The doctor-patient relationship is sacrosanct – we all realize that. Our physicians generally know more about us, inside and out, than any other human being. When the relationship is healthy, it is characterized by a sound sense of trust and a high degree of mutuality and openness. A patient in a strong relationship with his…
What stresses you out? If you’re like nearly two-thirds of Americans, issues surrounding money are right up there near the top of the list, according to the American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” survey. Money ranked alongside work and politics as the thing that’s creating the most anxiety these days among our fellow citizens. A…
Everyone knows you need a will, yet even in this so-called enlightened age, a surprising number of Americans have never gotten around to preparing one. According to the LegalZoom website, “Approximately 55 percent of American adults do not have a will or other estate plan in place,” a number that has remained fairly constant for…
An unnerving article we just discovered in the New York Times asks a penetrating question: could the rise in rates of depression and suicide be somehow linked to increasing use of common prescription drugs, some of which are also available over the counter? This inquiry was prompted by a just-released report showing that more than…
So you think you know all there is to know about reverse mortgages? So did we, until we took this reverse mortgage quiz that we found in a just-published article from the highly respected financial website Kiplinger. This quiz was written by well-known retirement writer Jamie Hopkins, Professor of Retirement Income Planning at the American…
By now you’ve almost certainly read or heard about the 2018 Social Security trustees’ report (if you want a link to the real thing you’ll find it here on the government’s website). Released last week, the report painted a fairly bleak – but not altogether surprising – picture of the Social Security program that is…
What is the one illness Americans are most afraid of – the one we fear more than cancer, stroke or heart disease? The answer probably does not come as a surprise: it’s Alzheimer’s disease. But this fascinating article we discovered last year on the website of Kaiser Health News provided a much different perspective on…
Here at AgingOptions we’ve spoken and written frequently about the pros and cons of hiring a financial planner. As you know if you’ve heard us discussing this topic, we are generally in favor of people hiring a professional to provide solid, objective financial advice, since the landscape can get very confusing when it comes to…
If you have a loved one currently living in a nursing home, you may want to check to see whether he or she has been prescribed the drug Nuedexta. If so, your loved one may be receiving a drug that is unnecessary and even unsafe, and the prescription that recommended Nuedexta may have been part…
Just about anyone who reads articles about dementia knows that there is mounting evidence of the benefits of exercise. Hardly a week goes by that we at AgingOptions aren’t running across another report that demonstrates how those who work out have better cognitive health than those who remain sedentary. But just how much exercise is…