About 27 percent of Americans over 60 are solo agers, according to Care.com’s guide to aging independently. Stephanie Childs of AARP Research defines solo agers as adults 50 and older who live alone, are not in a long-term partnership and have no living children, which leaves no one nearby to catch the details a spouse or grown child usually handles.
That gap is why planners and aging experts keep urging the same short to-do list. Six items come up again and again, and most of them are easier to set up at 62 than at 82.
Making the Home Itself Safer
The numbers explain the urgency. The same Care.com guide, citing the Census Bureau’s 2023 Current Population Survey, says 28 percent of older adults live alone, a share that shows up in this site’s look at boomers who own their homes outright and still live alone. Anyone building a plan from scratch can find a lighter angle in common regrets people experience in adulthood.
1. Fall-detection and smart home technology. Care.com’s guide lists voice-activated assistants, fall-detection systems, smart plugs and video doorbells, and notes that professional 24/7 monitoring is available. Allstate Canada’s list of safety tips for seniors living alone names an emergency response system, a wearable device or button that calls for help when pressed, as a priority. Gadgets work best alongside smaller changes, like the ones in these home habits worth reconsidering after 50.
2. Help arranged before it is urgent. Dr. Elena Portacolone, a sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco’s Institute for Health & Aging, says it is “better for solo agers to plan ahead as much as possible.” Caregiver or home care support is easiest to line up while there is time to compare options and get comfortable with the people involved. The realities of growing old alone make that head start valuable, much like the planning behind boomer habits that are making a comeback.
The Paperwork Nobody Enjoys
Paper forms and a pen feel like the little rituals from the 80s and 90s that disappeared without much notice, yet two of the six items on the list still come down to signed documents. Getting them done early also frees up time for the fun parts of later life, from hobbies to the benefits of RV living.
3. Named beneficiaries on financial accounts. Per the Care.com guide, citing AARP, only 60 percent of solo agers have designated beneficiaries. Without them, access to funds can be delayed if the account holder becomes incapacitated. It is a short form, and the gaps most senior citizens wish they had covered include exactly this kind of loose end.
4. A living will and a durable power of attorney. These documents are state-specific, and the guide points to CaringInfo.org for state forms. Faris Khatib, co-founder and CEO of Ideal Tax, warns that missing financial directives can make the process “complex and stressful” for loved ones, and says an elder law attorney can help draft them. He adds that missing paperwork can lead to unpaid bills and sometimes court involvement.
The People Part of the Plan
5. Early conversations about wishes. Jeri Pleticha, a registered nurse and CEO of Touching Hearts at Home, advises talking through wishes, how to age in place, finances and family dynamics 20 to 30 years ahead. Her point is that a care plan is easier to set up when time is still on the side of the planner.
6. A support network. Care.com names the Aging Life Care Association, the Navigating Solo Network and the Elder Orphans Facebook group, along with volunteering, as ways to build one. Debi Moore, a retired Florida nurse quoted in the guide, went back to part-time work after feeling isolated and built friendships with neighbors, and suggests helping other seniors, giving rides or walking dogs.
Allstate Canada adds a lower-tech piece: a routine of regular check-ins, where a family member or friend makes contact in person, by phone or by video.
None of the six requires a big budget, only a free afternoon and a pen. Several of them, like beneficiaries and directives, can be finished in a single sitting, and the rest can be built up one phone call at a time.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Peachyeung316 – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
