This article was featured in Maine Seniors Magazine, June 2021
For the past year, the Covid pandemic has had all of us measuring and remeasuring our personal risk budgets daily as we strive to protect ourselves and our families from the coronavirus. Each of us has a different method for allocating that risk budget which is influenced by many factors: where we live, what we watch on TV and online, our political affiliation and how our close friends and family have budgeted their coronavirus risk.
For 30 years, I have assisted retirees to manage their financial risks as we seek to continue to grow and protect their nest eggs in the golden years, but during the cooped-up year of the pandemic I have given more thought to what PROTECT really means for seniors… with an increased focus on providing guidance to manage other risks that are often overlooked in their daily lives. These are risks for which most seniors don’t budget nearly enough...or at all… and that can lead to serious consequences for health and wealth.
Planning for your future should not end when you retire or even when you have been retired for 20 years. Sadly, most of us are in denial about the gradual loss of mobility that comes with aging. Almost all seniors want to stay in their current home as long as they are able. Therefore, it is critical to have discussions about the investments you can make now in and around your home to make it safer in the future:
Risks lurking in and around seniors’ homes
Second floor bedroom:Many older homes have no bedrooms on the first floor and steep and narrow stairways leading to the second floor. Converting a first floor room to a bedroom or building a small addition/converting empty space in a big garage could go a long way towards keeping you safe in your current home as you lose your mobility and your balance declines. If these are not viable options, a mechanical chair to move effortlessly from one floor to another is a worthwhile investment.
Walk-in tub/shower:The bathroom can become the most dangerous room in your house. Slipping and falling getting in and out of showers and tubs can lead to broken bones and dislocated joints which may affect your mobility permanently. Add railings and slip proof mats in the tub/shower/toilet areas.
Room thresholds and rugs/carpets and cords:My hunch is that most of you reading this will remember master comedian Tim Conway shuffling his way through hilarious oldest man skits on the Carol Burnett show. Our tendency to shuffle as we get older can be no laughing matter when we trip over obstacles that never seemed to be in the way in our younger years. Pretend for 15 minutes that you have become Tim Conway in the oldest man skit and shuffle around your house to discover the new obstacles that might be in your way in your twilight years.
Lighting:Bathroom visits in the middle of the night become much more common with seniors and dark hallways, stairs and bathrooms can have these journeys ending in the emergency room. State of the art lighting both inside and outside is a relatively inexpensive way to protect you from things that go bump in the night.
Walkways, driveways and stairs:It seems like every winter we are contacted by a client who slipped on these areas outside the home- invest in enough snowmelt and sand for traction in the winter months and if you are not able to keep these areas safe, hire someone to do it for you—we have actually considered sending creepers for our clients boots and shoes as a holiday gift…and for goodness’ sake, hire someone to clean your roof and gutters!
Your automobiles:Insist that all of your family’s vehicles have good tires with plenty of tread and, especially here in Maine, switch over to a good set of snow tires in the winter. If you are finding it harder to get into and out of your front wheel drive vehicles, and tend to slip and slide in rain and snow, consider trading them in for an all-wheel or 4 wheel drive which has all of the new safety features.
Life alert:Most of us chuckled the first few times we saw the “help I have fallen and I can’t get up” commercials for life alert as we tend to use humor to cope with our natural fears of aging. I can think of no better gift a child can give to their parents than to be instantly notified along with emergency medical professionals if mom or dad has a bad fall or other medical emergency in their home.
Your TV, phone, laptop and computer:Balance is key with the use of all these devices. Most of us know we spend too much time staring at these screens and not enough going for long walks or reading or rereading a favorite book. This technology can be a key to seniors staying connected to family and friends (my guess is just about everyone reading this has “zoomed” during the last year) but too much time spent watching the same talking heads shouting and dividing on nighttime TV or viewing the same Facebook and web pages and chat rooms over and over… night after night… can and has led to many seniors' views becoming radicalized, which in turn, can lead to isolation from family and friends who have different views and opinions about political and social issues. Beware of phishing scams using email and texts and if it smells at all “phishy,” do not click on it or respond. And be sure to have secure and complex passwords for all your electronic devices.
Protect the old people you will eventually become from themselves with the right legal documents which include durable powers of attorney for healthcare and financial decisions. We encourage our clients to also sign a trusted contact form which grants us permission to contact a designated friend or family member if we are asked by the client to do something that seems out of the ordinary.
We can all do a much better job planning for the reality that eventually most of us are going to appear to be imitating Tim Conway in our daily lives during our golden years. Pretending to be him for an afternoon now as you inspect your house and then making the necessary investments to “Tim Conway proof” your home can go a long way towards making you and your families glad you had more time together in your home (…insert the Carol Burnett earring tug here).
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.