The End

Well, this is it. The final Blog. So...What did I learn in Aging in America?

I learned that there are many facets and opinions related to aging, not just mine. Through the various articles and discussion boards I learned many different opinions, all enlightening.

I learned that while I may want to retire soon, thanks to Dr. Gerson's retirement exercise, my bank account screams for me to keep working.

I learned many stereotypes about aging are simply that, stereotypes. Who would have thought that the aging are less likely to be crime victims than other people in society and that they tend to be users of new technology as long as they understand it? I would have thought it would be the other way around.

I also learned that we need to become a society that values their aged because it certainly doesnt seem to be that way today and as I age, I do not want to be moved to the side, have my opinions and experiences count for nothing and people are too busy for me.

Don't wait to get a will

I spent 20 years in the Navy and during my last three years I had a collateral duty of having to inform families their sailor had died. This was a job I shared with a few other people, so I had to give the bad news only four times. Two of these had unusual circumstances surrounding the will.
The first was a young man who was married but his family didn't know about the marriage. He was in training and his wife had yet to join him. She lived near his family and was friends with them. They saw each other often.
Upon his death, I informed first his wife and immediately afterwards his mother. The first few days their world is understandably upsidedown. As a normalcy returns to their lives we get involved in the life insurance, will, burial, etc. This young man did everything by the book and his will was updated immediately following his justice of the peace marriage. This didn't go over very well with the mother, who only six months earlier had seen her son off when he joined the military. Now, instead of the mother making the funeral/burial decisions, it was now the new wife, herself just barely out of her teens. Additionally, for the wife to receive all the life insurance was just too much for the mother. I understand they quite speaking soon afterwards.
The second interesting case was a man almost finished with a 20 year career who had passed. He had never updated his paperwork and his wife was left out in the cold and his ex-wife received his estate. The last I heard his wife was going to contest the will.
The lesson learned in the second case is to take care of your loved ones when you can. Death often comes unexpectedly and I'm quite certain the deceased didn't want his wife to have to go through all the legal hassles while at the same time she is mourning.

And the Saga Continues...

So now we are about halfway through this class and I don't know if I feel any better about getting older.

Although Social security was enacted to give seniors an income after they retire and Medicare was brought about to give them healthcare in their "golden years" I want to know what's going to be around by the time I retire?!?

I've paid into these two programs all of my working life and if the "experts" are to be believed, by the time I need them, social security is probably not going to be around and Medicare will be so costly I won't even be able to afford it.

So what are my options?? Well, I retired from the military---I intentionally did my 20 years because of the benefits of retirement, the most important of which are my healthcare and pension.

Yes, I will be the first to admit I am fortunate to have access to very good healthcare at a very reasonable price. Which brings up a sore spot for me--many people complain to me because my healthcare is so "cheap." My healthcare may be inexpensive but it is also considered a "payback" to me for serving my country for 20 years with an income most individuals would be hard-pressed to get by on, let alone a family of four.

My pension is nothing to write home about--I certainly can't live on it by itself but it does provide some assurance that at least I can make the house payment every month. AND technically its not a pension--it's "reduced compensation for reduced services." Why? Because I can be recalled to active duty at any moment even though I put my 20 years in and retired. I guess you would say I am "on-call." Permanently.

So I do feel very fortunate to have these two things going for me as I inch closer to those upper age limits. My advice to the younger generation? Plan for your tomorrows while you are living in your today. You won't regret it.

Aging is not all that it's cracked up to be...

I thought I had alot to look forward to in retirement....sleeping in, doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to do it, take off for the mountains or the oceanside....kind of being on permanent vacation.

That was until I read the first four chapters in our book. Now I am a bit depressed about getting older. It appears Western society (ie. the U.S.!) is about the only society that looks down on its elders as past their prime...

I must admit that in my youth, I used to think about how my view of the aged did tend to fit into some of the stereotypes presented in the book (they are all alike, they are isolated, they are all in poor health) until I started getting towards that end of the aging spectrum. Now I think the opposite--they are not all alike, they are only isolated if they want to be and they are all certainly not in poor health. Many are probably more fit than I!

Clearly I need to take measures to make sure I am not living alone in my older years - they apparently are the worst off, with research showing those living alone are the most unhappy, depressed and dissatisfied with life. I need to get my wife to read this and get onboard pronto!

I sure hope the next chapters show the upside of the "golden years." I could use some encouragement.

People Over Age 65

When I was young, I thought people over the age of 40 were old. Over the Hill. Senile. Slowwwww.

Now that I am in my forties, I find people over 65 fascinating. Okay, maybe not ALL of them, but certainly many of them.

I think people over age 65 are part of a "forgotten" generation. They were a generation that served in world wars, were part of a period in US history where technology made some of the greatest advances in all aspects of life like automobiles, appliances and electronics.

People over age 65 don't brag that they are war heroes. They know how to save for a rainy day and remember what it was like to "do without" in the depression. They don't have a problem waiting until they have the money to purchase something as opposed to today's "Buy Now, Pay Later" mentality.

But people don't remember this. All they see are old people--holding them up at the grocery store, bank or in traffic.

At my place of employment recently, a Person Over Age 65 came in to rent a tile cutter. As we talked, we found that we both were in the military. Not only was this guy in the military, he was one of the paratroopers that flew in ahead of the rest of the military on d-day. In his day, he was famous! In fact, I "Googled" him later and he was all over the place! To read what he did for his country was astounding. But the man never said a word. I had to drag the story out of him when he came to return the equipment. I said to him, "Thank you so much for your service" and you could tell he was extremely happy to hear those words.

That made me wonder. How often does anybody say "Thank you" to the older generation? Because without them, we wouldn't be where we are today.