How After Loss Pros Make Loss a Little Easier for Seniors

Guest Blog by Jasmine Hathaway

As a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA), what’s your primary motivation in serving your clients? For many of you reading this article, it’s likely as simple as providing peace of mind to a vulnerable population. For others, it may be even more personal: Maybe you have a parent, grandparent, or loved one who’s been taken advantage of and you want to prevent that from happening to others. Whatever comes to mind for you, I have a feeling your primary driver is rooted in a deep desire to provide genuine care and holistic support for the older adults you serve.

CSAs are a special group of people. You’re charged not only with responding to the many issues that may arise, but also with knowing what’s coming down the road. And in working with an aging population, a great deal of that future planning involves death and loss. 

You’ve likely heard of the “silver tsunami” — the phrase that was coined to describe the vast numbers of baby boomers aging into retirement and beyond. The first “wave” of boomers hit 65 in 2011. The eldest of that group still living are 78, while the youngest boomers are turning 60 this year. This demographic made up roughly 21% of the US population in 2023 — and to put these numbers into an even more tangible perspective, there were roughly 25 million more babies born in the boomer generation in the United States than there were in the silent generation that came before them.

So, we understand why the baby boomer generation got its name — but what does all this mean for CSAs?

Simply put, the realities of death and loss are looming. Not to mention, the sheer population difference between boomers and the silent generation means that you’ll likely be met with a higher demand for senior services of all kinds. 

Adding after loss services to an already robust list of offerings is not only something your clients will benefit from, but a significant opportunity for your business. Today, I’d like to share information about the emerging industry as a whole, as well as provide specific ways becoming an after loss professional will make your clients’ lives (and your own life) a little easier. 

What Is an After Loss Professional?

An after loss professional is exactly what you might guess: It’s a person who steps in to assist with all of the to-dos that pile up after the loss of a loved one. As an after loss professional myself, I work with widows/widowers, surviving children, executors, and others to streamline things like estate cleanouts, the filing of necessary paperwork and documentation, and general coordination between all involved parties, among other tasks.

How Becoming an After Loss Pro Can Benefit Your Clients

Whether a client is dealing with the loss of a spouse, adult child, or another cherished friend or family member, grief can take a toll. Without turning this article into a journal on the cognitive effects of grief, I’ll say that it’s fairly common knowledge that grief can have a significant impact on executive functioning. Essentially, this means that even your sharpest, most organized client could become incapacitated by grief. 

By adding after loss services to your offerings, you’ll be able to support your clients through the administrative and logistical tasks that fall to them after a loss and provide a wide range of additional benefits, including: 

• Being prepared for what’s ahead. The reality is that you’re working with an aging population, and death and loss are very real issues that will inevitably impact every one of them. By becoming an after loss professional, you’ll learn how to help clients take steps that can make their loved ones’ lives easier when they pass.
• Having a tech expert. Sure, baby boomers are more tech-savvy than generations before them. But as technology advances at an ever-increasing pace, clients may not know how to file digital documents, manage multiple forms of electronic communication, or establish digital legacy settings on their devices, among other needs. As an after loss pro, you can take the frustration out of these to-dos.
• Working with you — their trusted CSA. You know your clients. Why refer them to someone else? Your clients work with you because they trust you and value your credentials as a CSA. As an after loss professional, you’ll be better positioned to continue serving your clients after a loss, rather than referring them elsewhere. This ensures your clients are receiving the care you know they deserve and simplifies their interactions, minimizing the likelihood of complications and duplicated efforts. 

How Becoming an After Loss Pro Can Benefit Your Business

As a CSA, you may already offer some of the services I mentioned above — but if you’re not marketing those services, you may be missing out on connecting with prospective clients who are looking for help as they navigate one of the most difficult moments in their lives. 

Individuals looking for support as they deal with the loss of a loved one may find you through different avenues than your traditional clientele. Whether through connections with other after loss pros or through online searches for help in this nascent industry, branding yourself as an after loss pro may create a new referral source for your services.

The Future of After Loss Services

I mentioned it earlier in the article, but the baby boomer generation makes up tens of millions more of our population than the silent generation did. This means that as people who work with older adults, it’s incumbent upon us to be prepared for the inevitability of death — and to understand that the sheer numbers we’re dealing with will far surpass anything we’ve ever seen before. 

It’s my expectation that as more and more people experience and learn about the advent of after loss services, they’ll become the norm. I can’t tell you how frequently people who are learning about the industry for the first time say, “Man, I could have really used that when I was dealing with the loss of my mom/dad/grandmother/sister/aunt/uncle…” 

Death is an unfortunate and challenging reality for every one of us. But death’s inevitability doesn’t make it any less painful for the people navigating a loss. Having the knowledge and skills to confidently guide your clients during one of the most difficult hurdles they’ll be faced with is just one more way you can accomplish your mission of providing compassionate care as a CSA. In short, we know without a doubt that the need is there. It’s up to those of us serving our senior population to fill it.

About the Author

Jasmine Hathaway is a co-founder of PALS (Professionals of After Loss Services), which brings together professionals who are passionate about filling the gap in support for families struggling to manage the administrative and logistical tasks of settling an estate while grieving the death of a loved one. PALS provides online education to teach others how to become after loss professionals, a membership, and a business affiliate program for this burgeoning community.

Guest Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

www.csa.us

Bridging Generations: Crafting Lasting Holiday Memories with Grandchildren

The holidays are a unique time for families to bond and build cherished traditions. For grandparents, it’s an ideal opportunity to strengthen connections with their grandchildren, sharing experiences that will be fondly remembered for years. Through activities that span generations, grandparents can pass down wisdom, create joyful moments, and establish traditions that continue beyond the season. Here are some heartfelt ways to make memories that both grandparents and grandchildren can hold dear.

1. Cooking and Baking Together

Food has a special way of bringing people together. Choose a beloved family recipe, share its story, and cook it alongside your grandchildren. From baking cookies to crafting a traditional holiday dish, cooking together encourages teamwork and storytelling, filling the kitchen with laughter. Young children can help with mixing or decorating, while older kids can take on bigger roles in the kitchen.

2. Making Personalized Holiday Decorations

Crafting together is a hands-on activity that nurtures creativity and allows for meaningful collaboration. Simple projects like handmade ornaments, holiday cards, or paper snowflakes become keepsakes to enjoy for years. This shared creative time fosters imagination and opens space to share family stories.

3. Storytelling Nights

Create cozy evenings of storytelling by gathering around a warm space with blankets. Share childhood holiday memories, and invite grandchildren to make up their own tales or talk about their experiences. Storytelling deepens family bonds and provides children with a sense of connection to family history.

4. Building a Holiday Playlist and Having a Dance Party

Music spans generations, making it a perfect medium for connection. Work together to create a holiday playlist filled with your seasonal classics and some modern favorites. Then, turn up the music for a fun dance party—a lighthearted activity that’s sure to bring laughter and connection.

5. Attending Community Holiday Events

Explore local holiday events like tree lightings, parades, or Christmas markets. These outings offer a chance to celebrate the season as a family and engage with the community, turning shared experiences into memorable traditions that everyone will look forward to each year.

6. Volunteering as a Family

Teach the value of giving back by choosing a local charity where you can volunteer together. Whether it’s serving meals, donating gifts, or participating in a community event, volunteering teaches empathy and the importance of community involvement.

7. Holiday Movie Nights

Dedicate a night each week to watch holiday movies together, alternating between classics from your own childhood and your grandchildren’s picks. Create a cozy movie night with homemade popcorn and hot chocolate for an activity that’s fun and low-key.

8. Exploring Traditions from Other Cultures

Incorporate a tradition from a different culture for a holiday learning experience. Whether making St. Lucia buns for Swedish Santa Lucia Day or lighting candles for Hanukkah, this is a wonderful way to embrace diversity and inclusivity during the season.

Holiday traditions create connections that extend far beyond the season. By engaging in meaningful activities, grandparents can build memories with their grandchildren that may one day be passed down. This holiday season, share laughter, stories, and love through cherished traditions that will continue to enrich lives for generations.

Brought to you by Tara Schumann, Digital Media Specialist for The Society of Certified Senior Advisors.

Looking to Regenerative Medicine for Healthy, Pain-Free Joints

Is osteoarthritis on its way out? Not immediately, but researchers are actively working to make OA a thing of the past.

Sometimes referred to as degenerative joint disease or OA, osteoarthritis is the most common kind of arthritis and the third most common disease in the U.S. Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage that protects and lines the joints starts to deteriorate with age and wear. 

People with OA usually experience it in their knees, hands, lower back, and neck. Pain, a popping sensation, redness and inflammation, and a feeling of grinding or heat at the joint are common symptoms. Incidence of OA increases as we age, and, not surprisingly, negatively affects our desire to move around. To avoid painful grinding sensations, people may become more sedentary, leading to a host of other health problems. 

Today, OA patients have two options: manage the pain, and if that doesn’t work, undergo surgery to replace the joint. But tomorrow, we hope, is just around the corner. 

“Within five years, our goal is to develop a suite of non-invasive therapies that can end osteoarthritis,” says Stephanie Bryant, PhD, of the University of Colorado Boulder. Bryant and her team recently received a $39 million grant to participate in NITRO, or Novel Innovations in Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis. NITRO is a $1 billion federally-funded research initiative currently racing to develop regenerative therapies for OA–and to make them an affordable option for everyone.

What are regenerative therapies? According to the Arthritis Foundation, “regenerative medicine aims to stimulate and support the body’s natural healing response,” and we’re going to be hearing a lot more about it in the coming years. Several regenerative therapies are already on the market, and, while still understudied, by many accounts they’re relieving pain and increasing mobility for people with OA.

Prolotherapy

A prolotherapy treatment involves injecting a small amount of irritant, usually a dextrose solution (yes–that’s sugar water), into the area around the joint. The idea is that when the body senses an unusual substance near the area where cartilage is deteriorating, natural healing takes place in and around the joint as the body directs its attention there.

As an alternative therapy, prolotherapy isn’t FDA approved, and studies have yet to prove its effectiveness. As a result, it’s not covered by insurance. But some studies and patients report improvement in osteoarthritis symptoms in knees after prolotherapy.

Prolozone Therapy

Like prolotherapy, prolozone therapy involves an injection near the joint, and it’s not FDA approved. Prolozone includes more than just sugar water: the injection also delivers anti-inflammatory medication, ozone, vitamins, and minerals to the affected area. 

The key difference is the ozone, which, according to proponents of the therapy, carries several benefits: ozone helps increase blood flow and jumpstart the healing process by stimulating cells to produce more energy. In addition to OA, prolozone is also marketed to help treat wrist and elbow pain, chronic neck and back pain, tendonitis, foot and ankle pain, and more. 

Other regenerative therapies for OA include Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP), Allograft Amniotic Growth Factors, and stem cells. These different therapies may be recommended and provided by a doctor, musculoskeletal specialist physician, orthopedic surgeon, or other therapist. 

Eradicating Osteoarthritis this Decade? 

The NITRO research initiative provides one major example of the growing promise of regenerative medicine for OA. Drawing on the latest science from regenerative medicine, biomaterials, and biomedical engineering, NITRO’s big question is: “What if we could make our joints heal themselves?” 

With funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the researchers are working at an accelerated pace in three key areas:  

• Regenerating bone through injection or non-invasive surgery
• Regenerating cartilage through injection or non-invasive surgery
• Building replacement joints from human cells

Over 32 million Americans suffer from OA, and the project centers equity in its search for regenerative therapies. All program trials will enroll at least 50% women and be representative of the demographics most affected by OA. Of people with osteoarthritis, 88% are over 45 years old, 62% are women, and 78% are non-Hispanic whites; however, within Black and Hispanic populations, there is a higher rate of OA than within the non-Hispanic white population, according to Osteoarthritis Action Alliance.

“At the core of this, the goal is to develop a therapy that’s going to be available to all Americans, not just a privileged few,” says Karin Payne, PhD, a Co-Principal Investigator on the Colorado University team, one of five university teams working together in the NITRO program.

And the therapy they’re after would be a real cure: not a replacement joint that only lasts 10 or 20 years, like we have now, but a way for the body to heal itself. People with OA will be eagerly checking back in five years to learn about the NITRO teams’ progress. 

Sources:

https://www.feelamazing.com/blog/the-difference-between-prolotherapy-prolozone-and-prp-therapies

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21048-skeletal-system

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/03/26/joints-could-heal-themselves-researchers-could-get-there-5-years

https://physicians.dukehealth.org/articles/stem-cell-therapy-osteoarthritis-reviewed-miles-study

https://journalofprolotherapy.com/prolozone-regenerating-joints-and-eliminating-pain/

https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/treatment/joint-surgery/preplanning/the-future-of-joint-repair

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/10-11mayo-clinic-expert-offers-tips-on-how-to-keep-joints-healthy-as-you-age/

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/special-topic/aging-changes-in-the-bones-muscles-joints

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

www.csa.us

What’s the Safest Way to Pay?

Cash, check, or card? These days, the question isn’t so simple. When you can complete any transaction with half a dozen apps and taps, how do you choose?

The pros and cons of cash vs. check vs. card are fairly well baked into our consciousness. But in recent years, with the advent of tap-to-pay, Zelle, Google Wallet and what can feel like a mountain of other new payment options, it’s not as straightforward to judge the safest and most secure method for any given transaction. 

Let’s break down the multiplicity of options into two categories: point-of-sale terminals (in-person transactions) and mobile payment apps (online transactions). 

What’s the Safest Way to Pay at Point-of-Sale Terminals? 

In our physical everyday lives, most of us still use cash and checks occasionally. More often, though, we’re conducting transactions using point-of-sale (POS) terminals to connect to our bank or credit card accounts. Historically, plastic cards have been the medium, and now our cell phones also do the job. These point-of-sale transactions at stores, restaurants, and gas stations have evolved over the years–and rapidly since the pandemic. Each evolution has aimed to protect cardholder information from fraudsters. 

PayPal’s New Data Sharing Terms of Service Take Effect This Month The earliest of adopters have been sending peer-to-peer mobile payments for a quarter century now–ever since the launch of PayPal in 1998. On November 27, 2024, PayPal will update its terms of service to allow for sharing of user data with retailers, in most states. According to their website: “Starting early summer 2025, we’ll be building more personal experiences for you. You can opt in and out of sharing at any time by adjusting this setting.” To opt out, log in to PayPal and go to Settings > Data & Privacy > Manage shared info > Personalized shopping, and toggle the option off.

The Swipe. The swipe has been with us since 1979. When you swipe a plastic card, the strip on the back transmits your account information to the point-of-sale terminal directly. The risk associated with swiping cards is called skimming. Skimming refers to when criminals set up an illegal device to collect debit and credit card numbers and PIN data, usually at ATMs or gas stations where a point-of-sale terminal is often unattended.  

The Chip. We’ve been inserting credit cards into readers since the late 2000s. Chip cards generate a different new “token” every time they’re used, making them encrypted. Chip cards are safer than swipe cards, but they’re still vulnerable to an illegal tactic called shimming. Thieves insert a thin sleeve called a shim into a card reader that is able to capture your card data and reconstitute and authenticate it later. 

Tap-to-Pay: Card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Also called contactless payment, tap-to-pay is currently the safest physical payment method. Tap-to-pay runs on technology known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or NFC (Near-Field Communication): in other words, encrypted radio waves. Contactless cards and tap-to-pay apps on smartphones have only gained popularity in the U.S. in the last several years. So, while tap-to-pay crime exists, it’s not yet enough of a problem to have earned its own neologism like skimming or shimming. In theory, thieves can buy RFID skimming devices that steal and decrypt contactless card information, but it’s not worth their while. The devices are expensive, and to employ one, the would-be thief needs to hover near the point of sale. Until the best criminal minds catch up with the latest technology, contactless is the most secure way to pay at a point-of-sale terminal. 

What’s the Safest Way to Pay via Mobile Payment Apps?

When you’re shopping online, buying from small merchants in person, or exchanging money between family and friends, you have plenty of options for mobile payment apps. 

Apps like Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, and PayPal offer “peer-to-peer” (P2P) payments, meaning they allow you to transfer money to friends and family without any fees. Most of these apps also work with retailers to process payments–and usually those transactions incur a fee. The retailer either pays that fee themselves or passes it on to the buyer. 

The two major mobile players–Apple and Google–offer their own proprietary payment app options.

Apple Pay vs. Apple Cash

What’s the difference? Apple Pay is a mobile payment solution. When users add an existing credit card to Apple Pay, they can then tap their phone, instead of the plastic card, to the point of sale terminal. 

Apple Cash is a card unto itself–a digital one, but you can also request a plastic Apple Cash card. Think of Apple Cash as a debit card. You add money to Apple Cash from existing bank accounts and/or transfers to you from friends through Apple Cash. You can use Apple Pay to apply your Apple Cash balance to purchases or to pay friends. So, Apple Cash is both a retail and peer-to-peer payment method. 

Google Pay is Dead. Long Live Google Wallet.

If you’re confused by the difference between these proprietary payment apps, you’re not alone. It would seem that Google has also struggled to determine whether its users need one payment app or two. For now, they’ve decided to gradually discontinue Google Pay (as of June 2024) and direct users to Google Wallet. Google Wallet functions similarly to Apple Cash.

All the major apps–Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, PayPal, Apple Cash, and Google Wallet–use robust safety measures including fraud protection, two-factor authentication, encryption, and purchase verification. In general, you can feel secure about using them, especially if you use a strong password and set up two-factor authentication on your account. None of the major apps are particularly more secure than others. However, if you hear about a new mobile payment app that you’re not familiar with, get several personal and professional recommendations before linking it to your bank account or credit card. 

The major players are pretty secure, but are scammers hard at work trying to make mobile payment apps work for them? Sure. “Scammers use mobile payment services to trick people into sending money or merchandise without holding up their end of the deal,” warns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “For example, a scammer may sell you concert or sports tickets but then never actually give them to you […or] purchase an item from you, appear to send a payment and then cancel it before it reaches your bank account.” 

As with your regular bank account, stay vigilant against scams, check your account balance and transactions often, and contact the app immediately if you notice anything amiss. 

This article is not intended to be a substitute for professional financial advice from a qualified financial advisor.

Sources:

https://lukearapaka.substack.com/p/swipe-insert-or-tap-whats-the-best

https://umsafoundation.org/dip-swipe-contactless-technology/

https://www.fico.com/blogs/contactless-payments-fraud

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-mobile-payment-apps

https://www.idx.us/knowledge-center/rfid-skimming-is-the-danger-real

https://www.shopify.com/ng/blog/mobile-payment#

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/money-transfer/zelle-vs-venmo/

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

www.csa.us

Celebrating the Caregivers in Your Life During National Family Caregivers Month

Caregiving is both rewarding and difficult. Each November, the country honors and gives thanks to our family caregivers.

Today, about 53 million Americans provide unpaid care for family members or friends. The economic impact of that care totals $470 billion. 

Caregivers face challenges including financial and emotional strain. Financially, many caregivers are supporting their loved ones by buying daily necessities. At the same time, they’re often forgoing wages either by having to reduce their work hours or quit work entirely in order to provide care. Emotionally, caregiving can feel isolating without a strong support network. And watching a loved one deteriorate is heartbreaking. Caregiving can also take a physical toll, especially when the person receiving care needs wheelchair or lift support.

November was designated National Family Caregivers Month in 1997 by President Bill Clinton. Since then, the nonprofit Caregiver Action Network has decided on each year’s theme (this year: #ICare) and coordinated outreach for the month. CAN’s mission is “to promote resourcefulness and respect for tens of millions of family caregivers across the country.” In addition to CAN, The Association for Community Living (ACL), National Council on Aging (NCOA), the National Alliance for Caregiving and other organizations collaborate to raise awareness about caregiving each November. (Note: While many organizations use the word “caregiver,” some are transitioning to the term “care partner” in order to emphasize the mutual nature of these relationships.) 

This November, if you yourself are a caregiver, consider ways to celebrate the immense contribution you make every day to your loved ones and your country. Here are a few ideas adapted from The Senior List:

• When possible, accept help when it’s offered. 
• Care for yourself by resting; know that you’re staying strong for the person you love.
• Consider how to make the holidays easier on yourself, even if it means shifting some traditions.

If you know a caregiver, here are some ways to celebrate and thank these special people.

Ways to Celebrate & Thank Caregivers

• Give a gift. If you have the means, consider reaching out to thank a caregiver you know with a gift. Gift cards to reasonably-priced restaurants, gas gift cards, and cash are welcome gifts for those experiencing financial strain from caregiving, particularly around the holidays. 
• Spend time together. Caregiving can be isolating. Visits and calls mean a lot. 
• Share what caregiving means to you. Care partners can often feel that the work they do is invisible. Bring the work of caregiving to light on your social media by sharing your own story and celebrate caregivers you know. NCOA offers templates and hashtags to maximize your message. 
• Learn about efforts to uplift and empower caregivers. Did you know that there’s a National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers? Since 2022, federal, state, and local agencies have collaborated under this strategy to engage with family caregivers and understand their needs. The strategy also promotes financial incentives for caregiving, education and professional development for caregivers.

 

Another way to thank the caregivers in your life is by knowing where to turn when they can use support. Here are several direct lines where caregivers can connect to the support they need.

Resources for Caregivers 

• Caregiver Action Network’s Caregiver Help Desk. “You care, we help” is the message from CAN’s Help Desk, available via online chat at their website and by phone at 855-227-3640.
• Mental Health America has a robust library of resources for caregivers on its website, including categories like “Crisis Planning for Caregivers” and “Coping with Caregiving Stress.” MHA also offers a free mental health screening and links to a Warmline directory.
• The National Alliance for Caregiving supports an online resource directory called Take Care. Organizations across the country submit their own resources for caregivers, and you can sign up for email updates. 
• CAN offers a list of many other organizations that support, advocate for, and educate the public on behalf of caregivers. 

By caring for the older adults and people with disabilities in their lives, caregivers support everyone. According to NCOA, “The work done by family caregivers has long been the safety net of the American long-term care system.” Underappreciated and absolutely essential, caregivers deserve all the love this November. 

Sources:

https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/national-family-caregivers-month-2024/

https://www.ncoa.org/page/national-family-caregivers-month/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK396402/

https://teepasnow.com/blog/caregiver-vs-care-partner-why-you-need-to-know-the-difference/

https://www.ncoa.org/article/how-to-support-family-caregivers-taking-care-of-older-adults/

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

www.csa.us

Simple Strategies for Backing Up Computer Files

Don’t let it be you! Make physical AND cloud copies of your computer files today. Here’s how.

We’ve all been there: the sinking feeling sets in when you try to turn on your computer and a blank screen stares back. At that moment, you don’t want your first thought to be about how you really should have backed up your files like you’d been meaning to do. 

If you missed World Backup Day on March 31, today is the next best day to sit down and knock out this important chore. Even if you don’t consider yourself a techie person, most of us now spend plenty of time in digital spaces, and odds are you would mourn the loss of your computer contents if your hard drive failed–or, if your computer were lost, stolen, or destroyed. Photos, legal documents, emails, work, and personal writing all deserve a backup. 

Here’s the best practice: back it up twice. After all, backups fail, too. On a regular basis, back up to an external drive, and set up a system that constantly updates to the cloud. 

More than one in five people have never backed up their files. Yes, it takes effort, the same boring kind that goes into flossing. To motivate yourself, imagine the relief that will flood in when you’re staring down the blank screen of death and know that you made two recent backups. Read on for essential computer backup advice for beginners. 

External Backup

For many people, when thinking about backing up a computer, the first image that comes to mind is an external hard drive. External drives are one key backup tool. But cloud backups are also considered essential because there are downsides to external storage. 

For example, a hard drive, like a computer, can be lost, stolen, or destroyed. It’s important to keep your external drive in a different place from your computer; if the house burns down, you want the drive to be in a trusted friend’s house or a safe deposit box. One of the biggest downsides with physical external drives is simply that you have to remember to do the backup regularly, and then actually do it by taking the time to plug in the drive and copy your files. All that said, external drives are generally reliable and easy to understand, and the storage capacity is a one-time purchase. 

Here are the most common and accessible external storage options for backing up home computer files. 

• External hard disk drives (HDDs). These devices have plenty of storage, so you can copy all your computer files without having to pick and choose. To back up an entire PC’s worth of data, look for drives that have at least double the amount of storage of your computer, to allow for multiple versions of the backup. For example, if your computer has one terabyte of data, look for a hard drive with two. A good backup drive starts at around $120, and some may require external power. 
• Flash drives are the hard drive’s smaller cousin. They fit on a keychain, and usually don’t store more than one terabyte of data. If you want to back up just your photos or videos, a flash drive might be a good option. Quality ones usually retail for $35 to $90.
• Solid state drives (SSDs) are hard drives that have no moving parts, so there’s less that can malfunction. They also copy files at least three times as fast as a hard disk drive. Since they’re sleek and efficient, they also cost more. Expect to pay about $180 for 1 terabyte.
• Another computer. If you have two computers, you can save files from one on the other. For Mac users, Time Machine will help you make a copy of your current computer to another Mac or an external drive.

If you’re the kind of person who prefers to learn only one new computer skill every 10 years (no judgment), you may find it appealing to stick with a backup strategy you’re familiar with. While they’re no longer the most efficient way to back up your files, CD-Rs and DVD-Rs still get the job done. They’re especially trusty if you only care to back up select files, like your photo library. 

To back it up like it’s 2002, just insert a blank CD-R (the R stands for recordable), choose which files you want to save, and drag them to the disc icon. Then be sure to label that disc with the contents and date. DVD-Rs hold more data than CDs: about 5GB as compared to under 1GB per disc. Keep in mind that because they’re becoming less common, blank CDs and DVDs are growing more expensive. And if you have a newer computer, you’ll likely need to buy an external CD drive to plug in via USB. These sell for as little as $20…but at that point, you might consider just taking a deep breath and investing in the external hard drive. 

Most importantly, whatever external backup method you choose, take the next step and back up your digital files to the cloud.

Cloud Backup

When you back up your computer to the cloud, what you’re really doing is making a copy on another person’s computer. A cloud backup is a snapshot of your computer at a certain point in time, and experts recommend setting up an automatic system that will backup your computer daily without you having to think about it. 

According to Wired, the best option for people new to backing up computer files is an all-in-one service. Backblaze is a trusted option because it’s easy to use and encrypted. For $99/year, you get unlimited cloud storage with automatic backups. 

Another similarly-priced option is iDrive, which offers 5 terabytes of storage per year. Unless you’re a videographer, that’s almost certainly more than you’ll need. To start using an all-in-one backup service, simply sign up, allow the service the permission it needs to access your files, and the rest will happen in the background. Be sure you know how to access your recovery files on the cloud before the eventual moment when you them.

Remember: two backups are best, but even one could save your bacon. 

Sources:

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-back-up-your-digital-life/

https://www.worldbackupday.com/en/

https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-usb-flash-drives/

https://www.wired.com/story/best-portable-external-storage-drives/

https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-beginners-guide-to-pc-backup

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-back-up-your-mac-with-time-machine

https://www.pcworld.com/article/406861/best-external-drives.html

Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors

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Best of 2024: Movies By, For, and About Seniors

An intimate road trip comedy, a crime caper, a pop music documentary, and an Icelandic/Japanese love story: here are some of the year’s top films featuring older adults.

Each year for over 20 years, AARP recognizes “the best films for the grownup generations” with its Movies for Grownups Awards. But they don’t release their list of the past year’s best films until January–and with the holidays fast approaching, many of us are looking for a crowd-pleasing flick to watch with family. 

So, we went ahead and gathered up a few of the best movies of 2024 by, for, and about older people. 

Thelma 

With the tagline “Revenge Has Never Been Sweeter,” Thelma is the story of its titular protagonist, a “sweet old lady” who is on the warpath to recover the savings she lost in a classic grandparent scam. Oscar-nominated June Squibb, who just turned 95 on November 6, plays Thelma Post. It’s her first leading role in a 34-year film career. And critics are agreeing that Squibb’s star turn is overdue: the film has a 98% positive reception from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Squibb and co-star Richard Roundtree, who passed away in 2023 and appears here in his final on-screen role as Ben, have unmistakable chemistry from their first scene, as friends reunited in pursuit of the scammers and Thelma’s money. Helmed by first-time director Josh Margolin, Thelma is “a film that reckons with aging in all its inelegance,” according to Boca Magazine. “There are no cheap laughs in this brilliant comedy—only uncomfortable truths.” Rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, and other streaming services. 

Will & Harper

This Netflix documentary, a “freewheeling real-life buddy comedy”, chronicles the cross-America road trip of two friends. One is Will Ferrell, 57, of whom you may have heard, and the other is Harper Steele, who came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61. Ferrell met Steele as Andrew Steele when they both started at Saturday Night Live in 1995. They became lifelong friends. When Steele wrote to Ferrell sharing the news of her transition, the actor was surprised and, above all, curious. Steele was always a writer, more comfortable behind the camera, but when Ferrell suggested taking a cross-country road trip together and filming the journey, she ultimately signed on. Middle-America dive bars and roadside diners have always been Steele’s happy places, and she and Ferrell visit them together while exploring what Steele’s transition means for their friendship. “None of us wanted to make a quote-unquote ‘political’ film,” says the film’s director, Josh Greenbaum, “I think when you sometimes [go political], half the audience turns off because they think you have an agenda. But it’s a very personal, intimate story between two friends. I wanted to keep that front and center.” Featuring two uncensored SNL veterans, Will & Harper is also hilarious and raking in rave reviews. Watch on Netflix. 

The Greatest Night in Pop

This documentary isn’t about aging, it just features some (many!) of the pop music legends of the last century, reflecting now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s on one very special night in 1985. “The greatest artists of a generation came together to save some lives,” announces the movie’s trailer…and while the night didn’t go smoothly, it did make history. Directed by Bao Nguyen, The Greatest Night in Pop premiered at Sundance in January. It’s the story of the recording of the song “We Are the World,” the 8th-best-selling single of all time. Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie finished writing the song the night before recording, when dozens of the most famous musicians of the day had gathered in Los Angeles to record a song for famine relief in Africa. The documentary features Lionel Ritchie, Smokey Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, and others who were there, recounting the chaos and synchronicities of that night. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times describes the story as somewhat miraculous: “so many performers who were used to being the biggest star in the room agreed to get together on relatively short notice and figure out a path to record one of the most impactful singles in music history.” Watch on Netflix. 

Touch

This last one is for fans of romance and international films with beautiful cinematography. Based on a novel by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, Touch tells a single love story as it splits the timeline between youth and old age. A joint Icelandic, U.S., and U.K. production, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Touch traces two storylines: in one, young Kristófer meets and falls in love with Miko in South London. In the other, fifty years after their brief but life-changing romance, Kristófer is a widower who has just been diagnosed with early-stage dementia. The film follows his ardent search for Miko, from pandemic-era Iceland to England to Japan. The Guardian calls Touch “defiantly unfashionable in its straightforwardness… this is a love story, pure and simple and unashamedly emotional.” According to Variety, the movie’s ending is “a heart-clutching finale that’s as classically restrained as it is emotionally resounding.” Iceland submitted Touch as its nominee for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, to be awarded at 2025’s 97th Annual Academy Awards. Watch Touch on Peacock for free, or rent it from a variety of other streaming services.

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Famous & 65

Look who's turning 65 this month

Find out which celebrities are turning 65 this month!

Image Source: Wikipedia

November 10 - Linda Cohn, sportscaster   

Renowned sportscaster Linda Cohn is one of the most respected figures in sports journalism and a trailblazer for women. A New York native, Cohn developed a passion for sports at a young age, particularly ice hockey. 

In 1987, Cohn made history by becoming one of the first female sportscasters on ESPN. Since 1992, as a host of the popular program SportsCenter, she continues to cover a wide range of sports including NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB. Her 2018 memoir, Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys' Club, shares the story of how she arrived where she is today: a 26-year ESPN veteran who, as of 2018, has hosted more SportsCenter episodes than anyone else. 

Unsurprisingly, Cohn remains an avid sports fan and cheers especially loudly for her New York teams. Her philanthropic causes center around sports and women's empowerment. 

Image Source: Wikipedia

November 19 - Allison Janney, actor

Allison Janney's breakthrough came with the role of C.J. Cregg on NBC's The West Wing, where she captivated audiences for seven seasons and earned four Emmy Awards. Janney's Emmy dominance continued with wins for her performances in Masters of Sex and Mom, bringing her total to seven Emmys and placing her among the most decorated actors in Emmy history. 

Janney has a reputation for being a versatile actor who seamlessly transitions between drama and comedy. She’s lent her voice to animated hits like Finding Nemo and Minions and has appeared on the big screen in American Beauty, Juno, and The Help. In 2017, her portrayal of LaVona Golden in I, Tonya led to a sweep of major awards, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has also been nominated for a Tony for her roles in A View from the Bridge and 9 to 5. 

Janney has spoken candidly about losing her brother Hal to addiction in 2011; she dedicated her 2018 Oscar win to him during her speech. In Mom (2013 - 2021), she played a mother recovering from addiction who decides to restart her life in California alongside her daughter, who is also in recovery. Janney says her role on Mom deepened her understanding of addiction and recovery, and she has been a vocal supporter of people affected by substance abuse. She also champions a number of other causes, including women's rights, LGBTQ rights, animal welfare, foodbanks, and voter registration. Today, she’s in production for two films: A Simple Favor 2 and Everything’s Going to Be Great.

Image Source: Wikipedia

November 28 - Judd Nelson, actor

“Eat. My. Shorts.” When famous bad boy character Bender delivered those three words to the vice principal in the coming-of-age classic The Breakfast Club, he earned himself approximately 7 detentions. But Judd Nelson, with his portrayal of the rebellious and complex character, was earning himself a reputation as a talented leading actor. 

In 1985, Nelson rose to fame when he starred in not only The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes, but also Joel Schumacher’s St. Elmo’s Fire. Nelson became a member of the “Brat Pack” of young 80s actors, including Breakfast Club co-stars Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald, along with others including Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. Over the years, his many film and television credits have included Suddenly Susan (1996), Cabin by the Lake (2000), and Two and a Half Men (2010). 

Born in Portland, Maine, Nelson discovered his passion for acting at a young age and studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York City. Most recently, he appeared in the 2022 thriller The Most Dangerous Game.

Source:

Wikipedia

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