Boomers and Beyond

Book Review: Next Steps: A Practical Guide to Planning for the Best Half of Your Life

I recently read a book that I think is helpful for all of us, either as we begin to plan for the next stage of our own life or are helping our parents, in-laws, or other people deal with issues in their life. It's entitled Next Steps: A Practical Guide to Planning for the Best Half of Your Life--Trusted Advice on How to Secure Your Future and Avoid Costly Mistakes,  written by Jan Warner & Jan Collins. The book is based on their nationally syndicated column "Next Steps."

Bottom line, they provide a comprehensive guide to planning for the future and convey the importance of putting our directions and wishes in writing so there will be "an orderly tansfer of authority" so we know that our partner, children, parents  and even our pets will be cared for. They cover issues such as putting together a team of people that is right for you, ways to prepare the necessary documents that we all need, and a lot of the "what if's" in life such as if you or your partner become chronically ill or incapacitated, focusing on issues such as health care planning, long term care issues, understanding basic medicare and medicaid and patient rights issues in assisted living programs and nursing homes, etc. They also focus on issues of divorce and 2nd or 3rd marriages when we're older, cohabitation and domestic partnerships. The final section in the book focuses on end of life considerations such as funerals, burial issues, organ donation, planning for pets, etc. As they point out, things are different today with longer life expectancies, more two wage earning families, the higher cost of care and the uncertainties of our economy. They write in a reable way and also share websites and resources.

There are all sorts of reasons why many of us avoid discussing these issues, but, given my philosophy of trying to control the parts of life we can control, I think it's important to think ahead and plan for ourselves, our children (if we have them) and our parents, if they're still alive. It's actually a form of "insurance" to protect us and our loved ones--to consciously and intentionally plan for the next stage of life. We all hope that we'll remain healthy into our older age, but none of us have a crystal ball. There's a lot of things to juggle. I'm a believer that we can breathe more easily once we know we've taken the time to prepare for some of the possible contigencies of life. We need to understand the issues and risks and choose professionals who can help us develop a plan that's flexible in maximizing our options.

I found this book helpful and informative. I have already taken care of a number of the items they mentioned, but it helped me think about some issues I hadn't considered. I recommend it and would love to hear your thoughts about the book.  Take care.  Dori 

Impact of the Recent Celebrity Deaths on the Boomers

Over the past few months, with all of the celebrity deaths I found myself reflecting on life and death. When I saw this post on www.encore.org    I decided I wanted to share it with all of. Marc Freedman, author of the books  Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life  and Prime Time: How Baby Boomers will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America, and founder of Civic Ventures, was interviewed by Sarah Kershaw of The New York Times. She had called to ask him what impact all of the celebrity deaths of the past few months had on the psyche of baby boomers. The deaths "from Michael Jackson (50) and Farah Fawcett (62), through Patrick Swayze (56) and Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul, and Mary, 72), to icons of our boomer childhoods like Walter Cronkite (92) and Edward M. Kennedy (77), the last of the Kennedy brothers – where have all the flowers gone?"

His statement was, "To me, at 51, these premature deaths and long lives represent both the compression and expansion of time, the realization that life is finite along with the likelihood that we will live much, much longer. Most of us who are crossing into our 50s today can expect to live well past 80. Time matters more, in a way that we didn’t realize in our 20s, and we have enough time to do something significant, something that matters. We get a second bite at the apple, with a new perspective.

I also feel that the sense of time is a helpful impetus to be conscious and intentional about how we want to live during our second half of life. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts and feelings about it.

Dori Mintzer

Positive, Creative and Successful Aging

I know there are many bogs for the boomer and beyond population. Why another one, you may be asking. I've wanted to have a blog for a while---to create a place to share ideas, discuss books, and
raise questions. I'm a boomer myself and a professional who works with boomers. I created a special interest group (SIG)  for professionals (coaches, therapists, financial planners and other professionals) who are boomers themselves and/or work with boomers and beyond. The SIG meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month since May, 2007. I want this blog to be a parallel with that group---but open to everyone, not just professionals. I love to explore the challenges and issues of positive, creative and successful aging with kindred spirits. I find myself interested in the challenges of this stage of life: issues such as life transitions, parenting, life balance, positive psychology, couples and retirement issues, spirituality, health and wellness, money issues---just to name a few.

I am one of the "leading edge" boomers--having turned 60 in 2006. Although I am now in what is called "The Third Age of Life", I also have "second age" parenting responsibilities since I have a 12 year old son. It's a challenge, to say the least. We boomers are not a "one size fits all" group--some of us are married, some single, some with children at home, some with children in college or off working, some grandparents,some caring for elder parents, some having buried our parents, some working for pay, some volunteering, some "retired" or thinking about this next stage of life. I'd love to hear from all of you and start a dialogue about this challenging time in our lives. Welcome to my blog! Dori