How to Live Longer, Better and Wiser
How to Live Longer, Better and Wiser
Benefits of Lifestyle Changes & Downsizing After Age 65
Presented by: The Roche Associates, Inc.
Experts in Senior Living Planning, Marketing & Market Research
Topics and Factors to Consider
- Latest scientific and medical advances that are proven to increase your number of healthy years
- Lifestyle changes you can make right now to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and an extended stay in a nursing care center
- Your home equity can increase your retirement income
- Controlling your cost of living and developing a financial plan can keep you ahead of a downturn economy
- Life in a senior living community may significantly improve your health and help control your cost of living
People age before their time when they become sedentary and don’t get enough exercise
- What happens when you become sedentary and don’t get enough exercise as you age?
- Change in the fat/lean body mass ratio
- Drop in maximum oxygen consumption & cardiac output
- Diminished sense of balance
- Fewer red blood cell & increased tendency for blood clots
- Rise in total blood lipids (cholesterol & triglycerides)
- Calcium loss from the bones
- Substantial insensitivity to glucose (diabetes)
- Alteration of body’s ability to assimilate drugs
- Adverse effect on sense of taste & hearing
Lifestyle changes to enhance your health and reduce risk of premature aging:
Exercise
- Exercise – Make it a Priority
- Consult with your physician, if you have not already done so, about a planned exercise program
- Walking and Swimming are great aerobic choices
- Even “Chair” exercises are highly beneficial
- Include Strength Training with weights or resistance bands
- Strength Training includes exercises that enhance Flexibility and Balance
- Think of imaginative ways to do simple, aerobic and strength training exercises that only take a few minutes
Nutrition
- The old adage “You are what you eat” is still true!
- Eating regular, balanced meals helps us feel better and have more energy – and can help avoid some of the health hazards associated with a poor diet
- Nutritious foods include proteins: fish, lean meat, eggs, soy products
- Calcium-rich foods are nutritious: low fat milk, yogurt, and cheese
- Increasing fiber increases digestive health: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans
- Some fat from foods is good for you: nuts, seeds, beans, olives, fish
- Limit snacks that have little nutritional value
Reduce Stress
- Stress affects your health
- Recurring stress can lead to getting sick more often; problems concentrating, sleeping and eating; high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety and depression
- Reducing Stress
- Take control
- Identify stress sources
- Identify options for relieving stress
- Weigh the options
- Make a Plan
- Follow through
- Change can be hard. But is it better than consistent stress?
Reducing Your Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
- The bad news is that there is no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease
- The Good News is that all the steps mentioned to live a healthy lifestyle help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
- There is growing evidence that regardless of age, a healthy lifestyle promotes brain health
- Older people can improve their memory and problem solving skills with practice
- Brain cells die as we age, but research shows that mental and social activities promote new connections between brain cells.
- A healthy cardiovascular system contributes to a healthy brain.
Steps to Maintaining Brain Health
- A healthy lifestyle promotes brain health
- Stimulate the Brain – puzzles, games, reading
- Become and stay more socially active (Mayo Health Clinic Study)
- Regular exercise – even if you feel you have a reduced ability level; try a routine that fits you
- Well-balanced, nutritious meals
- Reduce stress
The Upside of Downsizing
- Relieving yourself of the burdens of homeownership
- The burdens of home maintenance in time and energy
- The financial burdens
- Increasing costs of upkeep, taxes, and insurance
- Relieving your children of present and future burdens
- An article published in USA Today found that children who provide assistance to their aging parents often experience stress in their relationships with their spouse, siblings, and parents
- Reaping the financial benefits of freeing up home equity
- Happily finding your self in a new home and stress-free environment that better meets your present and future needs
Lifestyle changes to enhance your health and reduce risk of premature aging:
Managing Stress Through Downsizing
- The stress of owning and maintaining your home increases with age
- The mistake that many make is they stay in their homes too long and are more likely to loose their independence and have an extended stay in a nursing home
- The solution for many is downsizing while still independent
Putting your Home Equity to Work for You
- Yes, your house is likely to continue to appreciate in value – But the cost of living in your home is also rising, taxes, regular maintenance costs, and big ticket repairs.
- Ask yourself: Does your home have the same “value” to you that it had say, fifteen, ten, or even five years ago?
- The equity locked up in your home represents a lost opportunity for income generation.
- $250,000 in home equity can generate $7,500 a year, at 3% interest
- If your home equity is $250,000 and you wait five years to sell your home you will have lost $37,500 (3% annual return). It will take you more than 20 years to recoup that amount if you wait five years to sell your home even if your equity rises to $300,000 five years from now.
Why Wait Five Years?
- $250,000 in home equity, sell today, return of 3% yields $7,500 per year (without reinvesting)
- 2020 - $75,000
- 2020 - $75,000
- 2025 - $112,500
- 2030 - $150,000
- $300,000 in home equity, when sold 5 years from now, return of 3% yields $9,000 per year (without reinvesting)
- 2015 - $0
- 2020 - $45,000
- 2025 - $90,000
- 2030 - $135,000
How to Evaluate Senior Living Options and Make a Smart Decision
- Options to get you thinking
- The “J.P. Getty” Option – “I have so much money, I don’t need to plan or think about smart financial decisions for the future.”
- The “Peter Pan” Option – “I have no intention of growing up (or older.)”
- The “Walton Family” Option – “My kids will take care of me.”
- The “Betty Davis” Option – “I choose to age independently, with style.”
- Critical Considerations
- Ability to continue to maintain property & household upkeep
- Existing & future health status; for singles and/or couples
- Desire to stay independent & healthy as you age
- Risk of falling in current living situation
- Degree of Socialization
- Ability to manage own medications
- Dependence upon adult children, relatives, and friends for household upkeep or help with activities of daily living
Nine major reasons why a move to a retirement community can be “the smart thing to do”
- “Don’t Worry, be happy” – Life in an active retirement community will substantially reduce worrying about household and property upkeep.
- Capture invaluable time, which can be better spent on family, friends, exercising, traveling, and the things you like to do.
- Live in a safe environment, with around-the-clock security and an emergency response system, which enhances your feeling of personal safety as you age.
- Gain the opportunity to start a new life of health and wellness.
- Reduce stress and gain the benefits of downsizing and organizing your household and affairs.
- Take advantage of the personal financial and economic benefits gained by moving to a retirement community, possibly lower taxes, insurance rates, utilities, and the use of home equity.
- Make new friends with people your own age who may share similar interests.
- Live in a brand new apartment of manageable size with all the benefits of better space planning and energy efficiency.
- Be good to yourself. Have a full range of services and amenities right at your fingertips.
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