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 […]
In most states, older Americans have been given priority in obtaining a vaccination against COVID-19. Because they were prioritized, most seniors have been partially or fully vaccinated. By early April, 75% of U.S. seniors had taken at least one dose of the vaccine. By May 17, the CDC vaccination tracker showed that almost 85% of […]
Updated April 2025 The FBI reports that scammers often target older Americans because seniors “tend to be trusting and polite,” have good credit, and have accumulated savings. Swindlers also count on seniors to resist reporting a scam because seniors may worry that relatives will view them as incapable of managing their finances if they admit […]
Two economic stimulus checks were sent to most Americans in 2020. The first was for $1,200 and the second for $600, although those amounts varied depending on income and the number of dependents claimed on tax forms. Individuals or families with high incomes may not receive a payment. Most Americans should receive a third payment […]
Updated: March 2025 By end of 2024, the COVID-19 pandemic caused more than 1.2 million deaths. The death rate was higher for groups of people who had certain underlying health conditions. Older Americans disproportionately fell into the category of individuals who were most vulnerable to the deadly consequences of an infection. The death rate has fallen, but […]
Updated July 2025 The pandemic exposed multiple flaws in the nation’s healthcare system. Some of those flaws were apparent even before the pandemic began. A nationwide shortage of direct care workers contributed to the impact that the pandemic had on aging Americans. Direct care workers include home care workers, personal care attendants, and home health […]
Updated June 2025 Aging Americans have a wide variety of living options. The right choice is usually determined by a combination of need and affordability. Maximizing independence is the goal of most seniors. Whether that means staying in a family home, downsizing, or moving to a retirement community is a decision that healthy seniors will […]
Updated June 2025 Many of the nation’s nursing homes deliver quality care to people who desperately need it. Still, some deliver care more capably than others. How do consumers evaluate the promises that nursing homes make to provide excellent care to their loved ones? With the best of intentions, the federal government instituted a rating […]
Updated June 2025 In January 2021, a committee of the House of Lords published a report about the state of healthy aging in the United Kingdom. Notwithstanding the report’s focus on the UK, an editorial in Great Britain’s leading medical journal, The Lancet, notes that the impediments to health aging identified in the report pose […]
Updated June 2025 While we often hear people say, “Age is just a number” or “You are only as old as you feel,” it is just as common to hear disparaging remarks about older people. The notion that seniors are “over the hill” doesn’t reflect the reality of post-retirement living. The age at which one […]