How to Begin Planning Ahead for Getting Older

According to the National Poll on Healthy Aging, one in three adults age 50–80 (34%) said their home definitely has the necessary features that would allow them to age in place, 47% said it probably does, and 19% said it does not.

Planning ahead is hard because there’s no way for you to know what you will need. All of us want to assume that we’ll be healthy forever, but the truth is we get a little bit older every day we live.

Knowing a little about what you need to consider is one of the largest hurdles to jump, so I suggest that you start with a list. Write down everywhere you go, everything you do, and all of the things that are most important to you to maintain so that you can ensure you include those considerations into your plan. Start by thinking about what help you may need or want as you get older. If you live alone and/or have no children, then you will need to determine what network of support you need to begin thinking about creating. If you enjoy cooking, you need to think about what you want to see happen in the case you can no longer stand at the stove and cook.

If you need a little help thinking about a few things related to your home and the care for your home, check out our “Home Safety Checklist.” That could be a great starting point for you to consider all of the areas in your home you think you may need to prepare.

Let’s be real. Honestly, none of this is enjoyable to think about. Who really wants to spend time thinking about how your body is going to betray you? BUT I am able to reconcile and find my motivation in knowing that when my lifestyle has to change for whatever reason, all of my requests and expectations are identified and ironed out ahead of time. This makes sure that my wishes are being honored and both me and my life are being managed in a way that the control freak inside of me will be pleased with. The more I think about it, the easier it becomes to process the reality that anything could happen at any time and because I’ve started to plan, I don’t have to put that pressure on my family to figure things out.

Aging in place extends beyond preparing your home. Financial, physical, legal and mental preparation are just of the few other considerations you should contemplate. It is true in this instance when they say, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”