
Are you a Solo?
- Age 50 or older?
- Currently single (widowed, divorced, separated, never married, or don’t have a life partner)?
- Don’t have adult children who could provide help as you age, when needed?
The Soloist is a Newsletter that Addresses Your Needs. As Solos grow older, they need a plan for realizing their hopes, meeting their needs, and dealing with the challenges that often come with aging. That’s true for anyone, but it’s especially important when you’re a Solo. If you don’t have a plan, other people will have to make decisions for you, without any clue as to your preferences or wishes.
Welcome to The Soloist, a newsletter from Davis Financial Group, where we share information, expertise, interviews, and stories to help Solos live well, take good care of themselves, and make wise choices for their future.
Latest Article
It began back in 2013. Manhattanite Wendl Kornfeld, then age 65, had been thinking a lot about what would happen as she and her husband aged. They didn’t have children. All the more reason for them to make a plan for whatever lay ahead. Read more … Solos in Good Company
Other Recent Articles
About one-quarter of adults over age 65 are Solo, and the percentage is even larger among the oldest age groups. Yet many Solos feel like freaks. They live in a world where it’s assumed that you, like other older adults, have children and grandchildren who will play an active role as you age. Read more … Solos Emerge from the Shadows
Financial planners, estate lawyers, Aging Life Care™ Managers, accountants and daily money managers— there’s a whole cadre of professionals just beginning to awaken to the Solo population. Read more … Patient Advocates —A New Player in the Solo Safety Net
When I was in grade school, I calculated that I would be age 52 at the turn of the century. I couldn’t begin to imagine living that long. But I did—and then some. Which begs the question, have I gotten any better at guessing my life expectancy? Read more … Life Expectancy - Estimating Your Own Longevity
Popular
Today, aging Boomers are reinventing what it means to be “elderly.” Among other factors that set them apart from previous generations, they are much more likely to be Solos, i.e., age 65 and older and not have a spouse, partner, and/or adult children who can support them as they age. But Baby Boomers are only the leading edge. Read more … The Solos Are Coming, the Solos Are Coming
More to Explore

How Long Will You Live? Part III
This article is the third in a series that can help you pressure-test your assumptions and estimate your life expectancy in a more informed way. In my first article, I talked about some of the reasons people avoid thinking about their life expectancy. In a second piece, I discussed people’s tendency to overestimate or underestimate their longevity by five years or more. Read more … How Long Will You Live? Part III

Where Will You Live? A Curated Reading List for Solos
“Can you recommend any good reading on living arrangements for Solos?” asked a subscriber to The Soloist. Can I ever, I replied. As a researcher (who is also a Solo), I collect everything I can about aging solo—including the factors to consider in choosing your living arrangements. Read more … Where Will You Live? A Curated Reading List for Solos

How Long Will You Live? Part I
Thinking about our own mortality makes most of us uncomfortable. We hope that our lives end quickly, rather than after a long decline or a health catastrophe. Yet we all know people whose deaths—as well as the months or even years leading up to it—have been painful to witness. Read more … How Long Will You Live? Part I

Finding a Home
Deciding where to live as we age is one of the most important decisions Solos make—or sometimes postpone making. Should we stay where we are or move? Strike out on our own or choose a community that can provide on-site care and support, if and when we need it. Read more … Finding a Home

“Have the Talk of a Lifetime”— But with Whom?
Frequently, my eyes drift to the display ad that appears in this section and is given an extra-large space before holidays. “Have the Talk of a Lifetime,” reads the headline. In an era when society aims to become more inclusive, these talk-of-a-lifetime ads are still stuck in the 1950s, when (heterosexual) couples and kids filled every home—or were thought to. Read more … “Have the Talk of a Lifetime”— But with Whom?

An Age 50+ Horror Movie—With a Twist
I Care a Lot has been streaming on Netflix for just a few months. Yet the movie has already had an impact on our clients and friends. After seeing it, you’ll never forget why having a financial safety net is so important. Read more … An Age 50+ Horror Movie—With a Twist

Rich Solo, Poor Solo
The self-proclaimed, best-selling personal finance book of all time is Richard Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! At its core, the book has a simple message: that “regular” people can become richer by learning from the money-management practices of the wealthy. Read more … Rich Solo, Poor Solo

Estate Planning for Solos
Most of us drag our heels when it comes to estate-planning. It simmers quietly on the back burner, muffled by more immediate issues. Whether we’re Solos, married, and/or have children, we’re seldom eager to contemplate our own mortality. Read more … Estate Planning for Solos

What to Plan for If You’re Aging Solo
Flip through any issue of AARP Magazine and you’ll see a recommended to-do list for older adults: Choose a healthcare proxy, get an estate plan and a durable power of attorney, document your end-of-life wishes, write down your emergency contacts. Read more … What to Plan for If You’re Aging Solo

Solo in the Time of COVID-19
“COVID has made me think a lot more about aging alone,” a 60-year-old widow told me. Her wife had died six years ago; they had no children. Although she has since found a new partner, she’s learned from experience that relationships don’t always last. Read more … Solo in the Time of COVID-19

Solos Come in Many Varieties
Strictly speaking, solos are defined as adults age 65 or older who have neither a spouse/partner nor adult children to support them as they age. But Solos are a varied bunch. The complexities of real life, real people, and real families produce a lot of diversity under the Solo tent. Read more … Solos Come in Many Varieties

Are You a Soloist? Are You Putting Yourself at Risk?
Nearly one-quarter of people age 65 or older are “soloists”—that is, aging adults without a spouse or partner and children whom they can all on for help or support, when needed. That’s a huge portion of the population. Read more … Are You a Soloist? Are You Putting Yourself at Risk?

Self-reliance Is Overrated
I was in my mid-30s when I broke my leg in a hiking accident. For more than a month, I hobbled around in a cast and crutches, determined to continue living much as I had before: running errands, meeting friends for coffee, returning to my job at UMass, even traveling from building to building for meetings or a class. Read more … Self-reliance Is Overrated

Soloist First Post
As we enter the height of summer, the virus is continuing to wreak havoc with our economy, our sense or order and security, and for some our faith in the future. Covid-19 is certainly illuminating the fragility of life. Even those of us who procrastinate the most have been moved by our intensified sense of our own mortality to make sure our legal documents are all buttoned up. Read more … Soloist First Post