Winter 2020

Our neighbors across the street are a retired couple in their mid-70s, with a large, beautiful yard.    While working at home, I keep an eye on these neighbors, and this fall I have witnessed their ongoing battle with leaf control on their lawn. Not only have they cleared the leaves several times, they also hired a local company to help with the endeavor as well.  You might be thinking I’m a nosey neighbor, and you’d be right, but what I learned was even more relevant.

A few days later I ran into this same neighbor, while on a walk. Well, really, I was walking past her property and we started chatting.  The conversation turned to their considerations about downsizing.  Yikes!  These are great neighbors; we don’t want them to move. She mentioned that they love their home, but the yard was just becoming so much for them to handle. It wasn’t that they couldn’t do it, but they just didn’t really want to spend all that time mowing grass, raking, blowing leaves, and well….you know the drill.  I agree!

It sounded like so many conversations that Cliff and I have with you.  Where and how do you want to live out your life? In retirement, there are what we call the ‘go-go years’ and the ‘slow-go years’.  While we didn’t coin these phrases, they perfectly identify the first 10-15 years in retirement when people do all of those things they’ve thought about doing when they retire and then the transition into the years when people may not be as active as they once were.  During the ‘slow-go’ years is when we start to examine, “Who will change your lightbulbs?” or “How will you get an ice cream cone?” and perhaps even, “Who will you have lunch with?”  These are questions posed by the MIT Age-lab to address your needs for aging. The MIT Age-lab is a research program through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that works with businesses and other entities to improve the quality of life of older people and those who care for them.  Each of these questions help us to identify how you can reach the goals during your ‘slow-go’ years.  For example, do you want to age in place, or is your preference to move into a senior living community? 

Who will change your lightbulbs?  If you are choosing to age-in-place, how will you get done all the things that you can no longer do?  Changing lightbulbs is an example of a task you have always done but may no longer be able or willing to do, just like my neighbors taking care of their large yard.

How will you get an ice cream cone?  This is probably the most important question we should be asking ourselves.  Ice cream is important!  What it’s really asking, though, is how will you keep your independence?  No one wants to be a burden and we all want to continue to do what we want, when we want.  It is nice to see new technologies that can help maintain this independence such as Uber, Lyft and grocery delivery services such as Shipt and Instacart.  Have you tried these?

Finally, who will I have lunch with?  Are you now living alone or have many of your friends moved away or passed away?  Socialization is an important part of life and aging.  A research study found that cognitive abilities declined 70% more slowly in individuals who had frequent social connections compared to those who had little social contact with others.  What is on your social calendar?

If your stage of life is prompting these questions or you are helping a loved-one figure out what is next, we can help. We have the experience and resources for you to weigh your choices and decide what is best for you in terms of costs, options and preferences. Our job is more than just managing your money, we also help you plan for the present and for the future.