Don Akchin

No. 41/September 27, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. Where are the volunteers? The 70 million retirees in the U.S. represent “the greatest concentration of knowledge, experience, and emotional intelligence in the nation’s history,” says Ken Dychtw… Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash Over the summer my oldest granddaughter, 10-year-old Margaret, was bitten by the writing bug. At first she was creating a short story, but she kept writing until it was no longer short. When she finally concluded the project in late August, it stood at 80-plus handwritten pages – an admirable feat of stamina and persistence. The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. It’s a story about enchanted jewelry, an evil witch, a couple of intrepid girls,... Continue Reading

Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash I have not been a big fan of retirement communities. All things being equal, my wife and I would prefer to spend our final years in the comfort of our own home, thank you. But all things are not always equal. There may come a day when living in our current home is no longer practical and we have to consider alternatives. If we’re lucky and smart, we’ll make that call while we still have more attractive options than a nursing home. The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid... Continue Reading

No. 40/September 13, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. Using Your Home Equity to Fund Retirement Don’t forget to count the equity in your home when you add up your assets for retirement. Retirement specialist Mark Miller notes there are several ways… Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Jens Frank Jakob on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I have been assured in many articles and books that as we grow older, we grow wiser. Wisdom is held out as the great consolation prize that compensates for all the pains and losses to our physical and emotional selves. Well, I’ve definitely achieved the aging part. The beard is turning gray, the eyes and ears are weakening, the digestive machinery is slowing down, etc. etc.  So wisdom, wherefore art thou? More... Continue Reading

Photo by British Library on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. We have no problem talking about our physical health. We’re happy to tell you about our new hip, our defibrillator implant, and our gym routine. Get any two older adults together and there’s a good chance of hearing what’s known as an organ recital. Mental health is another matter. We don’t like to talk about it with our friends. We don’t even like to talk about it with our doctors – we’re far... Continue Reading

No. 39/August 30, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. When Your Kids Push You To Retire Are you a bit prickly when one of your children interrogates you about your retirement plans? It can be a sensitive topic, says writer Brittany Wong, because it th… Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Mrs. S., who is 95, needs to reach her ophthalmologist and can’t locate his telephone number, so she picks up her phone and calls Directory Assistance. However, Directory Assistance doesn’t work as it used to. Instead of a person, Mrs. S. tries to explain her request to a computer with a voice. Mrs. S. is a bit technology-shy and has limited experience talking to computers. Directory Assistance leads... Continue Reading

As the Chief Gerontology Officer at the American Society on Aging, Leanne Clark-Shirley is a passionate advocate for fighting ageism, wherever it appears (even if it shows up in our own thoughts). In this interview, she talks about three main area where ageism harms older adults: Healthcare, climate change, and public policy. Among her observations: The medical community sees old age only as a time of decline, when patients need help. It ignores the ways we are stronger and better. In one year, $63 billion of Medicare spending is directly attributable to ageism. “Older adults” is not... Continue Reading

Photo by Getty Images The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. There were signs and omens long before we fully realized my mother’s absent-mindedness had reached a dangerous state. There was the time she forgot to turn off the burner on the gas range for a whole day. Or the time she took her car to the closest grocery and had to be rescued an hour later, lost and sobbing hysterically. Clearly, my mother could not continue to live alone safely. Something had to be done. My youngest brother... Continue Reading