Advice for solo agers: Planning for the future and leaving a legacy
Planning for the future and making decisions about leaving a legacy are important for older adults, including solo agers. Solo agers value autonomy, being sole or primary decision-makers about issues related to all aspects of our lives, freedom, and independence.
Advance directives
It is important to develop advance directives about needs for physical and mental health care, including long-term care. Legal documents can help to ensure your wishes are followed, with selecting who will speak on your behalf being critical.
Since solo agers do not have spouses/partners or adult children in their support network, they will need to select someone else – a friend, a peer, a nephew or niece – who can be trusted and counted on. Then if the individual becomes very ill, incapacitated, dies or moves far away, it will be necessary to select someone else.
As we discussed in Part 2, it is essential for solo agers to continuing developing and building their support network; these “newer” parties may end up being the ones you ask to consider serving as proxies.
The development of several legal documents must be considered, requiring you forge a solid working relationship with a lawyer who you trust and who you believe will help you make decisions grounded in what matters most to you. These documents include: Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Power of Attorney, Financial Power of Attorney, Psychiatric Advance Directives, Living Will, Will, and Revocable Living Trust.
What you want to avoid is becoming incapacitated or declared incompetent without having your plans and wishes in place. It may result in you having a court-appointed guardian, who may be someone you do not know and who exploits you. Guardians wield incredible power over your life, your property and your assets, and are in control of all decisions made.
When considering how to will pay for long-term care, if needed, options are basically of three types − private pay, long-term care insurance and public assistance such as Medicaid. Consideration could be given to using an asset to cover the cost of care – e.g., retirement savings, using home equity via a reverse mortgage. Eligibility for Medicaid requires the older adult has gone through all other options, divests himself/herself of assets to be able to qualify for Medicaid after 60 months, or engages in “spend down” (Young and Davis, 2023).
Leaving a legacy: What to leave behind and to whom
Legacies can be financial and/or non-financial in nature. Solo agers must think about what they want to leave behind and to whom – they do not have children to pass on property to, to bequeath special belongings to, and with whom their “stories” can be shared. But keep in mind you can make a difference, your legacy can live on, and you can be remembered.
If you have financial assets, retirement funds, an annuity, real estate or special/unique belongings, the door is open to have your financial legacy benefit a specific individual, organization, nonprofit or charity,and/or those who are in need of what you have to give.
What you leave behind can be gifts from the heart and soul, and be non-financial nature. Notably, leaving a legacy is a precious gift, offering a permanent expression of love, wisdom, insights, values, and what you want to be remembered for.
You can write your life story or memoir, craft legacy letters or ethical wills to ensure no message is left unsaid, and write your obituary. Non-writing-focused options include creating a scrapbook, memory book or box or time capsule; producing a video where you share your story; compiling a photo album; creating a memory quilt.
What opportunities Ashland County offers
Excellent resources are available to help you engage in the legacy writing process. Several organizations in Ashland County have offered educational opportunities for groups about legacy-related as well as life planning issues.
From 2018-2020, the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County (MHRB) dedicated resources, and collaborated with other organizations to educate older adults about legacy writing, options for leaving a lasting legacy, and multigenerational legacy projects. Partners included Hospice of North Central Ohio, Area Agency on Aging District 5 and the Ashland County Historical Society Workshops were offered, with resources made readily available.
A series of Leaving a Legacy articles was published in the Ashland Times-Gazette. The series shared the life stories of six older adults in Ashland County who were interviewed. They reflected on the legacies they wanted to leave behind, how to live life well, challenges faced and overcome, words of wisdom/advice they would share with others based on what they had learned from experiences over time (Eva Beard (2018); Dave Bell (2019); Jack Cadley (2019); Rebecca Humrichouser (2018); Ana Maria Rivera (2020); John Stoops (2019)).
More recently, Ashland County Council on Aging (COA) partnered with the Ashland County Ministerial Association in offering presentations for what is referred to as “Thrive as We Age Legacy Series.” Speakers offer professional perspectives, represented by an elder law attorney, financial advisor, home health care specialist, credit union financial planner, and hospice/palliative care physician affiliated with a hospice care provider.
What else could be addressed in future educational opportunities:
Unique challenges faced by Solo Agers, a growing subpopulation
Housing options and issues
Psychiatric advance directives
Guardianships that are abusive or exploitive
The need to develop a sense of “community,” the adoption of a citizen or citizenship model rather than the current consumer model in senior living settings
Concluding Comments
What kind of events, educational opportunities, or resources would you like to see happen or made available to plan well for your future, maintain independence and promote self-empowerment, and leave a legacy behind? Share your ideas with organizations such as the MHRB, Area Agency on Aging District 5, Kroc Center, Ashland Public Library and the COA.
From my perspective, all stakeholders and community members should be aware, informed, and discuss the unique challenges faced by solo agers, noting negative ramifications will affect all. There will be a growing need for a community solution to ensure increasing needs are met well, despite financial and workforce barriers, while focusing on “affordability” and “quality of life” issues.
Diana Spore, PhD, MGS, is a freelance writer, mental health advocate, social gerontologist, educator/researcher, and expert in mental health and aging. Spore is a Solo Ager, who resides in Ashland County.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Planning for the future and leaving a legacy as a solo ager
