Don Akchin

No. 38/ August 16, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. Harvard Study Discovers What Makes Us Happy The Harvard Study of Adult Development started following participants 85 years ago and has now analyzed more than 2,000 people through three generations… Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash The last few months have been increasingly difficult for my 92-year-old mother-in-law. Although she has been able to remain in an independent-living apartment, she finds that she needs outside help regularly. What she really wants is someone for an hour or two in the morning, to help her start her day, and then an hour or two again in the late afternoon to help prepare dinner. That kind of help is not available. The home care services in Cincinnati all require a four-hour minimum, and split shifts are not an option. Paying for four hours of... Continue Reading

What would you expect a serial entrepreneur to do in retirement? Stop? No way! Carl Landau, a successful creator of niche magazines and an events planning company, had no intention to stop playing with new business ideas in his “unretirement,” so he created a podcast, “I Used to be Somebody,” started a newsletter for Baby Boomers, and wrote a best-seller about pickleball. He has a few more ideas on the back burner. He also has his own bobblehead figure. In this interview, you’ll discover: How he learned to prioritize his hobby and fit his business around it. Why people who are attached... Continue Reading

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. As a regular reader of The EndGame, you know that the newsletter is all about taking a positive approach to aging. I truly believe that we have more to look forward to than inevitable decline and decrepitude. But does that mean we can’t complain about our losses every now and then? More specifically, aren’t we entitled, every now and then, to play the age card? Share The EndGame Playing the age card is... Continue Reading

No. 37/August 2, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. Extreme Heat Especially Dangerous for Elders Anyone who still doubts the reality of climate change after last week’s brutal heat wave is just not paying attention. Extreme heat is particularly deadly Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Giulia Squillace on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The words “work” and “retirement,” as we normally use them, are opposites and mutually exclusive: If you work, you’re not retired. If you’re retired, you don’t work. But that’s just not true anymore. The quaint notion of a retirement spent in relaxation and indolence is no longer the norm. For most older adults, it’s not even a preference. Many people of retirement age continue to work –... Continue Reading

The groundbreaking works of Margaret Gullette have informed and inspired many present-day thinkers and activists fighting against ageism in American culture. In the second part of this interview, Gullette talks about: What makes ageism a “violent” force in people’s lives The connection between ageism and corporate profits What it means to be a public intellectual – and why we need more of them Why it is critical for older adults to share their stories. Gullette is resident scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. Her published works include... Continue Reading

Photo by Getty Images Like everyone else I know who has given the matter more than two seconds of thought, I want to spend my final years in my own comfortable home, thank you very much. More than 70% of American adults over 50 and 100% of Canadians over 65 agree. And, on the flip side, you will be hard pressed to find any North American adult who is happy with the thought of spending his last days in a nursing home. The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. But are we kidding ourselves?... Continue Reading

No. 36/ July 19, 2023 NewScan is a biweekly briefing on news relevant to readers of The EndGame. NewScan is a premium feature exclusively for paid subscribers. That’s Right, Blame it on the Boomers We should be used to this by now, but it still smarts. Under the headline “The Boomers Are Retiring. See Why That’s Bad News for Workers,” the Washington Post b… Read more  Continue Reading

Photo by Caroline Roose on Unsplash The EndGame is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The subject of ultra-processed foods first caught my attention when I was talking to Emily and Mitchell Clionsky about preventing dementia. After debunking most so-called dementia-prevention diets as bunk, they noted the compelling evidence linking dementia to a diet heavy in ultra-processed food. At the time, I had no idea what ultra-processed food was, or how it differed from processed food. After doing research,... Continue Reading