While those of all ages can enjoy traveling, the itinerary should take into account a senior’s physical and cognitive abilities, and other special needs. Those with Alzheimer’s or memory loss – even in the early stages – can become easily disoriented when removed from familiar surroundings and routines. You may want to design a vacation using the senior’s residence as home base. Day outings can provide the adventure. While most US destinations are equipped to manage and accommodate seniors with physical limitations, foreign destinations may not be as accessible. Check with your agent or hotel reservationists to ensure that the

How do we impart to the younger generation an appreciation for experiences of those before? Can we engage children and adults in conversations about the differences and similarities of their lives? This is a typical exchange: (Older Man) “Son when I was your age, we had to …” (Young child) Blank stare. To some extent, we are losing touch with our family heritage. No one wants to inherit the boxes of family pictures and old diaries anymore. Videos, computer games and MTV are today’s orators, so it’s little wonder that our children won’t sit quietly with grandma and grandpa. Is

I recently discovered the true meaning of a treasure hunt. I spent Sunday afternoon in the attic with my grandma, intending to sort through the “stuff” that had accumulated over the past fifty some years — by all accounts, a dreary task. On this day, however, I approached my ascent into the attic as an adventure. I admit my initial excitement was based on the hidden antiques or other tangible goods that might be uncovered and bestowed to me. But, by the time I came back down from the attic, I had discovered a much more elusive treasure — my

People often think that applying for a reverse mortgage is complicated, but it’s really a simple and straightforward process. Here are the five steps you’ll need to follow to take advantage of this financial program for seniors: Becoming informed: Learning about reverse mortgage options until one is comfortably ready to take advantage of such a loan can take time for some, or merely days for others. There are websites, articles, books, and financial professionals that will help build your knowledge. HUD and AARP have excellent websites and publish useful booklets. Friends and family often hold diverse opinions you may wish

Congratulations! You’re thinking about moving and you’re gathering information. Do you know that very few seniors take the time to adequately plan a move? Planning increases the chances of staying in control of your future. You are to be commended! Now that you’re here, let’s briefly discuss the steps involved in developing a move plan. Determine where you would like to live While this doesn’t always have to be the first step, if you plan on moving in a year or two, I recommend you start here. You’ll want to know the timeline of availability of the housing you are

Mistake #1 — Placing the Wrong Price on Your Property Every seller obviously wants to get the most money for his or her house. The best way to get this most money is to price your home correctly the first day it’s on the market. If it’s priced too high, you’ll lose showings, your house will linger on the market, and you’ll end up selling your house at a lower price. Mistake #2 — Mistaking Appraisals for the Market Value Unfortunately, an appraisal may have been stated at an untruthfully high price. Appraisers work for the bank, or lender. If

Seniors are well advised about identity theft and many of them have personal shredders. Those small home office machines are notorious for jamming, and are frustrating and worthless for handling any significant volume of shredding. They are designed to handle a single, occasional sheet for shredding and are not helpful in clearing a house of a serious backlog of documents. We really like  a company that does crosscut shredding and charges by the pound. Their machines handle bound items (checkbook blanks); rubber bands; paper clips and staples; and spiral bound notebooks. About the only paper related items it won’t shred

Movers charge by the hour. A variety of boxes of different shapes and sizes will slow down loading the truck. What you save in boxes you will probably lose in movers’ costs because your assorted boxes will slow down your movers. You want boxes that are stackable, and uniform in size and appropriate to the items you are packing. You will need large boxes for blankets, pillows, linens, and large items. Books and heavy items need to be in smaller boxes. Boxes that are too small will increase the number of boxes the movers have to handle, and will add

There may be a nugget of wisdom here that helps you or someone you love make the leap into downsizing into senior housing. Moving is the least painful when the person moving sees a benefit to moving: focus on the gain, not on the loss. Moving is a huge change: Adaptation to change is in direct proportion to the feeling of control that the person has over the change. Most people want familiarity in the new place: it needs to look and feel like the home they left. Everybody thinks they have a lot of stuff……except the people who really