The number of singles and couples without children has been rising rapidly, which has retirement coach Sara Gerber urging ‘solo agers’ to start planning for their later years.
And she’s boiled it down to just three key steps:
- Build a community: Strengthening ties with family and existing friends is one thing, but it’s also important to build new relationships. Sara says neighbours, coffee chop buddies and other acquaintances can make all the different when you put in some effort.
- Choose your home carefully: Recent retirees are certainly not short on housing options – it’s about what suits you. Consider downsizing your current place, retirement village living, sharing a place with other ‘solo-agers’ (Golden Girls style!), or even renting a room in your house to a new person.
- Have a plan in place: A vital step for anyone in their retirement. This includes everything from setting a power of attorney and enduring guardianship, consulting an expert about estate planning, and creating a will that reflects your personal wishes.
But ultimately, Sara says, the biggest problem she sees in solo-agers is “denial” of what ageing can bring – but she says that’s just not helpful.
“[Solo-agers] need to be thinking about how to stay safe and happy, satisfied and connected throughout their life . . . Open your eyes, do some planning!”
Discussion2 Comments
It’s good to find something like this. I am 69, alone, renting and watching my bank balance shrink madly. I was married with 3 children when first divorced. Not much financial help, climbed out of that only to slide back down the perilous slope of divorcedom again. Tried desperately to lift my game with work, a business, courses, got my BA at 44, went for a Masters at 63…it fell through so I didn’t follow up with work. Too demoralised. Have suffered mental health problems for almost 40 years and now I’m getting older it’s all getting so much worse. Cost of living makes it hard to find friends, have any fun, or follow my dreams. I am a member of a writers group and love it. I have been involved with an arts group for many years but have felt isolated by predudicial behaviour of certain members. Even my children have been difficult to talk to. My mother is withering away in a nursing home, can’t do anything for herself but yell, and because she has dementia, nobody listens to her. My sisters have issues with each other so we don’t communicate. With all this going on it’s no wonder I want to go to sleep and never wake up. My confidence is so low I don’t know how to keep dragging myself out of the despondency I feel. I need to find a more secure home I can afford, but not one where I may end up in a locked down situation like my poor mum. Better off dead than that. Poor darling. Anyway, I’ve had my wallow… must get going with something interesting to eat. Such a bore! It is nice to have a forum to speak to others…there are likely many out there who have been given the sad side of the coin and with whom I can commiserate and perhaps console.
Im not sure what you mean by moderation. Was it too much? Too boring? No names have been vilified though there are many. I read your policy already. It was just a potted version of how growing old has not been a great journey.