We all take delight in planning for vacations and holiday celebrations but when it comes to planning for old age, we literally run the other way. Aging and death only happen to other people, and therefore we don’t need to talk about it – at least not yet. Why is this? The reasons are straightforward: Canadians have an attitude of entitlement; I am a taxpayer and [...]
How Advisors Can Help By Karen Henderson There is a Sufi saying that two veils separate us from the divine—health and security. As we age we begin to understand how these two words start to define what is truly important in life. According to Moshe Milevsky, finance professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, for a couple who is 65 today, there is a 50% [...]
How You Can Help Facilitate Family Communication By Karen Henderson The average 21st century North American is projected to spend more years taking care of aging family members than raising children. Ken Dychtwald, Psychologist/Gerontologist, author of Age Power It’s no secret that your clients are aging, and with their aging comes the aging of their parents. A few families anticipate this eventuality but the majority hope that the issue will [...]
My father died on Easter Monday, April 24, 2000. According to my friend Mimi, dad’s timing was good because God picked him up on the way through. I had to smile at her words but deep down I was filled with sorrow and regret. Our 14 - year caregiving journey together toward the end of his life was hard on both my father and I for [...]
“If you don’t want to talk about this, or if you can’t, maybe you could just pray for a tornado to hit your parents the day before they get sick.” Shlomo F. Kreitzer, a retired psychologist. There are some things in life we don’t really want to think about; consequently we don’t plan for them. One of those ‘things’ is aging parents and their changing needs. [...]
1. Be realistic about the diseases you face and your own capabilities. Try to set limits around your caregiving...a process which will take time. 2. Realize that you operate on two levels - intellectual and emotional - and that they don’t always coincide. Listen to both your heart and your head when making decisions. 3. Learn to be an advocate for the care-receiver and for yourself. [...]
From the deeply forgetful we learn that love - not cognitive capacity - is the deepest human need and reality. In our aging society, an attitude of gratitude for those who have lost in large measure the very story of their lives is a necessity. —Stephen G. Post. President of The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland January is [...]
My father died on Easter Monday April 24, 2000. According to my friend Mimi dad’s timing was good – that God picked him up on the way through. I had to smile but deep down I was filled with sorrow and regret. Our 14 - year journey together toward the end of his life was hard on both dad and I. He demanded so much, we [...]
We all take delight in planning for vacations and holiday celebrations but when it comes to planning for old age, we literally run the other way. Aging and death only happen to other people, and therefore we don’t need to talk about it – at least not yet. Why is this? Canadians have an attitude of entitlement; I am a taxpayer and therefore the government is [...]
Canadians have been quietly caring for their elderly for hundreds of years. Suddenly, however, it seems that long term care has worked its way from obscurity into the national limelight virtually overnight. If you consider the state of the country, the reasons are obvious. Canada’s population is aging rapidly. According to a Statistics Canada 2001 report the number of people aged 65 and over is expected [...]
Canadian employers are worried about the impact of a possible mass retiring of the first wave of the baby boomers, many of whom are eager to start a new work-free life, start a new business or possibly go back to school. According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, Canadian organizations of all sizes and industries across the country – especially in Alberta - are having a [...]
According to a Leger marketing survey in the latest issue of Investment Executive: 56% of Canadians are unaware of the costs of long-term care in their province, And most are unprepared for the prospect of incurring such costs. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they do not have a financial plan to cover the costs of ongoing long-term care, and only 10% of respondents plan to use [...]
