Mental Muscles

Archive for the ‘Senior Tips’ Category

Although some people may consider it morbid, you are never too young to start thinking about making a last will and testament. A will is effectively a legal document that cannot be changed as of your last moment on this Earth. The majority of individuals actually use a will to distribute their worldly goods amongst their family and friends when they are gone. It is legally binding and must be adhered to, although some families do choose to contest the last will of a loved one in a court of law. In a world where so much can change from one moment to the next, anyone above the age of twenty-one should have one. Seniors especially should make a will a priority if they do not already have one. Every senior should know what a will is and what it involves. A basic understanding of the legal document is necessary before you actually compose one, so consider this your quick guide.

A will effectively names the beneficiaries of your estate as well as the executor. It also names a guardian of any minor children that an individual may have, although this does not generally apply for seniors. In layman’s terms, the beneficiaries of an estate are your families, friends and any organizations, charities for example, that you wish to inherit your worldly good and the executor is the person that has the task of carrying out your wishes. When naming your beneficiaries, you may want to divide the larger assets but make provisions for any smaller ones to also be distributed fairly.

Your executor should be someone that you trust to do the job fairly. He or she will be officially appointed by a probate court after your death and will be expected to sort out your estate in full. For example, he or she will have to settle any outstanding debts that you may have, as well as settling outstanding taxes and funeral expenses. You should always inform the person whom you have appointed to the role and give them the option of backing out because it can be a very stressful job after he death of a loved one. Some individuals therefore choose their lawyer or a professional service to appoint as executor.

A will does have some exclusions and thus may not cover all of your worldly possessions. It can only legally distribute anything owned solely by you. For example, bank accounts held in joint names are not covered because it can only legally be passed onto the surviving joint owner. Any payment, retirement and life insurance plans that you may have are also exempt. This is largely owing to the fact that these types of plans ask for you to name a beneficiary when you initially take them out. As a result, you are entering into a legally binding contract when you do name a beneficiary in the first place. This, in effect, is as good as a will.

The biggest factor that puts individuals off making a will, aside from fear of death, is only owning property and assets in joint names. Everything automatically passes to the surviving spouse if it is held in joint name upon the other spouse’s death. However, you should still make a will if this is the case. You never know what fate may have in store for you. If your partner dies first and you pass only a few days later with no will then the people you want to benefit from your will may not actually receive anything. This may sound morbid, but unfortunately it may be a situation that you find yourself in.

Most family lawyers can actually prepare a will for you, and most will offer to store it for you too. This is the safest place to keep it because it avoids tampering. A will has to be drawn up so you may well have to visit the lawyer twice. The first visit is generally a discussion about what you want it to say, the second is only usually the signing of the will. As long as you are still alive, it is not a legally binding document and you can change it as many times as you wish just in case your circumstances change. You can create your own will with very little effort, but dying without one can cause heartache for your loved ones, so resolve to make one.

The younger generations are eager to explore the world, take on all of the sights and bask in the cultures of foreign climes. With air travel now being as widespread as it is, individuals do have the opportunity to see places that older generations never dreamed of visiting. However, that is not to say that seniors should not have the opportunity to enjoy their retirement by seeing some of the world. Indeed, everyone should visit a far off country if for no other reason than to exploit his or her freedom!

It is understandable that many seniors are wary of flying. It can be a frightening experience if you have never done it before or if you are planning to take a longer trip than you normally would. However, the thought of it should not put you off. Aircraft are safer than ever at the moment, with rigorous checks in place to ensure that all safety standards are met. In fact, the experience can be quite pleasurable. You just have to relax and ensure that your preparations are complete before you set foot inside the airport.

All seniors should have a health check before they book a flight and then again in the week before travelling. This is to ensure that you re completely healthy and there will be no health complications to ruin your trip. You should have a routine check that consists of a blood pressure check, brief eye exam and a chat about any recent health problems you may or may not have encountered at the very minimum. You should also ask your doctor about medication routines before you fly.

Some drugs may increase the chances of blood clots, also known as deep vein thrombosis, occurring and your doctor will be able to advise you on the risks and precautions to take with this sort of medication. He or she will also be able to advise you on a medication routine that would fit in with the time zone you are travelling to so that regular doses are being taken when necessary. Make sure that you take your medication on board with you. You should have enough to last for at least three or four days with you just in case the other supplies that you check at the airport get lost with your luggage. Never take a flight with just enough medication to last until you land. Similarly, if you are epileptic, asthmatic or diabetic, always take your medication onboard with you. You never know when you may need it, but always let the travel and flight company a couple of days before you have to fly so that thy are expecting you with that medication.

Going back to deep vein thrombosis, it can be more common in the more vulnerable and so seniors should take extra precautions. Firstly, invest in a pair of flight socks or stockings. Flight stockings are special socks that are like surgical stockings. They are designed to be tight in order to stimulate blood flow and thus should at least be worn to just above the knee, although it is advisable that seniors wear them to at least mid-thigh.

When you are actually on the flight, you should move at least once every hour, whether it means a trip to the bathroom or just walking up and down the cabin a couple of times. This will encourage blood flow and thus prevent blood clots occurring. However, if you are unable to get out of your seat regularly, there are some exercises that you can do in your seat. Cycle your feet every twenty minutes and pull your knees up as far as you can between ten and twenty times. Again, this encourages the blood to flow, whether you do it for two minutes or ten minutes every hour or so. It is all about movement!

As you can see, taking a flight as a senior requires a lot of forward planning. It is not as simple as just booking and hopping on a flight. You must make sure that you are prepared before you actually get on the flight. There are real hazards for seniors when flying, but that should not put you off. If you prepare well then there is no reason why anything should not go according to plan.

Every now and again you may read newspaper or magazine articles that the fashion industry has been criticized for its sizing system, or lack of one as the case may be. This is appearing to happen on a more and more regular basis. There is no unique and specific sizing system in place that governs the entire world fashion industry. Instead, individual stores and brands are free to choose the dimensions of the garments that they produce and sell. As a result, a size that fit you perfectly in one store may be too small or too big in another. Seniors especially suffer as a result of this baffling inconsistency. It is gradually getting harder to find anything to fit you, and that simple fact makes clothes shopping a chore rather than being the pleasurable experience that it should be!

There are ways to avoid the hassle of the high street and once again begin to enjoy clothes shopping as the pleasurable activity that it can be. Clothes are available from a variety of sources and in this day and age you should not limit yourself to actual store shopping. Although you can fully appreciate the feel and look of clothing by trying them on in a main shopping are boutique, this is not the be all and end of clothes shopping. Trying garments on can ultimately be disheartening and send your confidence on a downward spiral. The lighting is often harsh and can make you look like a complete mess when in reality you actually don’t. It tends to highlight all lumps and bumps as well as magnifying wrinkles and marks. It really doesn’t matter that the clothes actually look like on you because your focus will not be on them.

Shopping on Internet websites and through catalogues can be so much more fulfilling. They tend to offer a wider range of sizes that regular stores and always have these sizes in stock. You don’t have to try the clothes on to get a rough idea of whether it will fit your or not because most online stores have a web page that alerts you to the true measurements of every size. By measuring yourself at home, you can work out whether the garments on sale will fit or not. Catalogues also have the same premise. They have sizing pages, seemingly endless stocks and show a true likeness of the clothes for you to examine at your leisure. One extra bonus of catalogue and Internet shopping is that their returns policy generally isn’t as stringent as in store returns policies. They understand that there are a variety of reasons why people return goods and do not hold it against them.

One thing that concerns seniors most about clothing in modern stores is that most brands actually cater for the youth culture rather then the older generations. Clothing is generally designed for the sake of fashion rather than comfort. However, sixty year olds don’t want the latest fashions. As a result, you may need to visit quite a few stores before finding a few that you are willing to shop in. Again, catalogues come in handy because they cater for all tastes. However, it may be worth asking friends where they shop for clothes. Recommendations are always more reliable than Internet ones, and they can save you the time and trouble of trawling through shopping precincts.

Clothing is an integral part of everyday life because of common decency laws and morals, thus you do have to shop for it whether you like it or not. Why not make the most of it with the top five tips listed:
1. Shop on the Internet and in catalogues
2. Gather the opinions of friends before looking at a particular store
3. Avoid changing rooms like the plague
4. Check out sizing measurements rather than actual labelled sizes
5. Measure yourself before venturing out of the house to clothes shop

If you take these tips on board then you won’t go far wrong when you shop for clothes!