and Prosper?

If you are a woman, try to imagine yourself at ninety-something. You’ve outlived your husband or partner, and you’ve been a widow or alone for over twenty years. Except for a period when you might have been raising children, you worked most of your life at a career with a less-than-equitable salary. You are now surviving on a modest Social Security benefit and now must sell your home of forty years to pay for assisted living care because you can no longer manage on your own.   Sound far-fetched? Think again. This was my neighbor’s story, and it could be your…

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An Action Plan for Your Best Future Self

An Action Plan for Your Best Future Self

Part 10 – Your Action Plan for Your Best LifeThis is the last of our article series on preparing for your best life after leaving a fulltime career. In this final article, we’ll work on sharpening your vision for the life you hope to lead in the future.First, if you missed any of our previous articles, you can link to them at the bottom of this article. If you have been following along over the past nine weeks, let’s jump right into our discussion about ways you can sharpen your vision and move forward.Your Vision for the FutureIf you don’t…

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Pet Ownership Can Be Beneficial for Older Adults

Pet Ownership Can Be Beneficial for Older Adults

Referring to a national poll, Livepast100well.com says that more than half of all adults 50 to 80 share their home with a pet. The majority of those polled indicated that their pets helped them keep physically active, reduced stress, and gave them a sense of purpose. Another report suggested that our pets can actually help reduce cardiovascular disease risk, lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol. I’m not sure how that works, but if it helps me justify all the attention I shower on the dog, then I’ll buy it. As an older doting dog parent, I recognize that our four-legged…

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Planning Your Legacy Can Be Meaningful

Planning Your Legacy Can Be Meaningful

Part 9 – Create Your Financial and Personal LegacyWe’ve covered a lot of ground in the last eight weeks. If you have been following along, you should have a pretty good idea of areas in your life that you want to consider so that you can live your best life now and in the future. If you missed any of our topics, you can find links to each week at the bottom of this page.Last week we talked about financial considerations. Financial preparation is very important and takes some serious time to make sure you are taking a realistic look…

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Reducing Ageism through Education and Interaction

Can Ageism—Stereotyping or Discrimination Based on Age—Be Reduced? The World Health Organization has made it clear that ageism—stereotyping or discrimination based on age—is one of the most “normalized” forms of prejudice today. As the global population continues to age, experts in aging expect negative attitudes toward older people will likely increase. The Problem with Ageism The culturally reinforced belief that we automatically become mindless, grumpy, and frail after we reach a certain age is not only inaccurate, it is unhealthy for all of us. When younger people think of older people as incapable, the end result is often the loss…

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Ageism is Common and Costly

The World Health Organization indicates that ageism—or stereotyping and discrimination based on age—is the most socially acceptable form of prejudice on the planet. Because ageism does or will affect all of us, it is important that we recognize it and know how to deal with it.Ageism isn’t a Laughing Matter.I recently spoke to a local civic group about ageism and shared a story that many were quickly able to recognize as stereotyping based on age. My story was about an experience I had when I was in my early forties. I was a graduate research assistant at Portland State University.…

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Financial Readiness for Retirement

Financial Readiness for Retirement

Part 8 - Financial Readiness for RetirementWishful thinking is not a plan! Studies have suggested that the average baby boomer who is nearing or who has retired wishes they had saved more for that major period in life that follows a fulltime career.  A 2018 TransAmerica Retirement Studies Survey found that 30% of retirees found they had not saved enough for retirement. In reality, retirement living can be far more expensive than most people realize. Health care costs alone can average $285,000 per couple during their retirement years. All of us need to consider our financial readiness for retirement.According to…

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Petspeak or Elderspeak: Is There a Difference?

Is there a difference between petspeak and elderspeak? That's what I was thinking about this week. I had just parked my car in a parking lot at Washington Square Shopping Mall near Portland, Oregon. I happened to be with a friend at the time. As my friend and I got out of the car, we noticed a grey-haired woman gently lifting a little poodle from the back of her mini-van. The woman cooed at her dog and used ‘petspeak’ saying something like, “There you go my sweet little precious.” My friend and I looked at each other while trying to…

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Maintaining Good Health Should Be a Top Priority

Maintaining Good Health Should Be a Top Priority

Part 7: Maintaining Good Health Should Be a Top PriorityOur discussion this week will focus on healthy living. As I wrote about in my personal retirement blog a couple of weeks ago, if you lose your health, you really do lose your wealth. Once your health is gone, it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve saved or how many plans you’ve made. We’ve got to make taking care of ourselves one of our most important priorities.Before we get started on this week’s topic, check out the topics we’ve covered so far:Part 1: The Gift of Time – How will You Use…

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Everyone has stories that matter

Each month I put together a newsletter for our Boomer Best U community. I’m working on our 6th issue this week. What I enjoy most about this project is getting to interview people for our feature story. I thought I knew some of the people I’ve interviewed until I actually listened to their stories – or at least to the stories they chose to share. Everyone has a story. I also believe every person's story matters. I Assumed I Knew More Than I Did Our first issue was in April. It featured Susan Rochester. Because Susan is a friend and…

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