Category Archives: Elder Law

Keeping Your Mind & Body Healthy As You Age

I took up the guitar recently. My father and brothers can all play and as much as I love listening to them, I have also always wanted to learn to play. I am 4 weeks into lessons and so far I can play 6 chords and have an impressive set of callouses on the fingertips of my left hand.

One of the other reasons I took up guitar is that it is using a completely different part of my brain which I always figure will help keep me sharp as I get older. According to this article from Guitarplayer.com, 10 Reasons Why Playing Guitar Is Good for Your Mind and Body, there are more benefits to learning and playing an instrument no matter your age. For example:

  • Listening to music, even yourself as you plink away, lowers stress and takes your mind off pain,
  • Practicing music can lower your blood pressure and heart rate,
  • Learning an instrument keeps your brain function up,
  • You retain creativity in your learning even when you aren’t playing.

It doesn’t much matter which instrument you learn, or whether you take up drawing instead or some other creative pursuit, staying interested in things as you age, trying new activities and feeling a sense of accomplishment with each new step you take are things we can all benefit from.

Tax Scam Phone Calls

With tax time fast approaching, there are more and more reports of telephone scams involving people claiming to be from the IRS and demanding payment of money over the phone. The IRS has a list of scams on their website, including the most recent telephone one. As they point out: Note that the IRS will… Continue Reading

Read the Fine Print!

I’ve run into a couple of situations recently where clients received mail that looked “official” but turned out to be a company trying to make my client pay for something that they could get for free. The first was an unsolicited mailing from a company offering to help my client transfer some stocks after her… Continue Reading

Where is your will?

In the “old days” lawyers used to keep their clients’ Last Wills in their offices. Lawyers tended to stay in their practices for decades, and people didn’t move as often as they do now. It also made it so that the client’s heirs had to go back to that attorney when the client passed away,… Continue Reading

Happy Health Care Decisions Day!

April 16th is National Health Care Decisions Day.  While some of the seemingly fake holidays can make one roll their eyes, others, like Health Care Decisions Day (and Be Kind To Lawyers Day) are valuable reminders to pause and take care of important business. We are all in charge of our own health care decisions… Continue Reading