Being 50 is a joy. It’s not that I enjoy the extra weight or the added bags under eyes already carrying suitcases but what I do enjoy is that lack of self-consciousness. I’m slower to anger now than ever before. I have more patience. I find the ridiculous in the things that used to irritate…
Mabel walks around the block in my neighborhood every day. Her garden used to be a tribute to sustainable living and so she stops to chat with the neighbors about gardening if she finds them out in the yard. Mabel’s always been an independent soul with a fierce determination. She once stopped an abusive ex-husband…
Let’s face it, working isn’t just about getting a paycheck so the end of working isn’t just about your retirement savings. Yet it is often what we focus on the most. Retirement is a major transition. One transition is from having a work life to having a lot of off time. One quote goes, “Some people…
Forty-five percent of Americans usually make New Year’s Resolutions and an additional 17 percent occasionally make New Year’s resolutions according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. With so many of us resolving to lose weight, get organized and save more money (the top three resolutions for 2014), you’d expect to find a…
Powers of Attorney (POAs) are essential legal documents but they can be confusing for the layman not least because many people don’t understand that there are two main types of POAs and they function quite different from each other. A healthcare POA allows someone you trust such as a family member or friend to make…
I have a new great-nephew (well kind of new since he’ll turn 1 in January) and new babies come with a list of things that they need to see the doctor for such as vaccinations, weight and measurement checks, complete physicals—the works. But did you know that those same sort of checks occur at age…
Here’s what Social Security changes to look for in 2015. In October, the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security was raised 1.7 percent, adding roughly $22 more each month for the average Social Security beneficiary. With that increase the average monthly retirement benefit for all recipients rose to $1,328. Workers taking retirement benefits…
A very good friend of mine unexpectedly lost her husband two weeks ago. She thought he was going in for minor surgery and he never returned. If you’re like most people, you flinch when you hear that tragedy hit a family around the holidays because while the pain is still there regardless of the day,…
I’m sure you’ve noticed but in case you haven’t, December is a month filled with holiday traditions including the giving of gifts. Hard cash is the preferred gift for those between the ages of 10 and a million years of age but a part of me flinches to think that a week after Christmas, the…
When my grandma was younger than I am right now she shocked me by pulling her teeth out of her mouth. It was the first time I was aware of dentures. Some dentist had convinced her that her teeth were so bad that he needed to pull them. She spent more than half her life,…
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