Seniors Site

Healthy relationships, whether shared between family, friends or coworkers, are important. They play a very significant role in your emotional being, acting as one of the building blocks to make you stronger and be able to withstand whatever it is that fate has for you. Healthy relationships are your strongest support system, without them, you only have yourself to rely on.
At any age, healthy relationships are important especially with people you get to spend your time the most. Maintaining one involves a lot of emotional effort but at the end of the day, you know that it’s all worth it. Human nature has it that in order to live a happier life, you need to coexist with other people, and to coexist, you need to build relationships—healthy relationships, that is. For seniors, having healthy relationships, not just with their family, somehow eases the emotional pain that usually comes with aging. Seniors who are able to maintain healthy relationships won’t have to deal with isolation and loneliness later in life thus enabling them to have longer, stress-free lives.
Life coaches can’t stress enough how important healthy relationships are especially for seniors. However, not all people are willing to be your best friend. Obviously, some people were born to possess “toxic” personalities. Toxic personalities, as the words imply, are people who exude negativity and would gladly go out of their way just to extend toxic feelings to other people—you included. These people are way beyond repair so it won’t do you any good to reach out to them, better if you just avoid them altogether. Meanwhile, looking for your “match” would be very beneficial in building healthy relationships. As rule of thumb, make sure that when you receive, you should also give. Learn how to reciprocate as it is the only way to keep a healthy relationship going.
Seniors who have healthy relationships supporting them during the so-called golden years are benefitted tremendously. Some of the known benefits of healthy relationships are having someone who, you know, will be there no matter what, acting as a sounding board whenever you need one and best of all, someone you can actually trust—apparently, two of the most important things in a senior’s life. You can also count on their loyalty and respect if worse comes to worst.
Sometimes, just knowing there is someone out there who cares, means a lot to a senior. Sadly, some seniors still suffer isolation even if they are living with their families.

If you want my honest to goodness answer, then I would have to say NEVER. It is clearly a no-no for anyone at any age i.e whether you’re a new driver, drunk driver and most of all, a senior driver. Night driving can never be safe. However, there are circumstances that will force us to drive at night no matter how much we detest doing it. Those who still own the steering wheel to and fro work are most likely to find themselves driving at night—even under horrible conditions, unfortunately, it’s a risk we all need to take.
Self regulation is the key to safe driving. It has always been said that it is only ourselves who know exactly what we can and cannot do. While it’s so hard to part ways with our beloved car keys, caregivers or even bothered relatives may confiscate our car keys just because they have proven to themselves that we are already a risk to the society if we continue on driving recklessly. So in order for us to still enjoy this little pleasure in life, we must practice safe driving and that includes not driving at night right?..
One problem that most seniors have when driving at night is poor visibility. Really, it’s hard to see dark things when it’s all blended. Same with gray things when its dusk or dawn. Personally, I don’t drive during “gray hours” as I find it doubly hard to see things than driving at night. I would rather drive with the sun up or let the “gray hours” pass before driving. This, I come to realize during my learning-how-to-drive years and never did I attempt to break my driving cycle, not even once.
Lately, I’m having trouble with night driving as well so I checked out a couple of eyeglasses to help me see better at night. Aside from the usual prescription glasses, I was offered a night vision driving glasses as well as the anti-glare ones. Never a compulsive buyer, I backed down overwhelmed, but promised the good salesman that I will be back with a definite decision. Right now, I am still doing my research.
Meanwhile, I am practicing safer night driving techniques nowadays. For visually-impaired seniors like me, I would like to share these tips and hopefully—like me again—someday we could afford those expensive but spanking hot eyeglasses to help us see the light even if it’s pitch-dark!
·    Turn those headlights on, even if there’s still half-a-sun out there. It won’t cost you any additional fees anyway so why not take advantage of it?
·    If you feel sleepy, do yourself justice and stop wherever safe. Call a reliable friend and let them come and pick you up. This, or you avoid going out late at night!
·    Keep your act together. There should be no room for scatterbrains when driving at night. Stay alert at all times.

There will come a time in an adult’s life when he or she will start thinking of retirement. With it, you start preparing your nest egg which will support you during your retirement years and hopefully be able to afford you your luxuries in life. Your nest egg and how much should go into it is an essential part of preparing and planning for your retirement. You build it, let it grow and like a surprise waiting to unfold, you look forward to it. In other words, your nest egg will determine how grand your retirement will be.
This is the reason why it is very important for seniors and even for adults nearing retirement to constantly keep an eye on their nest egg. However, unexpected circumstances are bound to happen. Most of the time, these circumstances will force you to dip your hand into your nest egg and by doing so, put your retirement years into a great risk.
Especially now that we are still feeling the blow of the ever horrible economic crisis, I say it’s the senior group who suffers the most. We are the ones with the never ending responsibility of helping our adult kids to regain footing, we who have the obligation to care for our aging parents and provide for their needs, financially and emotionally and aside from that, we also need to set aside a little something for ourselves so we won’t have to end up as a burden for our loving sons and daughters. Can it get tougher than that?..
Before you give in to the whims of your family and friends, consider first if you can afford it. They may be in dire need but how about you? Remember that you don’t have much time left to save for your retirement and it is never a sin to prioritize yourself. You’ve been helping other people for too long, now is the time for them to take care of themselves and not bother you anymore. While it is not bad to still help, make sure you do it in a way that it won’t affect you or your future.
Your nest egg can also be an easy target for con artists and scammers. With that said, try to keep it out of sight as much as possible. Never boast about it especially when around people. Investing your nest egg might be the most logical thing to do to be able to double, triple or just keep everything moving but you need to be very wise when investing your money. As rule of thumb, never risk your money into something that promises you fast, enormous return of investment. That is just plain impossible and it can never happen. Instead, go for safer ones such as government issued securities and CDs. They may yield lower than desired but you’re assured that you still have your nest egg intact when the time comes.

If you are interested in getting fit and sexy, you should always remember that your body was not built with a switch, such that it is impossible to turn it off and on whenever you like it. Even a younger body needs to adjust when adapting a new lifestyle, and exercise, goes without saying, is a lifestyle meant to be adapted.  Especially with an aging body like ours, we need to take it slow, give our bodies some time to adjust and just enjoy the moment.
Like what I always say, staying fit and healthy is a lifetime commitment. A commitment you do for yourself. While staying fit usually results to slimmer, sexier body, it should not be your motivation and should only be considered as an additional reward for being a good girl/boy. It is because, almost always, you don’t lose weight and tone the body instantly. It takes time and hard work. If you focus on losing weight when exercising and you don’t get the desired result at once, you get easily discouraged and may even see exercising as a tedious task to do, hence unfinished fitness routines and ineffective weight loss programs.
Most of my senior friends have just started their fitness programs and they don’t have prior experience with any kind of exercise. However, they managed to stick with it and actually enjoy it. Here are some of their tricks on how they were able to start their exercise routines the right way:
·    Start slow and ask questions. In other words, they were curious—and managed to stay that way even if they already made it past the beginner’s level. They never assumed the role of a know-it-all and would ALWAYS seek assistance from professionals. This way they were able to uncover pro’s secrets and practice them too.
·    Feel your body responding. When exercising, focus your mind more on how your body responds. If a certain pose makes you feel weaknesses you never knew existed, let your instructor know and try to strengthen that part with his or her guidance.
·    Never overtrain. It’s easy to get obsessed with a program especially if your body is responding well to it. Unfortunately, obsession only occurs in your brain and it clouds whatever your body might be telling you. Overtraining causes injury and it is never recommended to anyone especially seniors and older people. Rest whenever needed and stay within healthy workout limits.
·    Try other sports. Just as long as it keeps you active and you enjoy it, engage. Engaging in other sports will help you stay away from getting bored with repetitive workout routines.
·    Find time for it. Making your fitness program a part of your daily life will make it easier for you to reach your goal, whatever that may be. Find your most comfortable time for it and follow it religiously, like you would when taking a bath or brushing your teeth.

At some point in your life, perhaps during your younger, innocent years, you may have fantasized about turning your life’s passion into something worthwhile and hopefully, make a difference or perhaps a name for yourself. As we go along with our lives, we easily found ourselves slowly setting aside our passion and get into mundane, unproductive careers for the sake of normalcy. Well, that’s what life is all about and seldom do we see successful people who just followed their passion and never wavered. Your passion will have to wait until you’re able to support yourself no matter what.
In truth, turning your passion into business is a lot like gambling. You can either win or lose but no one can ever tell what it will be. Some may openly express their doubts about this new venture of yours while others might suggest that you think of it many times before you actually throw everything out the window especially if you are already doing well with your current business. While these people may not help you at all, never bear a grudge for they are only concerned about your welfare, instead, take it as a challenge that old dogs can learn new tricks after all.
That’s the beauty of retirement and golden years. When you retire, it is more or less the same as saying, you are now free to do whatever you want without any kind of obligation or responsibility to the people around you. Retirement gives you the freedom to be yourself and actually own your life. Now is the right time to pursue your passion and hopefully be able to support yourself in doing so. However, seniors should also understand that Rome was not built overnight and it may take some time before you see the fruits of your labor. It’s more like starting all over again and the road to your goal may be a little rocky than usual especially if you’ve grown too far from your passion.
Switching careers later in life involves challenges. Your biggest hindrance must be age discrimination as most of my friends have discovered. Following you passion may require you to take courses and classes in which you will have classmates barely out of their puberty years, worse if you’re much older than your own professor. Also there will be insurmountable test of faith to conquer and a 360 degree lifestyle change that you must deal with. There will be risks and expect internal and external stress from happening. During this phase, it is important to know where your motives are. Are you doing this to really pursue your passion or you’re just escaping your current work environment? Knowing where you really should be will help you get through this very hard stage of your development.

Indeed, traveling with your loved-ones makes a vacation more special than usual. However, vacations made with your grandchildren were the most memorable and it’s no wonder! Just imagine lively, youthful sounds to keep you going for more. There’s just something these little ones are able to give you—like an energy potion to make the most out of your vacations!
Unfortunately, no matter how jolly we all are the moment we leave our houses, there’s no telling how everything would be as soon as we reach our destination! Vacation blunders are bound to happen, especially if the organizer was not too careful in making everybody happy. And, it doesn’t take much to blow everything out of hand, mind you. Here are some vacation and travel tips for grandparents to make your vacations fun and hassle-free:
·    Plan according to everyone’s schedule. Apparently, your generation lives in a completely different timezone than that of your grandkids! As a general rule—and especially if you are not living with your grandkids—ask their parents what time do the kids usually get up when in a vacation and chart your activities from there. If you plan to start your day early, make sure you talk with “late-risers” so they are forewarned.
·    Have a pre-vacation talk with all participants. Make sure you discuss all necessary points such as where and what time exactly activities will happen. This way, you would know your grandkids’ priorities and be able to plan from there.
·    If you encounter conflicting priorities, work on a schedule that would be very beneficial for all even if it means not being together all the time. By grouping yourselves according to preferred activities, everyone is guaranteed to have a good time.
·    Imagine how you would fare when you get there. Your vacation should be a trip you and your grandchildren will enjoy and not, in any way, a baby-sitting job. If you feel your body won’t be able to handle your grandkids, it is much better to admit it now, get help and not regret anything later.
·    While it is normal for grandparents like you to spoil your grandkids especially when out on a vacation, try to control yourself and save the spoiling activities later! Remember that when you’re somewhere far from home, you should be the one in charge and not cause any trouble by allowing your grandkids to have their way.

Aside from the basic and generally known fact that organic is good for your health, going organic really has many great benefits for an aging body like ours—and I am not only talking about market-bought organic foods and whatnot—it includes your backyard, homegrown produce which your hands have personally tended and cared for.
I have heard complaints from my penny-pinching friends when it comes to going organic. Seniors who are very conscious of their money-spending activities have expressed the same thoughts—that going organic is indeed expensive—and I have to agree with that. Although I really couldn’t see the reason why organic products cost more—like it discourages us to finally make the switch, sellers tell me that it is actually the demand/care combo it requires just to be able to arrive safely on our tables. Apparently, it is much easier and cheaper for traditional farmers to deliver in bulk than organic farmers hence the stiff price.
However, seniors should know that you don’t have to buy organic produce each and everytime as you can yield your own especially if you are a good gardener. If lucky, you can even earn money from it by selling some of your produce to your neighbors. You can also keep free ranging animals as long as your local authorities permit it. When aiming for all-organic produce, make sure that you are farming right. Some of the basic guidelines are:
·    Make sure that the soil is free from any chemical i.e not treated in any way with pesticides and chemical-based solutions.
·    Must be “fed” with organic fertilizers only.
·    Should maintain an all organic diet through its different stages of growth.
So why is organic good for you? First of all, anything that is chemical will have a reaction the moment it touches your blood. This reaction can never be good for you as chemicals are not a natural substance for the body to recognize. Most of the time, it considers these substances as a foreign object and will try to fight it. Problem is, these chemicals are a lot stronger than our immune system which only creates havoc inside of us. Most chemical byproducts found in the blood causes diseases and illnesses and can sometimes make underlying ones resistant to treatments. By avoiding products that are drenched with harmful chemicals, you are saving yourself from these life threatening diseases or at the very least, boost your immune system to fight them off.

It’s not only your body that needs exercise, but also your brain! Bear in mind that as we age, our entire physical being begins to deteriorate so it is important that we start taking care of our body early on to somehow delay the aging process. Alongside with it are the 101 age-related and/or lifestyle diseases and illnesses that may plague us during our golden years. However, studies have shown that one of the fastest degenerating parts of our body is the brain which accounts to the sheer number of seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Like exercising the body, seniors are always reminded to train the brain regularly. But how often is regular exactly? And how hard should it be to fully work it out—and we are not talking just about anything there is to think of instead your brain should stay away from anything that will stress you out. When we exercise our brain, it should be something that will make it think outside of the box and yield creative, happy thoughts. Also, it is essential to provide your brain the nutrients it needs, in other words, you need to feed it too.
Let’s tackle the frequency first. Unlike physical exercise which needs at least 1 hour and half of working out per day, exercising your brain has no specific time period but it is most recommended for seniors to train your brain as often as possible which means almost always. When working it out, make sure that your brain uses all faculties possible which means it should be able to think forward, backwards and sideways. It is most recommended that you engage in something that will make you remember things that are otherwise forgotten—again, no unhappy thoughts please! Activities like crossword puzzles are the most recommended since it will boost your noodle in catching the right word to write down.
Snack on nuts and berries as they are rich in anti-oxidants and Omega3, the ultimate brain foods! Also, nuts, particularly walnuts, are known to boost melatonin, the hormone responsible in keeping your circadian cycle in its right track. In other words, nuts are not only good for the brain but it helps you sleep well at night too!
Some alternative ways work well in an aging brain too, such as trying online games whenever you have a short break instead of wasting your time doing unproductive things. Do take note too that most video game consoles offer games to train your brain as well. Now is the time to grab that joystick out of your grandkid’s hands!

Saving money is not an issue too puzzling to understand. We all know how to do it, we can even go as far as creating a doable plan which suits our lifestyle best—and even put it to practice once in a while. However, it’s quite hard to actually stick with the plan especially if you’re not trained to do that at all!
I’ve read from somewhere that saving is so much like losing weight. We only act if the action is called for, and we tend to loosen up once the problem eases. What seniors don’t know is that saving money must be a lifelong commitment, if we would like a comfortable retirement years. I know some amazing success stories which feature seniors living the kind of life they deserve after quitting their job—they didn’t win jackpots, they were not even executives during their working years, just your average, hardworking American gals and guys who know how to penny-pinch their way to retirement! To be fair with this generation, most of us really know how to save, partly because during our time, simple joys are more important than luxury items and also, we were trained to do without the things we don’t need.  Of course now, saving is a lot harder to do considering the fact that we are now living in a very materialistic world. Here’s a guide to all seniors and not-so-seniors out there who would want to enhance their money-saving abilities:
·    Change the way you see money. We always value money according to its make. If its paper, we know that its value is higher but once it changes to coins, it quickly depreciates before our eyes, even if they are of the same amount as the aforementioned paper. Why don’t you start seeing them both as valuable and valuing them at the same degree?
·    Whenever possible, pay cash. Paying with credit cards makes everything seems so easy to buy. Aside from that, credit card gives us the illusion of being able to buy things that are way beyond our budget. When you pay cash, you would easily see how far your money can buy without burying yourself in unnecessary debt.
·    Buy things that are important to you. Or to your existence for that matter! A remote controlled garage door opener may sound so techy and pricey for a senior but if it helps you not to hurt your back or suffer injuries, then why not?
·    Save every penny. Don’t throw your piggy banks just yet. Use them to grow your loose change instead.
·    Join money-saving programs organized by local groups in your community. There ought to be one especially if you are an active member of an association or group.
·    Set aside a little something for your future. Even if you are already nearing your twilight years, it doesn’t mean you won’t need money in the near future.

I’m never good at bookkeeping! I can never understand those ledgers that need to be filled up with dizzying numbers even if my own life depends on it! I would rather pay somebody to do it for me if I have the money. I even went as far as looking for ways to “outsource” it i.e hiring somebody from afar to keep tabs for me—again, if only I have that kind of money!
Due to my ignorance on how taxes work, I have to call my accountant again and again until his ears bleed. Fortunately, he is the kind of man who possesses such uncanny amount of patience to clients like me. I guess he finds me “bearable’. To compensate, I try to find ways to somehow lessen his burden and at the same time, lower my taxes hence, tax breaks.
When someone in my senior group talks about tax breaks, I’m all ears! I jot it down on a piece of paper in case I forget then add it to my little “tax tricks book” which I consult from time to time, as soon as I get home. For your information, tax breaks work similar to tax exemptions, so if and when you have a tax break, it also means you save a lot on your tax come filing day. Here are some tax breaks you might find interesting:
·    If you are a senior age 65 and above, you automatically get a deduction, more if joint filing i.e spouses.
·    Engaging in charitable activities—actually dipping into your pocket for a cause. Your government sure has a soft spot for those who help their fellow citizen! Even a simple hiring of help to care for your senior or children while you go volunteering counts.
·    Bug your doctor instead. Anything that your doctor tells you to do in order to keep your body healthy can be entered for your tax break.
·    Examine your property taxes. They are deductible.
·    Job related moving. Just make sure that you report to work in your new location within a year or else your move is not counted.
·     Start your own business and savor tax deductions for your first year in business!
·    Send your employees to training and courses. You can even send yourself to these classes and still get a deduction!
·    Business meetings to somewhere far and relaxing. As long as a business meeting will materialize, you can write off your trips.
·    First time homeowner? You qualify for homebuyer’s credit.
·    A disaster hit you just recently? Go get a tax break. This includes bankruptcy, lost job and natural disaster.