Raw, Unpasteurized, And Ready to Roll



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How Elder Living is Evolving Part 1

Older people aren’t milk or horses, but we tend to treat them that way: “pasteurizing” elders by removing their essence as they grow old, putting them “out to pasture” like horses, sheep, and other farm animals.

But today, more than ever before, elders are raw, “unpasteurized,” and ready to roll (and rock ‘n’ roll!).

Aging Alchemy

What’s the key to staying unpasteurized and active in “the field”, rather than the pasture? Where we choose to place our focus, says preventive medicine physician Roger Landry.

The author of Live Long, Die Short says there is an alchemy of aging, where we can spin our “human capital” into societal gold. Seniors are the only growing global natural resource, agrees Mark Freedman of Encore.org, and we cannot waste them — personally, and as a society.

By 2050, an estimated one in five Americans will be over 65. A landmark ten-year study by the MacArthur Foundation revealed that 70 percent of physical aging and approximately 50 percent of mental aging is determined by the lifestyle choices we make every day — which allows a huge margin for change. Yet too many of us (except, of course, for HECM professionals) focus on anti-aging rather than positive aging, says geriatrician Bill Thomas.

Elderhood Rising: The Dawn of a New World Age

An author, entrepreneur, musician, teacher, farmer and physician whose wide-ranging work explores the terrain of human aging, Thomas founded The Green House®, a new standard in long-term care that reinvents the nursing home. Thomas has been traveling the country with his “Age of Disruption Tour,” a nonfiction theater performance where people engage with the stage to shift perception about age! This TED talk is a taste of his work: embracing elderhood as a stage beyond adulthood, rather than becoming “developmentally disabled” about growing older.

Like Thomas, Dr. Jonathan Collie is committed to changing the narrative of aging, from one of dependence and decline to exploration and optimism. A passionate social entrepreneur, Collie created The Age of No Retirement and just launched In Common, an intergenerational research and storytelling exchange platform. “Sharing experiences and ideas is the only way we can innovate together and bridge understanding,” he says.

Yeager-ing Through Life

Landry understands this philosophy well.

An Air Force flight surgeon for more than 22 years, he met world-famous test pilot Chuck Yeager when he (Landry) was just 30 years old. Yeager gave Landry a profound lesson in aging paradigms by declaring he would break the sound barrier on the 50th anniversary of when he did it the first time — at age 73.

Landry says, “Most of us should be “Yeager-ing through life,” which anyone considering a reverse mortgage can take to heart as they contemplate the years to come. This human capital needs to be recognized, appreciated and used, Landry, Collie, and Thomas agree — not by pasteurizing older adults, but through encouraging elders to continue to contribute and grow , physically, mentally, and spiritually.

masterpiece
Masterpiece for Successful Living

Toward this end, Landry leads Masterpiece Living (MPL), which partners with more than 80 organizations to maximize senior potential. MPL combines a cultural approach with measurable outcomes for successful aging, based on the belief that more is possible as we age.

MPL introduced the groundbreaking Center for Successful Aging Certification (CSA) in order to distinguish the best successful aging destinations in the country. Currently, sixteen locations hold the designation, which Landry describes as “a fundamental change in how we look at living in later life.” Each Center for Successful Aging acknowledges, facilitates, and measures what happens in its community, so it becomes a resource for policy change and outreach for those who are aging in place.

Euphoria is Just Around the Corner 

Perhaps the best indication of how deeply a complete cultural reorientation is needed comes from elder response to Gen X and Millennial innovation, such as Starts at 60, Australia and New Zealand’s largest digital media platform for those 60 plus. Known for “driving voracious social conversations between ‘over sixties’ online seven days a week, 365 days a year,” it’s exceeded even founder Rebecca Wilson’s wildest expectations.

That’s not surprising, considering how Wilson perceives elderhood. Bill Thomas would adore her. This Boomer daughter delineates the Three Stages of Retirement as:

  • Pre-Euphoria: Planning for retirement. Peer-to-peer conversations crucial in every stage.
  • Euphoria: Being in retirement — no kids, no job, freedom! Time to enjoy health and wealth, travel. (Her 70-year-old dad is learning to waterski.)
  • Post-Euphoria: Start to put down roots again. Get involved in local community.

If most Millennials and those who follow are as aging-enlightened as Wilson, we can look forward to a sea change in elder service consciousness!

Andragogy: Lifelong Learning Around the Globe



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In medicine, the motto is: see one, do one, teach one. A little scary if you’re about to be a surgeon’s first patient — but a positive life philosophy when applied to active aging.

In France, this concept has taken shape as “Les Talents d’Alphonse”: Connecting Talent with Curious People. Thibault Bastin and Barthelemy Gas, two young French engineers, pivoted from building roads to building bridges, creating a platform for intergenerational talent exchange. And it’s not unidirectional: both elders and young people benefit from this creative lifelong learning solution to senior loneliness and isolation.

reverse mortgage newsAndragogy in Action

Les Talents d’Alphonse emerged as Bastin and Gas traveled in Mexico, the Congo and the Philippines for their engineering internship. As they worked, they grew fascinated by the intergenerational links they observed — and the respect accorded elder wisdom. Spending time in these developing countries helped them recognize gaps in modern society for older adults to teach others tangible skills. There was no such link between retirees and the working population in France, so they decided to create one. The mechanics of old motorcycles, cars and bicycles; sewing and knitting, creation of design and industrial furniture, DIY, restoration of antiques, photography… the possibilities seemed limitless.

Was it a viable idea? Just one year in, Bastin and Gas have hundreds of “Alphonse”: seniors who want to meet new people and transmit their knowledge. Younger folks are similarly intrigued. It’s a two-way street. They’ve changed the model. And the seniors themselves are the best ambassadors for the program, posting flyers and encouraging other elders to participate. Bastin and Gas have since spoken at TEDx/Paris about seniors as an indispensible societal resource, and launched a crowdfunding campaign to expand Les Talents d’Alphonse and bring the concept to other countries.

Imagine how it might play in the States. Perhaps one of your reverse mortgage clients or prospects — or a group of them — would be interested in creating the American version.

Active Aging: the Millennial Meme 

From Reykjavik to Paris, China to Slovenia, active aging is the name of the game in the third millennium.

Professor Teresa Tsien, with the Institute of Active Ageing (IAA) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, specializes in aging studies and research, career support, lifelong learning and active aging. Active Aging is especially relevant in Hong Kong, which ranks first in global life expectancy at birth for both men and women: 81 years for men, 87 for women.

Sometimes, participation is not so much a function of available opportunities as perception, observes Tsien. Men, who are often reluctant to participate at senior centers, are willing to attend an IAA sponsored University “club” because it’s a different setting, and they can engage in education, volunteering, and job retraining and matching, she explains. They find these roles — especially that of research interviewer — highly meaningful. She says proudly, “There is a waiting list for seniors who want to do this job.”

Ana Krajnc, Professor of Andragogy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, has taught at leading universities worldwide. A tireless researcher in andragogy who writes prolifically on the subject, she spreads the motto, “everyone teach one.” This appears to be the key to elder engagement as we step forward into a more inclusive future not segmented by our personal chronology.

The further step: changing the story about aging. We’ll explore this topic in-depth over the next two weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for Raw, Unpasteurized, And Ready to Roll!

Planning -Or Procrastinating?



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Recently, a HECM client contacted ReverseFocus.com with a crucial question: is his new wife covered under HUD’s Non-Borrowing Spouse (NBS) provision if he passes away first? He’d saved this blog post that touched on the topic, explaining he hadn’t called sooner because he was trying to find someone local who could answer the inquiry knowledgeably. Finally, at wit’s end, he got in touch with Reverse Focus.

This scenario points up the importance of planning ahead.

Procrastinate at your own risk

Procrastination is rampant within families when it comes to planning for long-term care and the distribution of assets at death, says elder law attorney Bill Fralin, principal of ChronicCareAdvocacy.com, a customized program that combines legal representation, asset protection, care coordination, and advocacy for seniors. In addition to feeling overwhelming, this kind of planning is emotionally difficult. But failing to plan can take a far greater toll, something the HECM holder described above recognized and wanted to rectify while there was time.

From planning for long-term care to estate planning to planning for business and life transition, it’s important to face the future without fear — or rather, as the popular expression goes, to feel the fear and do it anyway. With groundbreaking books such as Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? and Death Cafes, where people gather to discuss the inevitable over dinner, we’ve entered a time when acknowledging our mortality is more acceptable than ever before — even if nobody looks forward to the event.

Simple cases rarely are

Just as most of us hope to pass peacefully in our sleep, people hope their end of life will be easy for their families to manage, even if they fail to plan. Unfortunately, neither situation is typical, notes Fralin. “The more likely reality is that you and/or your spouse will suffer a period of medical need prior to your death, requiring long-term care and possibly resulting in a period of incapacity. Failing to plan for this reality can be very expensive.

“By not having advance medical directives and durable powers of attorney in place, any period of incapacity would result in the need for your family members to go to court to obtain guardianship over your person and conservatorship over your finances. In addition to being time-consuming, the cost of the proceeding can easily run into thousands of dollars.

“Another cost of procrastination is that the cost of long-term care insurance goes up as you age — the sweet spot is your early to mid- sixties. Medicare only offers temporary assistance with rehabilitative and skilled nursing care, and is not likely to be a reasonable resource for long-term care needs. Therefore, for many middle-class Americans, Medicaid has become the primary source for payment of long-term care needs. What, then, are the costs of procrastination in planning for long-term care?” 

Why worry? It will probably never happen

While Fralin’s counsel can create a frisson of foreboding, as anyone who’s lived awhile knows, the future is a great unknown, and worry (which tends to create procrastination) just wastes time and energy. According to a Cornell University survey, a primary regret of older people’s lives was spending so much time worrying. James Huang, 87, shared, “I ask myself, What possible difference did it make that I kept my mind on every little thing that might go wrong? When I realized that it made no difference at all, I experienced a freedom that’s hard to describe. My life lesson is this: Turn yourself from frittering away the day worrying about what comes next and let everything else that you love and enjoy move in.”

Ironically, worry itself can lead to long-term health consequences, such as cardiovascular disease.

So encourage your reverse mortgage prospects and clients to plan ahead, and to allow the future to unfold as it will. Planning rather than procrastinating means they’ll have one less item to worry about, freeing up enormous emotional energy for life, love, and anticipation for what’s ahead.

Walk This Way: How to Create Age-Friendly Cities



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Creating Age-Friendly Cities

When we’re young, living in the city means nightlife, culture, great eats, and easy transportation to work and play. For older adults, however, the picture can look very different: skateboards and scooters may pose a threat to sidewalk safety, slower gaits make it harder to cross the street in time, and mass transit can be both a health and safety concern.

Yet transportation is just one aspect of what makes a city age-friendly — or not. According to AARP, where we call home, how we communicate with others, how we move about, and what we do with our time all contribute to active reverse mortgage newsaging. Katy Fike, co-founder of Aging 2.0, takes it a step further, delineating 9 pillars of age-friendly cities:

  • Mobility (transportation and walkabilty)
  • Safety
  • Housing
  • Social participation
  • Inclusivity
  • Engagement (civic participation and employment)
  • Connection (communication and information)
  • Health (community support and access to health services)
  • Independence (food shopping/meal preparation)

AARP and Fike agree: it’s up to each community, city, and state to develop and implement policies and programs that enable elders to thrive, wherever they dwell.

Fortunately, technology is optimizing these pillars to ensure adults who choose to age in place — perhaps with the help of a reverse mortgage — can be healthy, secure, mobile, and engaged as they grow older.

Apps and Emerging Technologies For The 9 Pillars 

We’ve explored many of Fike’s recommendations in previous posts, particularly those related to aging apps and health; taken as a whole, these technologies create age-friendly opportunities for seniors everywhere, with a lot of positive overlap.

Here’s a summary to share with your reverse mortgage clients, prospects, and their families:

Transportation: Lyft, Uber, self-driving cars — and Go Go Grandparent, a safe and affordable senior-specific car service.

Inclusivity: Rendever, a virtual reality app that expands an elder’s world, enabling someone to relive and reconnect in the comfort of their living room. Rendever has been shown to boost happiness, and reduce loneliness and depression.

Housing: Silvernest roommate matching service and Treehouse intergenerational housing enhance connection, socialization, and inclusiveness.

Meals: Instacart (Whole Foods home delivery), Blue Apron meal delivery, and Amazon Prime Pantry.

Social participation: Stitch, a friendship site for older adults, and Televisit, a non-profit that provides meaning and purpose to isolated elders through facilitated group activities delivered via teleconference and tablets.

Engagement: Uber and Lyft — this time as part-time job opportunities — and becoming an Airbnb host.

Connection: Teeniors, tech-savvy teens who help seniors with technology one-on-one, and TechBoomers, training in how to shop, learn, play and socially engage online.

What We Can Learn from New York

You might think a bustling metropolis like New York City would be more difficult to adapt for aging adults than smaller communities — and you’d be wrong. While vibrant West Asheville, North Carolina has done an excellent job of making its community more walkable and age-friendly, in the last decade New York has enacted a profusion of senior-friendly changes throughout the city, including:

  • Longer crossing times at intersections, with a countdown indicating seconds remaining;
  • 130 “pedestrian safety islands” where slower walkers can pause partway until the crossing signal indicates it’s OK to continue;
  • Renovated, glass-enclosed bus shelters with expanded bench seating;
  • School buses that normally sit idle during the school day, repurposed to take seniors shopping;
  • A database of classes for free or reduced cost at the city’s colleges and universities;
  • City swimming pools with extended senior swim hours;
  • 251 senior centers located throughout the city, offering activities from guitar lessons to salsa classes to jewelry-making workshops, and much more.

“When we talk about aging services, it’s often been narrowly focused on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act,” says aging expert Amanda Lehning, assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work. “What’s really exciting now is that the aging-friendly community movement is broadening the discussion about what kinds of things we should be doing so older adults can continue doing what they’ve done throughout their lives.”

What Elders Can Teach Us in These Disruptive Times



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Elder Wisdom for today

We’re living in highly disruptive times. That’s a given. That our elders are key to elevating how we live in these disruptive times may be less obvious. But behind the scenes — and often front and center — the senior population is demonstrating our path forward. Asking your reverse mortgage clients and prospects about their interests and background could lead to some very interesting conversations. Here are a few role models who might serve as talking points:

World-changing wisdom

Deep ecologist Joanna Macy, 87, brings a lifetime of commitment to her world-changing work. The Buddhist scholar, teacher, and author of Coming Back to Life, Active Hope, and World As Lover, World As Self (among many other books) helps people transform denial, despair and grief in the face of the social and ecological challenges of our time. She has been a respected voice in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology for more than five decades, and in 2015 created Work That Reconnects, a groundbreaking theoretical framework for personal and social change, and a workshop methodology for its application.

Macy refers to this time on Earth as The Great Turning, and has had a tremendous impact in educating and empowering people globally to awaken and step up for positive change. Now an elder in the fullest sense, Macy shows no signs of slowing down.

reverse mortgage newsAbuzz for charity

On a smaller but no less significant scale, 94-year-old Jean Bishop, known as the Bee Lady, is the queen bee of fundraising. Bishop has been raising money for charity for 25 years, dressed as, yes, a giant bumblebee (although a comparatively small one, as humans go). Over the years she has raised 112,000 pounds ($139,000).

Evincing the same joie de vivre that characterizes 98-year-old yoga teacher and ballroom dancer Täo Porchon-Lynch, Bishop says, “I didn’t want to put the costume on at first, but when I did it went down like a bomb. Of course, being 94, it does take it out of me a bit, but I won’t let it stop me.”

No failures, experiments

Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed; I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This is the wisdom a trio of British centenarians embraces that, along with an ability to look ahead — and a sense of humor — keeps them mentally limber.

Two of my favorite pieces of advice come from 101-year-old Cliff Crozier: “Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted. Be as independent as you can, but don’t be reluctant to ask for help when you think you need it.”

Crozier bakes his own bread and cakes from scratch. He says, “I don’t have many failures. If I’m making a cake and it fails, it becomes a pudding.”

Five takeaways

These elders, and many more like them, demonstrate some of the keys to healthy aging:

  • Live in the present.
  • View setbacks as experiments in life’s laboratory.
  • (En)lighten up!
  • See how you can serve others.
  • Honor the aging process by being willing to ask for assistance.

Women of a Certain Age: Power That Elevates & Heals



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Power that elevates and heals

If 60 is the new 40, is 90 the new Fountain of Youth? Aside from 95-year-old Betty White, who may be bionic, a number of nonagenarian women exemplify the spirit of how to live — at every age. In fact, 90 may soon be the average female life expectancy in some nations, according to new research. To interest a vintage woman in a reverse mortgage, read on for a deeper understanding of how to approach her: 

Joan Kennedy is an accomplished speaker, author and mentor who embodies Helen Keller’s dictum, “Life is either a grand adventure, or nothing.” She recently published Women of a Certain Age Answer 7 Questions About Life, Love and Loss. While the title may be slightly misleading — the ages of contributing authors span eight decades — what’s perhaps most significant about this book is Kennedy’s age: 94. She markets herself as “the oldest motivational speaker in the US.” In describing her enduring success, Kennedy quotes Grandma Moses, who was asked why she began painting so late in life. The legendary artist replied, “At 79, I was too old to work in the fields…but I was too young to sit on the porch!”

Yet Kennedy is by no means unique in these times of extraordinary health and longevity.

Dancing Down the Decadesreverse mortgage news

Täo Porchon-Lynch drives a smart car, is a competitive ballroom dancer, and teaches yoga. She’s one of the more qualified yoga teachers alive, having been a practitioner since 1926. Porchon-Lynch is 98.

She’s led an extraordinary life: becoming a well-known Parisian model, friends with Marilyn Monroe, marching with Gandhi, meeting the Dalai Lama, publishing her autobiography, and stopping the clock on America’s Got Talent (watch this inspiring video!), despite having had three hip replacements. It’s intriguing that her first name means, “the absolute principle underlying the universe.” Her mantra is: “There’s so much to do, and so little time to do it!” Clearly, Täo Porchon-Lynch has not only done it all, she continues to do so, with joie de vivre.

Do these nonagenarians have a telomere-lengthening secret? Yes, though it’s less biological than psychological. While elders such as Betty White, Joan Kennedy, and Täo Porchon-Lynch obviously have excellent genes, their sunny outlook and can-do attitude are the true age-defying attributes. And while scientists aver that aging is reversible with epigenetic reprogramming, turning back the hands of time only makes sense if someone wants more of the life they’ve lived. This is why psychological fitness is as important as physical health.

reverse mortgage newsHelping Others is a Natural Fountain of Youth

Someone like Christie Brinkley, now gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated at 63 with daughters Alexa, 31, and Sailor, 18, may be a candidate to become a nifty nonagenarian, thanks to her lifelong positive perspective.

Then there’s the 92-year-old who recently served as bridesmaid for her granddaughter, who wrote, “At 92 years young, my granny was the most beautiful bridesmaid! I am so fortunate!” The bridesmaid swims one mile a week, line dances, and still owns and maintains her own home, added the bride. (The article didn’t mention whether she has a reverse mortgage. Perhaps she feels she’s still too young to apply.)

Finally, these nonagenarian women honor the Golden Rule. 97-year-old Evelyn lives in a retirement community that discontinued its twice-weekly bus service. Her friend Joyce was despondent, thinking she’d have to move now that she had no way to get to the grocery store. Evelyn promised she’d take Joyce food shopping — even though her driver’s license had been revoked because someone decided she was “too old to drive.”

Evelyn got feisty. She said, “I made a promise,” so she went to sit the driving test and get her license back. She passed, her license was reissued, and she and Joyce now drive to the grocery store together every week.

Purpose, Connection, Expansion and Love



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Closing the Gap / Part 2

What is “work”? More than anything, for elders, it means a sense of purpose and connection: feeling useful in a social environment. We don’t stop wanting to make a contribution simply because we’re older, as seniors themselves make clear in this compelling 7-minute video, A Sense of Purpose.

reverse mortgage newsThe need to feel needed

Created by high school students (no generation gap here!), the video describes how a forward-thinking small business owner hired elders in a nearby senior living facility to knit handbags for her company. The seniors were so enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute and earn income from home, they even named themselves: The Purlettes. As the Dalai Lama pointed out, “We all need to be needed… Selflessness and joy are intertwined. The more we are one with the rest of humanity, the better we feel.” The business owner paid her contributors on a piece rate basis, rather than hourly, in order to meet their needs.

However, outdated Department of Labor laws that require employers to pay an hourly wage took away a “golden” opportunity for senior income and purpose. The seniors themselves were vociferous about the derailment: “This is the new manufacturing model. We’re seniors, not machines. We can’t be doing this eight hours a day.” In seeking to “protect” workers, the federal government destroyed a model that gave the elders purpose, connection, joy, and income.

There is no separate law for senior employment that addresses their unique needs. One 95-year-old Purlette said the message she’d send to the Labor Department would be, “Open your eyes. What you have done is a serious injustice. You have taken discretionary income away from a huge number of people, just to follow a narrow law that does not apply to us.”

Act Up

Mirroring nonagenarians Betty White and Norman Lear, who are still plying their trade with aplomb, a group of long-retired Broadway entertainers living in a New York retirement community find purpose — and a great deal of hilarity — diving into a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Still Dreaming, the award-winning film about this elder troupe of troopers, explores the powers of creativity, and how engaging in art-making can deeply enrich our lives at any age.

Closing the gap requires us all to realize, as reverse mortgage professionals do, the truth that older people are just younger people with accrued wisdom — and a few more wrinkles to show for it. By adapting to their needs, just as we do with babies and children, we enliven elder lives with the deep connection, purpose and expansion they crave.

Bringing the world to them

Another heartwarming example: a 67-year-old man and his 58-year-old bride (seniors themselves, according to AARP) chose to wed at the groom’s 92-year-old mother’s residence — which happens to be a care community. The couple said they wanted his mother to be part of their wedding day, so they brought the ceremony to her.

The site’s executive director, staff and residents wanted to make sure the day was “unforgettable” for the happy couple. Residents baked the cake for the reception, and the local hospice chaplain officiated. This small effort to be inclusive of an elder’s needs had a positive ripple effect on numerous people connected with the event.

We’re becoming increasingly adept at using our existing technology to help seniors stay engaged. Television, for instance. Many seniors, especially those who live alone, have the TV on 24/7 for companionship, but it’s a passive form of entertainment.

Now a device called Any TV Companion transforms TV into true connection. Any TV Companion hooks up to the set, where a caregiver or family member can download the mobile app. After that, the television becomes interactive: family members can communicate with and keep tabs on their loved one across the miles via the TV. Bonus: like other elder care technology, the device sends an alert to the caregiver’s smartphone if it detects a medical issue.

With creative and caring people involved in elder lifestyle solutions, the so-called generation gap vanishes. Instead of being pasture-ized (i.e., put out to pasture), mature adults are being integrated into the tribe, where they belong.

Phased Retirement — Scaling That Hill With Ease

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Closing the Gap / Part 1

Is there a “generation gap” between today’s seniors and younger people, whether Boomers (many of whom are now seniors), Gen Xers, or Millennials? As we explored in Warfare or Welfare?, the answer in the workplace is “no”: just as kids and grandparents are a natural fit, younger employees enjoy learning from mature mentors, who act as a company’s living archive.

retirement_ageAnd in today’s economy, businesses want to keep elder workers and their decades of accumulated business acumen on the job a little longer. They’ve evolved a way to do so that serves everyone involved. It’s known as phased retirement, which could dovetail nicely with seniors postponing their reverse mortgage application for a few years.

Winding Down with Grace

In phased retirement, someone who is ready to reduce their workload but not quite ready to quit cold turkey lightens their schedule, so they still generate an income, but at a less intense pace than previously. It’s a win for everyone: companies keep the skilled employee as a team member a little longer, the experienced worker is available to mentor younger staff, and the gradual reduction allows him or her to ease into retirement, rather than going from full-time to no time in one fell swoop, which can be very disorienting to people accustomed to defining themselves by their job.

In fact, with 10,000 Boomers turning 65 daily, “businesses are scrambling to find ways to slow an exodus of the most experienced employees and ensure that they pass along their knowledge before they leave,” notes Bloomberg Businessweek. “Fourteen percent of U.S. companies offered either a formal or informal phased retirement program in 2016, up from 10 percent in 2012, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.”

Refining and Redefining Retirement

A recent survey found that among pre-retirees age 50 and up, just over a third (35%) want to continue to work part-time in retirement, often in exciting new careers. Another third envision cycling between work and leisure, five percent wanted to continue working full time, and only 28 percent said they never want to work for pay again — though this doesn’t rule out volunteering, sitting on advisory boards, or similar unpaid opportunities.

Older workers want to stay engaged and keep working, but in new ways, affirms Paul Irving, chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging. And for some businesses, such as skilled trades, retaining these older employees is essential. Steelcase, for example, manufactures more than 5,000 desks, tables, and file cabinets a day. The company has an apprentice program for Millennials, but a shortage of Gen X workers. One manager reports, “We’ve got a big gap in the middle, so we have to keep talented people in their sixties a little longer.”

Clearly, when it comes to the workplace, the generation gap has been reimagined as an inclusive arrangement that works for all. Beyond income, however, one of the greatest reasons for remaining employed later in life is a sense of purpose.

We’ll focus on the role of purpose and connection in seniors’ lives next week, in Closing the Gap/Part 2.

Aware-ables



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Clothes & Accessories that Help Elders Stay Healthy

Clothes may make the man, but even Shakespeare didn’t foresee how clothing could make us smarter and healthier. The Bard might be bemused to discover how elder wearables are poised to make seniors more aware of their well being. Given that we’re becoming bionic, clothing our AI bodies in smart garb seems a natural next step.

Your reverse mortgage clients and prospects may soon be meeting you wearing devices that ensure they’ll be able to enjoy aging in place for many years to come. Some of the brilliant health aware-ables on the design frontier include:lumo-lift

  • The iTBra for breast health. While women’s undergarments have evolved to keep pace with the times, Cyrcadia Health goes a step beyond, with a bra that monitors temperature changes in breast tissue, thus functioning as early detection technology for breast cancer. While the iTBra awaits funding and FDA approval, women everywhere can look forward to a non-invasive, potentially more advanced breast health monitoring system than mammograms.
  • Back to health. Back pain is endemic to modern society. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, more than 26 million Americans between the ages of 20-64 experience frequent back pain. We can only imagine how this number skyrockets with age, though those 65 and over are least likely to report. Enter Lumo Lift, a senior’s posture coach. The small sensor cube clips onto someone’s shirt, below the collarbone, and gently reminds the wearer to sit up straight and stand tall when they’re slouching. Bonus: standing straighter also helps a senior look and feel younger, and boosts confidence.
  • Eyewear that tracks diabetes. Millions of diabetics will be safer when a glucose-sensing contact lens — patented by Google — is available for those who wear corrective lenses and have diabetes. It’s possible that eyeglasses, jewelry (e.g., earrings, necklaces), or clothing (scarf, hat, headband) could function as the “reader” to display this data for the wearer.
  • Diamonds for brain tumors. The hardest substance on earth is more than just a girl’s best friend. Scientists have created a new form of carbon that’s harder than diamonds, glows, has the ability to conduct electricity — and is being tested in the treatment of brain tumors (as well as producing brighter screens for smartphones and TV). OK, it’s not strictly an awareable, but at some point, you just know it will become diagnostic bling.

The ultimate wearable may be Superflex’s robosuit: “power assist” mobility for aching older joints. The sensor-equipped, computer-controlled clothing tracks posture and movement, and rapidly processes data to send a motor “assist” when the wearer is leaning forward in a chair, getting ready to stand up, or even starting to raise their arms above their head. Originally developed at SRI International to help reduce injuries in soldiers carrying heavy loads, the power suit’s team is comprised of robotics experts as well as textile and fashion designers.

Superflex’s Robo Suits won’t be available until at least 2018 — but eager elders can always start with the Lumo Lift while awaiting the full body aware-able.

Medication or Meditation?



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How Mental (St)illness Saves Senior Brains

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can affect up to 20 percent of the population at any one time — and half of these people will progress to full-on dementia, according to an article in Prevention magazine. That’s a scary statistic. But while medication can do little to slow the progression, there’s a way to positively impact mental health with no dangerous side effects: meditation.

Yogis and proponents of complementary medicine have long espoused the benefits of meditation for quieting the mind, and in the West, more people have begun meditating in recent decades. Meditation teachers often focus on busy professionals, who barely pause in their frenetic climb up the ladder long enough to enjoy a leisurely meal, let alone meditate.

Using the mind to heal the mind

reverse mortgage newsBut in China, people of all ages — especially elders — start their day with flowing movement meditations known as tai chi and qigong, often in the local park. Chinese residents by the millions practice these ancient healing arts for stilling the mind and strengthening the body.

It might behoove seniors stateside, as well as their loved ones, caregivers, and others who work with them, such as reverse mortgage professionals, to take a deeper look at meditation. According to new research, this mental stillness practice may help slow, or even prevent, dementia.

One study took forty adults ranging in age from 55 to 85, taught half the group mindfulness meditation (a type of Buddhist meditation that promotes jettisoning worry and being in the present moment) and kept the other half as a control group (i.e., non-meditating). The meditators attended weekly two-hour meetings in which they learned mindfulness techniques such as proper awareness and breathing for deep relaxation. They also practiced mindfulness meditation for half an hour at home daily, and attended one daylong retreat.

Those practicing mindfulness meditation reported feeling less lonely. Loneliness has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Meditation also reduced the seniors’ levels of inflammatory proteins.

In a similar study, researchers had a group of adults aged 55 to 90, all with mild cognitive impairment, do a guided meditation for fifteen to thirty minutes a day for eight weeks, as well attend weekly mindfulness check-ins. Eight weeks later, MRIs revealed slowed shrinkage of the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for memory that usually shrinks with dementia). Participants also showed overall improvement in cognition and well being.

Caring for the Caregivers

In a complementary study aimed at caregivers, researchers recruited 45 men and women who were caring for a family member with dementia and divided the participants into two groups. One group learned a 12-minute yoga practice called Kirtan Kriya that includes an ancient chanting meditation, which they performed every day at the same time for eight weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to music on a relaxation CD, also for 12 minutes daily for eight weeks.

After eight weeks of daily chanting, the meditation group showed clear reductions in levels of various proteins linked to inflammation. This is important, as “Caregivers often don’t have the time, energy or contacts that could bring them a little relief from the stress of taking care of a loved one with dementia, so practicing a brief form of yogic meditation, which is easy to learn, is a useful tool,” notes Dr. Helen Lavretsky, senior author of the study and a professor of psychiatry at UCLA.

Now that Alzheimer’s Disease can be detected early via the cerebrospinal fluid, it makes more sense than ever for seniors whose brains indicate an inflammatory process to take steps to slow or reverse the decline. Meditation, not medication, is a health boost on every level. Sometimes a subtle shift makes all the difference.