Top Retirement Stories of 2022 - What Interested Retirees the Most?

Ending 2022 Learning to Take Care of Ourselves

Every year, Baby-Boomer-Retirement ends with a single post featuring the stories which most interested retirees and senior citizens during the year.  It is always fascinating to see the topics which received thousands of views during the preceding year. Perhaps it is because Baby-Boomers are starting to age, but overwhelmingly the topics of most interest in 2022 were related to dementia and longevity.  

Fortunately, because of my involvement with the MIND program at the nearby University of California in Irvine, I was able to provide my readers with the results of that university's incredible research in several posts I wrote over the past year.  

Other topics which interested my readers were related to how to make your money last, second marriages, how to order your groceries from Amazon Fresh, and dangerous food and drug combinations.  

Below are links to the articles which most interested my readers in 2022. I look forward to writing more posts on these topics, as well as others, in the coming year, and hope my readers will join me in researching the topics which are affecting us all as we age:

The Top Retirement Posts of 2022 in Order of Preference

Cut Your Dementia Risk by 40% in 12 Steps - Some forms of dementia are beyond our control. However, researchers have learned that making some changes to our behavior can substantially reduce our dementia risk.  

Retirement Income: Making Your Money Last a Lifetime - One of the biggest concerns of many senior citizens is how they can feel confident that their money will last as long as they do. While there are no guarantees of future financial security, there are things we can do to protect ourselves from disaster as much as possible.

Baby Boomer Life Expectancy - How Long are You Likely to Live? - On average, how long can you expect to live?  That depends on a number of factors, including which state you live in.  This article gives the longevity statistics for different groups of people in the U.S.   Are you doing better or worse than the average person?

Activities Which Promote Longevity - Add Years to Your Life - We all know that person who has done everything "wrong" and still lived a long life.  However, for the most part, our personal lifestyle is an important contributing factor in how long we are likely to live.  See what you can do to extend your longevity.

Late in Life Second Marriages - Things to Consider If You Remarry - Many people who find themselves widowed or divorced in their 50s, 60s or even older will decide to remarry. However, marriage in our later years is more than a romantic decision. It also has important legal and family considerations.  Learn about the different issues you need to consider before you remarry.

Electrical Brain Stimulation for Memory Improvement in Seniors - tDCS Machines and Our Brain - As part of my volunteering to be a test subject for the MIND program at the University of California in Irvine, I willingly allowed them to test my memory, give me a series of MRIs and stimulate my brain every day for a week using a tDCS machine. Months later, I have still found that it enhanced my memory. Read about the experiment here.

Ordering Groceries from Amazon Fresh Can Help Many Seniors - During the worst of the Covid pandemic, I learned how to order my groceries on Amazon Fresh and have them delivered to my home.  I loved the safety and convenience.  However, it was a bit confusing the first couple of times I did it, so I wrote this post to make it a little easier for my readers.  It is very convenient to know how to use this service, especially if you are recovering from surgery or have other reasons why a trip to the grocery store may be difficult.

Dangerous Food and Drug Combinations - Be Careful! - This post was based on an article in the AARP Magazine.  I was shocked at the large number of food and drug interactions which could affect me.  I didn't know about many of these issues, and I assume many other people are not aware of them, either.  Read this article before you take your next medication!

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Another topic I have mentioned often in the past few months is the importance of learning new skills, staying busy, and having a volunteer or part-time job in your later years.  These are the types of things which will keep your brain functioning well and, if you can earn a little extra money, may also help you financially. I frequently recommend that people continue to work from home, do some tutoring, or start a home business. You don't want to do so much that it stresses you out.  However, you do want to choose something that will help you financially, mentally, and socially, if possible, so you stay involved in the world around you.  

I have personally followed my own advice by starting my own Etsy store, DeborahDianGifts.etsy.com, and frequently advertise some of my products on my blog as well as other places. Learning the technological skills to keep this business going has been great for me mentally.  I hope you will visit my shop when you have a chance.  I now have hundreds of gifts listed there.

 

If you are interested in learning more about retirement, Medicare, Social Security, common medical issues as we age, financial planning, where to retire and more, use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional helpful articles.

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Disclosure: This blog may contain affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase from an Amazon ad, or other type of ad, I'll make a small commission to support this blog, at no extra cost to you.

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Photo credit: Photos by Deborah Dian

Live a Long and Happy Life According to Harvard Research

How can you increase your chances of living a long, happy life?  Many of us wonder if we are living an optimal life.  Are we enjoying the best life possible?  Are we doing everything we can to maximize both our lifespan and our chances of being happy as we age? Fortunately for us, Harvard researchers decided to investigate some of these big life questions.  What did they learn about living a lengthy, fulfilling life?

The Harvard Research Subjects

In order to come up with a an answer to this question, Harvard decided to follow three groups of people.  This was not a brief, one-time research project.  In fact, they followed 800 people for their entire lives ... six to eight decades!  Their research subjects fell into three groups:

*  268 socially advantaged Harvard graduates who had been born around 1920.
*  456 socially disadvantaged inner city men who had been born about 1930.
*  90 middle class, intellectually gifted women born around 1910.

The research was led by George Vaillant and detailed information is contained in the book, "Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development."  You may want to read the book to get the full perspective on everything they learned after doing research for nearly a decade.

Highlights of the Harvard Research on Aging Well

What did George Vaillant learn about what it takes to live a long, happy life?  While everything cannot be detailed in a brief post, the list below will give you a good idea of some of the highlights.

1.  Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol.  (We can probably extrapolate this to include avoiding the use of illegal drugs.)  They discovered that smoking was significantly more common in the "prematurely dead" than in those who were happy and healthy in later life.  They also found that alcohol use harmed not only the health of the subjects, but also their relationships and other aspects of their lives.  Additional lifestyle recommendations they suggested were to maintain a healthy weight and get regular exercise.

2.  Education improves both longevity and happiness ... not only for the Harvard graduates but also for the inner city men who attended college.  Those with more education had better habits and healthier lives.

3.  A happy childhood was surprisingly important.  Feeling loved by their mothers was a better indicator of high income later in life than the social class of their parents.  However, if you did not have a loving, happy childhood, do not despair.  The damage can be undone if, as an adult, you find a loving spouse and have trusted friends.

4.  Good relationships are extremely important if you want to live a long, happy life.  The ability to build strong relationships is sometimes referred to as emotional intelligence. It can make a significance difference in your life.  One important skill is the ability to form new relationships when old ones fade away.

5.  Healthy coping skills were also important. The ability to cope well when dealing with painful thoughts and feelings was another indicator that you are likely to live a long, healthy life.  According to the researchers, "Blaming others, being passive-aggressive, living in denial, acting out and retreating into fantasy were all maladaptive coping mechanisms associated with poor outcomes."  On the other hand, people who were able to cope well dealt with difficult situations by using healthier skills such as "altruism, sublimation, suppression and humor."

6.  Generativity was a term that many of us have never heard of before, but it also appeared to help people age well.  All this means is the ability to "give back."  It can mean serving as a mentor or advisor to younger adults.  It can also mean serving your community and finding ways to help others.

While no one can guarantee that you, as an individual, will live a long, healthy life, those who are able to benefit from the ideas above will greatly increase their odds.  After all, when it comes down to it, isn't that what we are all seeking?

If you are interested in more information about healthy living in retirement, financial planning, where to retire, Social Security, Medicare and more, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional helpful articles.

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Photo credit:   Google images - Dupage Senior Citizen Council