Are You at Risk for Dementia?

As you are getting older, you may become more forgetful; memory lapses are more common among the elderly. Although you have increasing risk of developing dementia due to aging, it does not necessarily mean that you are going to have dementia when you are getting old. As a matter of fact, less than 10 percent of the elderly at age 85 or beyond develop dementia, or actually experience severe intellectual impairment and memory loss, which are the characteristics of dementia.

Dementia is losing the mind: that is, the mind is slowly slipping away with memory loss that may adversely affect everyday normal physical and mental functioning.


Are you at risk for dementia?


You may be at risk for dementia if the following is applicable to you:

(1) If you have a family history of dementia, then you should take extra care of your brain. Genes do play a part in the development of dementia. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about that, except keeping a healthy brain.

(2) If you have a dysfunctional thyroid, you may have the propensity to develop dementia. The good news is that this type of dementia is often treatable and even reversible. Eat a thyroid diet to optimize your thyroid health.

(3) If you have had a stroke, you may also develop vascular dementia, which is the 2nd most common type of dementia caused by the hardening of the arteries as a result of poor blood circulation and inadequate supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Therefore, it is important to maintain heart health, and to carefully monitor your numbers related to your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and your body weight.

(4) If you have chronic depression, you may be more vulnerable to memory loss, confusion, and impaired mental function and coordination. However, scientists cannot determine whether depression causes dementia, or depression is the result of dementia, because their symptoms may be quite similar. Mind healing is as important as physical healing.

(5) If you have other health problems that adversely affect your brain health, such as excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse, especially those anesthetic agents, narcotic analgesics, and benzodiazepines, and nicotine addiction, you inadvertently promote the development of dementia as you continue to age. A wayward lifestyle creates free radicals that damage the brain as well as the immune system, and thus not only contributing to but also accelerating the progress of dementia. Learn the art of living well.

(6) If you have had brain damage due to injury or dehydration, you may become more susceptible to dementia as you continue to age. Any brain injury, however minor, should be taken seriously.

If you are at high risk for developing dementia, you may like to watch out for the early signs of dementia. Be aware that symptoms of dementia may be slow but progressive. Some of the more common signs of dementia may include the following:

(1) You may become uncharacteristically negative and suspicious. However, sometimes it is difficult to tell if it is dementia or not, especially if you are also suffering from anxiety or depression.

(2) You may become negligent of your personal care and grooming, such as not bathing or shampooing. Again, if you have been suffering from severe depression, you may also neglect your personal hygiene during your depression episodes.

(3) You may have difficulty in conversation, such as repeating the same thing, or talking vaguely without any specifics. 

(4) You may be losing your motor skills, such as writing illegibly, or being unable to type or use the computer.

(5) You may become unable to make a phone call, not to mention that you cannot remember the phone number.

(6) You may eat improperly, such as eating only sweets instead of a proper meal.

(7) You may keep the house uncharacteristically cluttered and disorganized.

(8) You may show poor judgment in spending, or go on spending sprees. 

(9) You may also show other more dangerous signs of dementia, such as consistently forgetting to turn off the stove; wandering around outside the house at night; acting inappropriately in response to "paranoid" suspicions, such as calling the police based on your "paranoia."

The human brain is made up trillions of brain cells. Only 10 percent of these brains cells have been utilized over your lifetime, and there is still a great deal that you can tap into. Yes, you can even train your brain to become smarter at any age. Remember, use it or lose it. Do not lose your mind!


Visit my blog: Increase Mind Power.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau

What Is Happy Retirement?

Retirement is upon you or creeping close if you are a baby boomer (born between 1947 and 1954), or maybe you have already retired.

Are you ready to retire? Do you want happy retirement?

According to studies, more than 70 percent of baby boomers are not financially feasible for retirement. Even if you are financially secure, happy retirement is more than just about financial security.

In addition to financial security, retirement may also generate the following concerns and issues:

• physical and physiological changes due to aging
• lifestyle adjustments
• relationship issues
• new challenges
• loss of identity

Happy retirement is about the wisdom of coping with changes and challenges confronting retirees, and, more importantly, having the capability to bounce back from any negativity resulting from these changes and challenges.

Happy retirement means you have access to information and resources on managing different means to accomplish different kinds of retirement goals you may have for your happy retirement—in particular, the importance of your body, mind, and spirit in relation to every aspect of your retirement.

Retirement—whether you are preparing for it, or already in the throes of it—have interdependent factors that have to be appropriately addressed in order to attain ultimate happy retirement, and these factors are:

• financial
• physical and physiological
• emotional
• psychological
• social

All these factors will have a bearing on how well and happy your retirement will turn out to be.

Happy retirement is about the art of living well. It is more than just extending the years of your life. Having worked hard all these years, you deserve to live well in retirement—and a happy retirement at that.

Retirement is not hitting the end of the road you have been traveling on for the past few decades: successful retirement is hitting another road, heading in a totally different direction for a different destination.

Remember, retirement is not old age, but a new stage, where you can still perform and even excel.

According to the Bible, the way to life is to fulfill God's purpose for you, and that purpose does not end with your retirement.

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2: 8-10

If your purpose-driven life goes on, your retirement only points to a different direction with a different purpose for your life. Retirement simply offers you an opportunity to explore and to find God's purpose for you for the next chapter of your life.

Just enjoy your happy retirement—that gift from God!

For reference:

The Retired Millionaire: A package complete with hundreds of websites you can use, and products you can sell, and step-by-step guidelines on how to make a fortune when you retire!

Offshore Investment: To retire early, get everything you need to know about offshore banking and investment!

Financial Planning Manuals: Manuals to unlock the keys to successful financial planning for your happy retirement!

Copyright © Stephen Lau

Feeling Internally with the Breath

Feeling Internally with the Breath
by Katie Keane

Many of us think of feeling internally as noticing a mood, an emotional state, usually when it's extreme - such as feeling heightened stress or euphoria - and we may also feel the physical effects of these states (faster heartbeat, sweating, tension, body "rushes", etc).

But can we feel the inside of our bodies when we are calm?

There is so much to feeling our internal landscape - tissues, organs, fluids, and the space in between - In LBY, learning to feel inside is foundational, and we start this process with the breath....

Breath is the most useful bridge to the inside of the body and the nervous system. Even though this is something we do every day, most of us don't use our breathing to its full potential. Chronic pain and emotional stress have a direct connection to the quality of our breathing - conversely, breathing is directly connected to physical ease and deep relaxation on an ongoing basis.

Here's a simple and interesting exercise you can use to begin exploring your breath. Sit comfortably someplace where you won't have distractions. See if you can pay attention to the physical feeling of your breath, without forcing it - in other words, let your breathing happen naturally, don't make it happen - and just observe.

How does it feel? Is it difficult/easy to "find" your breathing? Do you feel tension/relaxation in your breath? What parts of your body move when you breathe? Do you find that you get distracted from feeling the physical movement of your breath? How big does your breath feel? Is the inhale the same length as the exhale? Do you hold your breath in between inhaling and exhaling or vice-versa?

When doing this exercise it is common to feel any of the qualities mentioned above, as well as many other subtle or more pronounced sensations. When working with your breathing, it is extremely important to spend time with this exercise, really getting to know the quality of your particular breathing pattern.

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Breathing is part and parcel of health and wellness. Do not take it for granted. Learn how to breathe right.

Retirement Transition

The retirement transition takes you from your productive working stage of life to the stage of doing what you want to do, when you want to do it, that is, to your new life stage of retirement.The type A personality that was successful during working years does not often fit the new stage of retirement life, if your plan is an inactive relaxed retirement.

Wikipedia explains that type A individuals can be described as impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation. In contrast, type B individuals are described as patient, relaxed, and easy-going.

The transition to retirement begins with ending one phase of life (where our identity was our work life), followed by a neutral or unknown phase (in limbo), and finally the new beginning (where we develop our own identity). The transition to retirement can often take approximately five years.
This is very similar to the awkward stage of adolescence - leaving childhood behind and reaching adulthood. It is not an instant change.

You need to successfully let go of the previous phase of life before you can move forward into the next phase. . . .

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Retirement is a new chapter in your life. Your happy retirement is contingent on whether you have the mindset to adapt to the new changes and challenges ahead of you. In reality, life is forever changing at any phase - not just the last chapters. Living is never plain sailing: the journey of life is bumpy and not for the faint heart. To make the most of it, you need to know the art of living well.

Seniors Health

Seniors health and fitness is achievable with regular, daily effort. In many ways, our health really defines our effective age. We are currently experiencing increased life expectancy. Does that mean we can expect more years of ill health and disability, or an increased active life? It seems like, to some degree, we have an important say in which it will be, although some things are outside our control.

"To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am." Bernard Baruch (1875-1965), US financier and presidential adviser.

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age." a French proverb

Read more. . . .  

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Get more information on Longevity and Anti-Aging.

The Importance of Savings in Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning Advice

Good retirement needs good planning. Your retirement life could well be longer than your working life.

Retirement should be looked at as a career change - or - a new beginning.

It's well worth some serious planning to make your retirement life the best it can be for you. You are responsible for making that happen.

The key retirement planning advice is to start your planning now. Whatever your age, it's never too soon to start planning. You will see why later on this page. One thing to remember is that you will only benefit from retirement planning tips when you implement them.

Importance of Savings

The sooner you start saving for retirement, the better off you will be. Consider this example.

If you are 25 years old now and start saving $25 per week for retirement, and you can get a 5% return on your money, and never take any money out, when you retire at 65 years old you will have about $165,000.

You will have saved $52,000 of your own hard earned money, but would have accumulated an additional $113,000 of interest. So, two-thirds of the $165,000 is not money out of your pocket.

If you wait until you are 35 years old before you start saving the $25 per week, and get a 5% return on your money, you will have about $91,000 when you retire at 65 years old.

You will have saved $39,000 of your own hard earned money, but would have accumulated an additional $52,000 of interest.

If you wait until you are 45 years old before you start saving, you will have about $45,000 at 65 years old.

You will have saved $26,000 of your own hard earned money, but would have accumulated an additional $19,000 of interest.

If you really procrastinate and don't start saving until your are 55 years old, you will have $17,000 in your retirement savings account.

You will have saved $13,000 of your own hard earned money, but would have accumulated an additional $4,000 of interest. Only one-fourth of the $17,000 is not money out of your pocket.

Here's another way to look at it. If your goal is to have $165,000 saved by the time you are 65 years old, and you get a 5% return on your money, you would need to save:

• $25 per week starting at age 25 - or $52,000 of your own money
• $48 per week starting at age 35 - or $75,000 of your own money
• $96 per week starting at age 45 - or $100,000 of your own money
• $252 per week starting at age 55 - or $131,000 of your own money

In the above example, you are seeing the impact of compound interest . . . . .


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Learn how to save, and, more importantly, how to live on a dime. Do not buy things you do not need, with the money you do not have!

Early Retirement Planning Is A Must

Early Retirement Planning Is A Must

You need to do early retirement planning to start your retirement phase of life. Even if you work to normal retirement age, it is wise to do planning for early retirement.

You may not want to retire early, but circumstance may suddenly force you to retire due to business restructuring or down-sizing, You do not want to find yourself in this situation without any preparation. Therefore, early retirement planning is a must.

It may seem obvious, but early retirement means you will have more years to live without the income from your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly paycheck than if you would retire at normal retirement age.
So you will need to replace that income from other sources, such as, savings, investments, or a home business opportunity.

To put things in perspective, decide at which age you want to retire. Then decide your life expectancy. That will tell you how many years of income for which you will need to plan.

If you want to retire at 50, you can generally expect to have around another 35+ years to live in retirement.

Next, calculate your annual basic living expenses you expect to have in retirement. Let's say it's $50,000 for example.

Now for the eye opener!

Multiply the $50,000 (your annual basic living expenses) by the 35 years you are expecting to live in retirement. You will need $1,750,000 when you retire in order to give you $50,000 per year for basic living expenses, without adjusting for inflation. So, after adjusting for inflation you will need much more.
That's a pretty big number!

You can see how critical it is to save for retirement.

If you assume an annual interest rate of 5% on your savings, and an annual inflation rate of 3.5% on your living expenses, you'll be able to live on the accumulated interest for 10 to 11 years before beginning to dip into the principal.

Experiences of life can tend to sabotage your savings plan. I know from experience that it's easy to borrow from your 401K in emergencies, but you lose in the long run by missing out on compounded interest on that money. So, if at all possible, don't borrow from your 401K. .  .  .  .

In Summary

Early retirement requires planning. Know where you currently stand financially and where you need to be when you decide to retire.

Then you can do your early retirement planning on what needs to be done to accomplish your dream of early retirement and what options you have available. . . . .


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