If you are lucky enough to grow old, you face a choice—age in place or choose one of the many other available options. Unfortunately, one size does not fit all.
If you decide to age in place, technology that didn’t exist in our parents’ generation offers you lots of advances that could make life easier. (See https://bit.ly/2nAhOYr)
Let’s start with Uber and Lyft, an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get where you have to go. (I love not having to dig into my wallet for cash when we arrive at our destination.) More and more, people are telling me that those who give up car ownership come out ahead financially—insurance, upkeep, and traffic tickets add up. And for those of us without garages in places where it snows a lot, it’s even better.
How about grocery shopping? Peapod (and many grocery chains) are happy to deliver anything they sell. Even better, you’re not limited to pizza when you want dinner delivered. Grubhub and the like offer lots of restaurant choices. If you prefer home cooking, there are services that deliver recipes complete with the ingredients you need to make the meal yourself.
Beginning to worry about driving to your cabin in the mountains? Soon, they tell us, a driverless car will take you there.
And then there’s Amazon—like it or not, it allows you to shop for anything without leaving home.
We’re promised that things like telemedicine, personal care robots and much more are in our future. Whether or not you decide to stay in your home, technology is making aging easier.
But not easy.