man on park bench Aging Well

March 3, 2025 -- I turned 70 this year. My God, I've never been this old in my life! Haha, joke. Wish it were funny.

This aging thing is a challenge in so many ways. My advice to my peers: make sure you've done your homework to prepare for this next phase.

Here are the assignments:

  • Write your will. Make sure the disposition of your assets goes as you wish.
  • Put those assets in a trust. You don't want your heirs to have to deal with probate.
  • Write your Advance Directive. Samples are numerous on the web. for example, Kaiser offers an easy, free one, with instructions. Like me, you may not want gorillas pounding your chest (CPR) when it's time for a dignified ending.

And then there are the lifestyle and functional losses. It's hard to accept and understand the changes that are happening, to maintain a good level of functioning for as long as possible, and to compensate for the ongoing take-aways of our advancing years.

Fortunately, I am navigating these pretty well for now. The big conclusion? Die healthy! And fully documented!

Cartoon by Charles Keller, Dan's father