ArcaMax

Dear Toni,

I am currently on COBRA with dental benefits. I will need dental insurance when I lose my COBRA benefits after enrolling in Medicare at 65 in March. The only dental plans I am finding are in Medicare Advantage HMO/PPO plans. The office manager of my cardiologist’s office advised me not to go in the Medicare Advantage direction ...Read more

Once you reach your 50s, it is crunch time for saving for retirement. If you set a retirement savings target but have been neglecting it, you need to dust it off for a careful review. (Working with a financial advisor can help get you back on track.)

Once you’ve reacquainted yourself with the financial destination you want to reach, take ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When Narem Palomino Pardo isn’t studying for his master’s at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, performing with the UMKC Conservatory Wind Symphony or practicing the piano, you might find him in an unusual position: doing yoga with people nearly three times his age.

Palomino Pardo now lives at Claridge Court in ...Read more

CHICAGO -- What does retirement look like for you?

For a West Lawn resident with an electrical engineering degree, retirement entails spending a part of his week fixing electric appliances donated to Habitat for Humanity’s South Side ReStore.

For a former WBBM-Ch. 2 reporter and anchor/reporter at WMAQ-Ch. 5, retirement includes assisting ...Read more

Hi Toni:

Recently, you wrote an article explaining hospice. Please let readers of your column know that there are other ways hospice comforts the caregiver when a loved one passes. My mother’s hospice case manager and also her social worker made sure that I knew exactly what to do for her final needs when she finally peacefully passed away.

...Read more

Travel to the end of the earth—as Ushuaia, Argentina, is called. Then travel beyond it, to the islands, coves and research stations of Antarctica, a remote and mysterious land experienced by only a handful of visitors each year.

Recently, we joined 153 other adventure seekers in the relaxed luxury of Atlas Ocean Voyages’ World Voyager—the...Read more

BERLIN — People aged 50 and over can help prevent heart disease and gain years of life by having key health values checked regularly, health experts say.

A cardiovascular health check should become a regular part of preventive care no later than age 50, and preferably from 35, according to the German Heart Foundation. In the UK, meanwhile, ...Read more

Hello Toni:

In the new Medicare & You Handbook that I received about a month ago, I cannot find what the 2026 Medicare costs and premiums will be. I would like this information because I have been diagnosed with a heart condition and will need to undergo heart surgery next year. I have looked online and cannot find the costs there either.

Do ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It’s been driving Sheila Capell crazy: Her phone keeps saying her iCloud is full and she needs to click on a link and pay up. Now.

“What is the iCloud?” Capell, 83, asked during a recent get-together at her retirement community in West Boca. “They keep sending me messages that they’re going to eliminate my ...Read more

People who regularly speak multiple languages age more slowly on average, a study using data from more than 86,000 adults in 27 European countries found.

Published in the journal Nature Aging, an international team led by Agustin Ibañez of Trinity College Dublin matched participants’ chronological ages with biological data and behavioral ...Read more

BOSTON -- Are you constantly looking at your watch or phone to check your step count as you strive to hit 10,000 steps a day?

Well, a new Mass General Brigham study shows that only 4,000 steps one or two days a week can lead to health benefits for a senior population.

Older women who took 4,000 steps on just one or two days per week had a 27% ...Read more

Dear Toni,

As a certified case manager and critical care unit RN, I advise adult children who are seeking help for a parent or spouse who is having end-of-life issues. Those who have serious health care issues should be offered every option for proper planning with end-of-life care, especially hospice!

Can you explain hospice and respite care ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — They were forgotten amid the frantic evacuation of two senior care facilities, according to state investigators, leaving the elderly women in immediate danger as the smoke and flames of the Eaton fire drew closer.

In two reports published recently by the California Department of Social Services, investigators describe the ...Read more

Many were shocked by the news of screen legend Diane Keaton’s death this fall. Known for her bubbly personality and timeless influence on film and fashion, Keaton was an enduring presence in Hollywood. Even more startling was the cause of her death: pneumonia.

The bacterial lung infection is widely recognized as dangerous — yet few people ...Read more

LONDON — Many of us attribute gradual weight gain in middle age and beyond to a slow metabolism, but to what extent is this assumption true?

In a world flooded with health advice and ever-changing diet trends, we consulted Matyas Fehervari, consultant bariatric surgeon at Nuffield Health in the UK, who works extensively with metabolic issues,...Read more