Have you Properly Planned your Retirement?

Gone are the days of the past when people went from years of labor only to go home and live a rather stale and stagnate lifestyle until reaching death. Today's retirees are more active than ever. Unfortunately, those activities take money and unless you're planning to sit at home and wait for death you should be making plans to take care of all those things you wish you had done earlier in life once you retire.

While you are planning for your financial retirement you should also take the time to make plans for what you will do once you retire. Do you need to join a travel club now in order to have an established membership when the time comes to actually enjoy the benefits of belonging? How about that book of the month club? Many of these clubs are great to join while you have the extra 'disposable' income that goes along with working and having a career. You can take the time now to build up your library. Even if you read the books now, chances are that by the time you retire you'll enjoy the ability to read them again.

If you are retiring today you will want to make plans to go parasailing, take cruises, ride horses, and maybe learn to golf and/or knit. You do not want to spend your golden years sitting at home waiting for the inevitable end. You want to leave this world laughing about all the fun and good times you've had. The stereotypes associated with retirees are changing quickly as the world evolves and people are living longer than ever before.

When you plan your funds you also might want to take the time to have a few daydreams about the places you will go and save a page or two to write about those dreams and sharing them with your partner in life. You should also take time to find out what he or she hopes to do, where he or she hopes to go, and the things that he or she would like to see when making plans for your retirement. After all, you have shared your lives together it only makes sense that you will share the best years of your lives with one another.

There is no better input to get when it comes to your retirement than the input of your life partner. You should also take things in stages and not try to do and see everything in the first months or year of your retirement. The novelty of not going into the office each and every day will wear off quite soon. You will then find that you can only mow your lawn so many times a day without actually doing more harm than good to your grass. You'll know every leave of every flower in your garden, and you will know the inside and outside of every book on your shelves. Don't become a victim of boredom in your retirement as that brings on spending sprees. Find a hobby that doesn't require a considerable investment and you will help prolong the limited funds you will have at retirement and save them for the more important things on your list of "things to do before you die".

Understanding Elderly Depression

Elderly depression is when an individual in later life (65 or older) suffers from depression. Depression in the elderly individual typically goes hand-in-hand with other medical diseases or disabilities. Depression in the elderly is often made worse by loss of a support system when life changes such as a death of a spouse, or siblings and friends and also events like retirement or relocation can lead to a decrease of individuals available to support them mentally, emotionally or with daily tasks.

The elderly are at higher risk for severe depression and suicide due to the fact that most depression in older adults goes unnoticed by medical staff or family and friends.

Individuals aged 65 or older with depression are considered to be a major public health problem by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Out of the 6 million Americans who are aged 65 or older and depressed only 10% of them will seek treatment.

Long-term illness, prevalent in this age group is a common trigger for depression. Typical long-term illnesses in the elderly are Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer, chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease and stroke.

19% of all deaths by suicide are from depressed elderly individuals.

Elderly patients being treated for significant intensity of depression have approximately 50% higher healthcare costs than non-depressed elderly individuals. The elderly at most risk for depression are those who are on certain medications such as those for hypertension which can have a side effect of depression; those elderly individuals who have other illnesses; those who live alone because they were unmarried or widowed or are otherwise isolated; those who have suffered a recent bereavement; those who suffer from chronic pain; those who have suffered a physical loss (amputation or loss of body part); those who fear death, have a family history of depression or past suicide attempt and those who abuse substances.

Elderly patients being treated with antidepressants may experience side effects and should be counseled by the doctor and or pharmacist so they know what to expect in advance of taking the medication. There may also be reactions with other medications that they are taking. Many pharmacies today are able to track these reactions as long as they are given the correct information regarding all of the medications as well as any herbal therapies that the individual is taking. Antidepressants such as amitriptyline and imipramine can cause a drop in blood pressure or a sedating effect. Antidepressants may also take longer to work in elderly individuals because doctors usually need to start out at a lower dose in order to accommodate medication sensitivities usually occurring in elderly individuals.

Along with medication psychotherapy is usually added to the treatment plan in order for the elderly individual to learn coping mechanisms. Another important aspect of treatment is the growth or establishment of a support system.