Walking is a necessity and a health-promoting activity for many of the more than 41 million Americans now 65 and older. It helps maintain bone and muscle strength, mobility, agility and independence. It can help to prevent, delay or control many chronic ailments. And it fosters social interactions and a higher quality of life. However, […]

Why do we have such punitive attitudes toward old people? In 2050, Americans age 65 and over are predicted to almost double in number to 83.7 million, one-fifth of the population. An aging population does pose real challenges, but increasing numbers of people of working age (as traditionally defined) are unemployed today, while growing numbers […]

From magazine covers to billboards, youth is glamorized as the image of beauty and the prime of life. We are inundated with the message that aging is something we should dread and perhaps even fight. You may unquestioningly accept this as a fact of life. You may even laugh about being “over the hill.” The […]

Feeling pleased that I had survived another year and the annual predictions of the apocalypse, I made the mistake of picking up “Falling Short: The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It” (Oxford University Press). Written by Alicia H. Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, with Andrew […]