Our focus this week on the Blog is aging alone. For millions of American seniors, solo aging is their daily experience, some by choice and some out of necessity. Elsewhere on the Blog, we’ve included articles that describe solo aging in general terms. But what is the experience like for a typical single senior?
Recently, the Wall Street Journal featured an article describing the journey of one such senior, a Massachusetts woman, 65-year-old Amy Kant. Like all solo agers, Kant finds herself navigating “complex financial, medical decisions without a built-in safety net,” as the article puts it. Today, facing various health-related challenges, she will have to make some difficult housing and financial decisions without a spouse or partner as a sounding board.
The Wall Street Journal article, written by reporter Veronica Dagher, does an effective job of describing the human side of solo aging. Let’s take a closer look at Amy Kant’s experience. (Note that a subscription may be required to access the article online.)
Facing a Tough Financial Decision On Her Own
The Journal article begins with a potentially difficult decision Amy Kant needs to make: naming someone as her power of attorney. It’s a choice she has been putting off for a decade.
“The 65-year-old is single with no children,” reporter Veronica Dagher writes, “and bound up in that choice over who should make financial decisions on her behalf are other big questions that are often intensified when aging alone. How to handle eldercare? Estate planning? Where will she live in her later years?”
Asked about her situation, Kant sums it up succinctly: “It all falls on me,” she says.
From a Sense of Freedom to a Daily Struggle
“Kant had long cherished the freedom that came with being single,” the Wall Street Journal article explains. “She prided herself on doing headstands in yoga and walking 5 miles a day. But lately being single has felt like a struggle, and not just because of the weighty financial decisions hanging over her head.”
According to the article, Kant has endured recent back surgery and heart valve replacement. As a result, her Boston-area condominium now resembles “a recovery ward.”
Dagher writes, “She spends most of her time at home these days recovering from heart surgery complications, with friends stopping by. She finds solace painting in a spare bedroom she turned into a studio, but knows she will eventually have to move to a smaller place that’s easier to get around in.”
Millions of Americans Are Navigating Aging On Their Own
As the article reports, Kant is among the millions of Americans learning to navigate aging alone.
“Roughly 10 percent of the more than 125 million adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.—or at least 12.5 million people—are solo agers who live alone and have neither a spouse nor a child,” Dagher writes, citing an AARP analysis of census data. “It’s a growing demographic hitting both genders, driven in part by climbing divorce rates among older Americans and a rising number of adult children becoming alienated from their parents.”
Personal Freedom Leads to Challenges as a Solo Senior
In her article, Dagher explains that Kant didn’t set out with a master plan.
“In her 20s and 30s, she chose lower-paying nonprofit jobs to give priority to her art,” the reporter writes. “She remembers how friends envied her freedom; while they were tied down with dinner duty, their kids’ homework, and college savings, Kant spent her evenings painting and didn’t think twice about going out on weeknights.”
Soon, Kant had earned her M.B.A. and gotten into professional fundraising. Along the way, she was careful to max out traditional retirement account savings to help ensure future financial stability. Today she feels reasonably secure financially, and she hopes to return to consulting once her health improves in order to stay active and productive.
Illness Makes the Need for a POA More Urgent
Dagher’s article elaborates on the dilemma some solo seniors face when deciding who will act on their behalf.
“When Kant first realized the importance of naming a power of attorney, she didn’t know whom to choose at the time, and put off the decision,” Dagher writes. “She only recently identified the right friend for the role after her illnesses made clear she needed to act. Kant is planning to ask that friend soon.” (This recent Blog article provides helpful insight on selecting a financial power of attorney.)
She has identified a longtime college friend to serve as her healthcare proxy, the article adds. Kant also maintains a spreadsheet of friends who can coordinate visits when she’s ill.
As close as these friends are, Dagher’s article points out, they still represent “a chosen family,” one that comes with definite boundaries. “[Kant’s] friends have their own households to manage; some have already died,” Dagher writes.
Legal Decisions Can Create Confusion and Trigger Procrastination
Kant told the Wall Street Journal that she still has important legal decisions to make. She needs to draft a will and decide how to divide her assets.
“I honestly have a bit of confusion because I want to help everyone, which is a bit absurd,” Kant confessed to Dagher.
“Kant has given herself a one-year deadline to complete her estate-planning documents,” says the article. “She is hoping she will have the mental energy needed to tackle such tasks once she is further along in her recovery.”
Health Concerns Put the Spotlight on Housing Decisions
As she recovers from back and heart surgeries, Kant has come to realize that her condo isn’t easy to get around in. She has begun researching 55+ communities.
“She has realized staying in her condo would be impractical, since it has stairs,” Dagher explains. She has been in her home for a decade and will likely earn a profit from its eventual sale, but she’ll have to give up her present 3.75 percent mortgage rate. Moving to a more affordable neighborhood will mean leaving behind her core social circle, she told the Wall Street Journal.
Using Her Artwork to Explore Issues of Aging Alone
The Wall Street Journal article ends with a poignant description of Amy Kant’s current philosophical mindset.
“Back in her art studio,” Dagher writes, “Kant processes how her life is set to shift in coming years through painting. She created a series about being alone but being part of a larger world. She also made a collection of autumn leaf portraits that explore aging, decay and the search for where we belong.”
Kant explained to Dagher, “I’m thinking about what my legacy will be.”
Rajiv Nagaich – Your Retirement Planning Coach and Guide
Rajiv Nagaich’s newest program on PBS, called Designing Your Ideal Future, is bringing Rajiv’s powerful message to Americans from coast to coast. This engaging and challenging PBS show is prompting thousands to take a fresh look at the type of planning that will help them succeed in retirement.
In this one-hour PBS special, Rajiv Nagaich takes viewers step-by-step through the principles of creating a retirement plan that truly supports the life you want to live. Instead of generic check-the-box paperwork, Rajiv reveals how to infuse your perspective — your values, goals, and priorities — into every legal document and life plan component so your plan becomes a living system for your future.
Designing Your Ideal Future includes insights from real-world planning examples and a live Q&A with Rajiv Nagaich that answers viewer questions about retirement planning, legal readiness, and family communication. It’s perfect for anyone approaching retirement, currently retired, or responsible for a loved one’s future care — and for those who want a clear, effective approach to planning that prioritizes personal choice and quality of life.
What about you?
You’ve heard Rajiv say it repeatedly: 70 percent of retirement plans will fail. If you know someone whose retirement turned into a nightmare when they were forced into a nursing home, went broke paying for care, or became a burden to their families – and you want to make sure it doesn’t happen to you – then these materials are your key to retirement success.
Visit your local PBS station’s schedule to find airtimes and learn how to access companion resources — including a free Legal Readiness Quiz and tools to help build your complete LifePlanning system.
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And remember, Age On, everyone!
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