📋 America Needs a Plan to Help Older Adults — and Soon (AARP Article)

[Winter2025VA]

FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE!!!

AARP Shares Vision for National Plan on Aging.

America needs a plan to help its older citizens — and soon.

By Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO, AARP. Published September 20, 2024.

Most Americans understand the importance of planning to ­secure their economic futures and advance directives to ­prepare for their health care as they age. But for too long, there has been no federal action plan to protect our nation’s growing older population.

By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or ­older. Yet many government policies and ­programs have not addressed the unique needs of the aging population.

https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2024/jo-ann-jenkins-vision-for-aging.html

[GailL1]

We have had a LIFETIME to prepare for the inevitable of getting older.  We all knew it was coming - right?  

Do you really think that government is gonna be the savior to the numerous dilemmas of getting older - They haven’t done anything about the programs that affect us NOW like Social Security and Medicare - and the words been out about the problems in these programs for at least the last 20+ years. 

We have actually caused many of these problems ourselves.  I am sure that when you sold a home that you wanted ALL the equity that the sale could muster rather than thinking how this would add to the affordability of the home down the road when EVERY owner was considering the same exact same thing of getting the most money as they could.

This plan is too late to be of any real help to most, if any, of the Baby Boomers - it takes time to build affordable housing especially if many are needing that type of living subsidized.  The place where property values are more reasonable are located in places that don’t have the services necessary for older people.  

It takes time to develop a network of medical providers and institutions to be located in areas where it is most reasonable for older people to live.  It also takes supportive medical infrastructure to make it work - then surrounding that there is the need for transportation to get there - to and from. 

We are a country based on freedom and capitalism - ordering things done by statue because it fits the needs of a specific population would change the nature of our society.  Having any such large scale plans also cost lots of money and the country as a whole is broke.  

People may say, tax the rich - they are already taxed and already pay more for their (same) services like Medicare or they make less like the programs of Social Security Retirement, Disability and Survivors which are not  charity programs but  earned benefits from years of work and contributing directly to the system.

I am of the ole school of thought - IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME.  We need MORE planning during our lifetime.  We need to encourage people to become educated on such matters so that they can make good decisions in this planning.  I wish AARP would concentrate on those things earlier so we can actually change this moving forward.  Otherwise, we are just shifting the burden.