Laura Roberts Archive | Secure Aging

Bury My Pet With Me – Or NOT!

We have always had pets in our home. The unconditional love provided by a pet cannot be duplicated. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that made me smile. It said, More Wagging and Less Barking. There are many benefits to owning animals and lots of articles written about how pets extend your life…

How To Reconcile Your Check Book Without Pulling Your Hair Out

To protect your identity and your assets, you should make sure that you reconcile your bank and credit card accounts each month when you receive your monthly statements. For those who are good with numbers, this task is not too difficult. But for some, this is an extremely daunting task. You procrastinate and then give…

Giving Up The Check Book – Worse Than Giving Up The Car Keys

Giving up the check book is worse than giving up the car keys. We often hear children talking about their aging parents and how difficult it was to convince them to stop driving. But I believe that asking the parent to stop managing their money and trusting someone else to watch their assets is much…

When The Doctor Says, “It’s Time To Get Your Affairs In Order”

Someone close to you has just received a terminal illness diagnosis. The doctor is telling them that they have a short time to live and that they should get their affairs in order. Why does it take a terminal illness to prompt us to get things organized? Even more curious, why would you want to…

Downsizing Our Home So We Can Up-Size Our Travels

I find myself wanting to continually simplify my life as I get older. The big four bedroom house with a large yard went by the wayside about 12 years ago. My husband and I downsized to a maintenance-free villa town home with 3 bedrooms and two baths. Now, as we begin to travel more, I…

Credit Cards – All It Takes Is A Quick Swipe

My step mother had a surgical procedure done the other day which required an overnight stay and change to her medications. Since my Dad is no longer driving long distances, I went to spend a few nights with them so that I could take step mother to the hospital, and take Dad back and forth…

Free Cruise – Too Good To Be True?

We have all heard the saying that if it is too good to be true, then it probably is. Recently, our client, Joan (not her real name) rediscovered how true this statement really is. She received a mailing from the Holiday Cruise Planners – it contained a boarding pass for a FREE cruise. Attached later…