Updated July 2025 Ideally, as workers gain experience in a job, their wages increase and their savings grow. When employers don’t offer pension or retirement benefits, workers can still take advantage of individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Unfortunately, the yearly limit on contributions to an IRA is much smaller than the limit on 401(k) plan contributions. […]
About 6.9 million Americans who are 65 or older are living with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease. About two-thirds of those individuals are women. Almost three-quarters of people with dementia are age 75 or older. The NIH estimates that 13.8 million Americans will suffer from dementia by 2060. Alzheimer’s is the most prevalent cause of […]
Parents make homes safe for children by plugging electrical outlets and cushioning sharp corners. It may seem patronizing to suggest that children should make homes safe for their parents. Aging adults, after all, have learned to avoid the hazardous behaviors that imperil children. Still, older people as a group are more susceptible to certain kinds […]
The long-term implications of the various surges of the covid variant have ushered into the children of aging parents a feeling of vulnerability and a need to look for more real ways to help. Though vaccinations are a first, most effective line of defense against a serious illness such as Covid-19 and its variants, vaccinations […]
Most individuals qualify for Social Security if they are U.S. citizens or green card holders and have earned 40 “work credits” during their working life. The amount of earnings needed to earn a credit varies each year. In 2024, workers receive one credit for each $1,730 they earn. However, workers earn a maximum of four […]
Social Security, pension benefits, and savings can combine to help seniors maintain comfortable lifestyles after retirement. Careful preparation and advice from a financial adviser can produce a plan that addresses post-retirement needs and goals. Still, to twist a popular war adage, it might be said that no retirement plan survives contact with the future. Unexpected […]
Updated: March 2025 Older consumers are frequent targets of scammers. The AARP Fraud Watch Network provides resources to help consumers protect themselves from swindlers. It educates seniors about fraudulent schemes and alerts them to scams that are operating in their communities. It also provides a Scam-Tracking Map to help seniors stay abreast of fraudulent schemes […]
As individuals grow older, they often need to keep track of a growing list of medications. Doctors commonly prescribe drugs to elderly patients to treat hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, high cholesterol, chronic pain, blood clots, depression, sleep disorders, and many other conditions. More than a third of adults who have reached retirement age are […]
Updated April 2025 Deaths in the United States from COVID-19 infections spiked at almost 26,000 per week in early January 2021. Thanks in large part to widespread vaccinations, the death toll decreased to fewer than 1,000 per week in January 2025. People who are age 75 or older continue to be the demographic group with […]
Planning for the future can be exciting. Planning for death can be grim. Yet death lies in every person’s future. Planning for death is part of planning for the future. Like planning for retirement, planning for death should begin at an early age. None of us can predict the day on which our life will […]