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Healthy Aging By Sharon Johnson Later-life challenges require planning I met an elderly, gray-haired woman with wrinkled cheeks who said to me, "I don�t buy too many green bananas anymore." Her phrase has stuck in my thinking. She was telling me that, as she ages, she makes financial decisions differently. Me, too. As I age, I am making financial decisions with new consi-derations. What if my slightly-older-than-me husband dies before I do? What will I do with a house that takes two people to keep in order � two healthy people to replant dying bushes and clean large windows? Two people can justify three bedrooms and a big yard. One person would have a harder time doing that. Decisions. I look at a favored household item and think, Now, is that something my daughter should have � or should we leave it to my stepdaughter? Should we include it in the letter that we have attached to the will we finally signed and put in our newly purchased fireproof box, or should we just put the name of the designated child on the back of the item? If my husband dies suddenly, I will have to locate and interpret the Excel spreadsheet he uses to track household finances. I will need to sort out life insurance policies and a variety of business and family financial accounts. We did purchase that "home safe" for important papers. But where did we finally put that heavy metal object � and where in the world is the combination? Or was there a key? Decisions. Is there enough money to support a surviving spouse until the age of 93 years, which the data suggests I might be likely to reach? Is there enough money if I do not age well and become (expensively) ill? What if we both become expensively ill? I like to think that we have done some of the right kind of planning and preparing. But I clearly know we have more planning to do. I reluctantly admit that the money management part of marriage is not my favorite part, and I often relinquish it to my husband. Money and aging (healthy or otherwise) are inextricably linked. If you have a lot of money, you have to decide who gets what resources � and when. If you have a modest amount, you need to focus on survival. You need to consider how to stretch dollars that seemed to go a lot further when you were planning them than they do now when you are closer to needing them. I think about the wrinkly cheeked woman. It is so much more complicated than timely purchases. It is not about purchasing at all. It is about getting old � being old � in a time of economic swings. It is about being financially prepared for the challenges of later life. Women, it is time to get educated about all this. It is time. "Financial Planning for Women" is a locally available series of five classes to assist with retirement and financial planning. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sponsors it. The cost: $30. Call 779-2273 for more information. Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.