Sharon's Senior Living Blog

In 2008, more Americans face higher credit card bills than last year. Seniors and others on a fixed income are especially vulnerable to making mistakes that result in high credit card late fees, so please manage your credit cards wisely. These 6 tips will help you avoid credit card late fees and protect your credit rating.
_{Photo by LotusHead}

Recommended Reading:

Credit Card Late Fees: How Much Will It Really Cost You?

Why Older Adults Are More Vulnerable to Scams

6 Tips to Avoid Scams

It is important to have complete drug information about the medication and supplements you take, including their effectiveness, safety, and possible side effects. Here are two handy guides that provide comprehensive drug information about prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as herbal supplements. And one will even help you identify that stray pill in the bottom of your suitcase.
_{Photo by Trisha Shears}

Exercise benefits everyone, at any age. If you've decided to get in shape but you've been sedentary for awhile--or you have a chronic medical problem--check out these senior exercise tips before you begin any exercise program.
_{Photo by Rob Melnychuk/Getty Images}

Every year, millions of older Americans resolve to lose weight, whether on New Year’s Day, their birthdays, or just some morning when their mirror or the bathroom scale seems particularly unkind. And every year, many get frustrated and give up before they reach their goals. Contributing to this problem is a host of bad information about diet and exercise that circulates through gyms, workplaces, and over the Internet. To help more people achieve and maintain a healthy weight, two diet and exercise experts agreed to “weigh in” on many of the most common diet and exercise myths that could be holding you back.
_{Photo by Kevin Miller}

Baby boomers are exercising more than any previous generation, using regular workouts to maintain health, manage stress, and improve their quality of life. But sport injuries from running, swimming and biking are also sending baby boomers into doctors’ offices and operating rooms in record numbers. What kind of baby boomer sports injuries are keeping doctors so busy?
_{Photo by Michael Connors}

Read more...

What's life like for a retiree in a senior community? Staying too busy to get sick, according to Jerry Guralsky, a retiree who chose to live in a senior golf community in Florida. Even with his days and nights jam-packed with activities, Jerry found the time to muse about what life looks like for him. Check out A Retiree's Diary, a funny and bittersweet look at one retiree's life.

One of the biggest challenges that caregivers face is keeping hope alive - for themselves and the people they care for - while facing the realities of a serious illness. In For Caregivers: How to Maintain Hope, a doctor offers advice to caregivers and their loved ones about expressing your hopes, acknowledging reality, respecting each other's vision for the future, letting go of old dreams, and creating new ones.
_{Photo by Alex Ward}

Grandparents traveling with grandchildren is becoming so popular that someone gave it a name: Grand Travel. Many travel tour organizations now offer grand travel vacations specifically designed to provide rewarding intergenerational travel experiences, and here are details about three of the best.

_{Photo by Freddy Hinojosa}

These five free U.S. government publications can help you understand Social Security benefits, including how Social Security works, which Social Security benefits you may be entitled to, how to protect yourself and your Social Security number from fraud, how to understand and work with the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, and how the future of Social Security is shaping up.

_{Photo by Steve McAlister/Getty Images}

No one wants to go to a hospital emergency room, but if you have an illness or injury that requires a trip to the ER, these emergency room survival tips can help to ensure that you get the best quality of care for the lowest possible out-of-pocket expense.
_{Photo by Kenn Kiser}