It’s a noble thing to want to help out when family members are in financial need. But is it the right thing? And is there a way to broach the subject and offer assistance without making the beneficiary – or you – feel awkward or embarrassed? Because this topic affects so many people (more than … Read more
No one likes to think about the day when they are incapacitated due to a sudden illness. Even fewer people like to talk about it. Just try bringing it up with your spouse or your kids. It’s not easy. Let’s say you have a stroke, the kind that takes away your ability to move and … Read more
The list of celebrities whose poor estate planning has created nightmares for their family is long and growing. We’ve read about Casey Casem, Tim Conway, Aretha Franklin, and Prince. Now we need to add the late Bob Ross – the PBS painter who coined the phrase “happy little accidents” and whose personality has created almost … Read more
Most marriage ceremonies include the phrase, “in sickness and in health” – usually just after “for better, for worse.” This recent article on the website Considerable.com has opened our eyes to the fact that, for about 3.7 million men and women who are caregivers for their spouses, both those statements are being put to the … Read more
When you ask mature adults where they want to live out their lives, as AARP did in this 2018 survey, an overwhelming number – 76 percent – give the expected answer: they want to remain in their own home. A similar number say, even if they can’t keep the same house, they want to stay … Read more
We live in one of the most socially connected societies in history, or so the experts tell us. Facebook alone claims an astonishing 1.5 billion users worldwide, and it along with a constantly-growing collection of other sites and apps is supposed to ensure that we’ve always got a “friend” there to talk to or connect … Read more
Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise in the U.S. We’ve shared the statistics before: today about 6 million Americans live with dementia, mostly Alzheimer’s, and by 2050 that number will soar to more than 14 million. The typical narrative describes Alzheimer’s disease using familiar adjectives, such as devastating, tragic, catastrophic. But who would ever describe … Read more
None of us has a crystal ball, so when we look ahead to our retirement years we have to make some educated assumptions about all sorts of things – where our money will come from, how healthy we’ll be, and how much our kids will be involved in our lives, just to name a few. … Read more
Here at AgingOptions, we feel we’ve seen it all when it comes to relationships between aging parents and adult children. In some cases, these relationships are wonderful models of love, respect and support; in other families, plagued by bitterness and old wounds, parents and kids are barely on speaking terms or are openly antagonistic toward … Read more
It’s a dilemma that almost every family faces sooner or later: an aging parent or spouse can no longer live at home and has to move into a care facility. Sometimes the move into long term care is planned, but often – due to a health crisis, accident, or lack of preparation – it catches … Read more
