With or without dementia, old age is accompanied by a decline in memory and cognitive function. That’s been an unassailable fact since the dawn of time. But it might not be fact anymore. A growing body of research demonstrates that while mental decline may not be entirely preventable, it is increasingly possible to substantially stave[...]
Batman’s faced plenty of tough foes in the course of his career, but there’s one nemesis still awaiting Bruce Wayne a few years down the road: long-term care costs. Just ask Norm Breyfogle, a well-known comic book artist most famous for his work with “The Caped Crusader.” The New York Times recently recounted Breyfogle’s struggle[...]
Compared to other places in the country, New Jersey’s estate tax is kind of a killer. In fact, ours is one of only two states still assessing not only an estate tax on the deceased person’s assets but also an inheritance tax on some of the people who benefit from those assets. Meanwhile, most[...]
Life as a caregiver is tough — especially if you aren’t being paid for it. View image | gettyimages.com Studies show that the majority of America’s healthcare providers are gratuitous. That means they are uncompensated volunteers, usually family members, who assume the tremendous burden of elder care on their own. Caring for any senior is[...]
Often clients come into my office asking what is the difference between a revocable and irrevocable trust. It seems simple - one is changeable and one is not, right? Well, not so fast. Let's start with the easy one — Revocable Trust. A revocable trust is precisely what it says it is - a[...]
If it can happen to Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anyone. Elder financial abuse is a real and growing epidemic in the United States, hard as that is to imagine. Unfortunately, we live in a society that too often looks at the elderly as “less than.” Unscrupulous adults who are hard pressed for cash[...]
“Don’t spend your old age pinching pennies!” That’s The Wall Street Journal’s plea to aging Americans for whom retirement is coming into view on the horizon. But for many people, pinching pennies will be their only option. Why? Two reasons: Lack of planning and lack of savings. Retirement, like old age itself, sneaks up on[...]
Few diagnoses are more devastating than Alzheimer’s, both in terms of its health toll and its extraordinary financial imposition on families. Paying for long-term care isn’t easy, especially if you or your parents haven’t already been saving for years. Even well in advance, finding the extra money to set aside for a long-term care fund[...]
Space may be the “final frontier,” but we’re still far away from reaping its whole harvest. Indeed, the distant discoveries of outer space continue to pay major dividends here at home. Take senior healthcare, for example. The Washington Post recently reported on scientist Millie Hughes-Fulford, who is currently conducting remote experiments aboard the International Space[...]
We’ve all heard about people who die of “old age.” In fact, for many, that is our wish — to live long and healthy lives and, when our time eventually comes, to pass away gracefully in the swan song of old age. View image | gettyimages.com But a new (and very funny) article from Medical[...]