Solo and Smart

Book excerpt: In Solo and Smart, Carol reveals her step-by-step strategy for creating a more golden future, inspiring readers to take action to plan for their health, wealth, and more-and giving them hope. Readers realize they aren't entirely at the mercy of what inevitably befalls most elders and that they can exercise some control over their future by taking some concrete steps. Carol teaches readers an easy, surefire method to self-discover, self-assess, and self-plan-giving them full control over how they want to live in the years ahead. Readers will identify and evaluate their current challenges and then build the skills and confidence to get ahead of any landmines. She teaches readers not only how to age well but how to live well-by shaping the future they want rather than reacting to it. And Carol is living proof. Using the blueprint outlined in this book, Carol has created a successful, thriving lifestyle. She is independent, connected, safe, satisfied, healthy, and strong. This is what readers can enjoy if they follow the processes in the book.In Solo Aging, Carol speaks directly to the growing population of "solo agers," or people aged fifty-five and up who do or will not have the traditional familial supports most of our ancestors counted on as elders. The number of adults who live alone and far from family is growing. Relying on data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS), Harvard researchers examined trends among adults aged sixty-one to sixty-three over a twenty-year period (1994-2014). During this time, the percentage of adults living without a spouse or significant other grew from 25 percent to 31 percent. The number of older adults who live within 10 miles of a relative fell by 12 percent. It's common for siblings and children to live far away from one another, and the days of the three-generation household are, for the most part, long gone. Over the next forty years, solo aging is expected to be a major source of stress for close to 25 million of the sixty-five-plus population.