15 Indications of cognitive decline that could be warning signs

15 Indications of cognitive decline that could be warning signs

by | Aug 23, 2021 | Health

Just like the rest of your body, your brain changes as you age.  Sometimes those changes are normal and relatively minor, such as forgetting a word or a person’s name.  In a small number of adults, however, those changes are indicative of something more severe that can affect your daily life and decision making.  That’s concerning from a health standpoint, but also because a misstep with your financial or legal affairs could derail your retirement.  How can you spot the difference between a normal cognitive change and something more serious?  Below is a list of 15 potential indicators of cognitive decline.  Again, we’ve all experienced the occasional item on the list, but if you suspect something more serious than that (either with yourself or someone you love), it might be worthwhile to have a conversation with your doctor. 

  • Difficulty with daily tasks such as housework, paying bills or following a recipe
  • Forgetting important dates or events
  • Getting lost while walking or driving in a familiar area
  • Forgetting how to play games that you’ve always enjoyed
  • Difficulty participating in a favorite hobby or sport
  • Frequently losing or misplacing items
  • Losing track of the day, week, month or seasons
  • Difficulty remembering words
  • Difficulty carrying on a conversation
  • Difficulty planning
  • Trouble with familiar tasks or simple concepts
  • Disorganized files, documents or checkbook
  • Decline in personal hygiene
  • Mood swings or depression
  • Mental fog or confusion

Again, if you suspect that you or someone you love might be suffering from cognitive decline, meet with your doctor for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.  And meet with your advisers to make sure that your financial and legal affairs (e.g. will, trust, powers of attorney) are in order.  

And don’t forget about prevention.  Your health is going to change as you age.  It’s unavoidable.  But there are things you can do to help maintain your cognitive health.  The Mayo Clinic recommends that you stay physically and mentally active, eat a healthy diet, maintain social connections, and manage risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.  In short, take care of yourself and you’ll greatly increase your odds of having a healthy, happy retirement.  

Be Intentional,

Joe

How the Observer Effect can help you with money and meaning

How the Observer Effect can help you with money and meaning

by | Aug 3, 2021 | Lifestyle Design, Pursuits, Saving

The Observer Effect is the tendency for people to change their behavior if they know they’re being watched.  The interesting thing about it is that it seems to work even if you’re both the watcher and the watched.  In other words, monitoring what you do seems to change what you do.  Management guru Peter Drucker said it this way: “What gets measured gets managed.”

Intuitively this makes sense.  If you weigh yourself regularly and track what you eat, it will likely impact what and how much you eat.  And it works with more than just diet and exercise.  It can have a positive impact on your finances and lifestyle as well.  What do you think would happen if you started to consistently track what you spend?  Or how much you save?  Or your progress toward paying off your debt?  Or how close you are to your retirement goals?  Or how much progress you’re making on that particular hobby.  Or how intentional you are with your holidays and time with family?

At Intentional Retirement, we help clients with money and meaning.  The money helps them sleep at night.  The meaning gives them a reason to get out of bed in the morning.  Since those two things are part of our DNA, we’re always looking for ways to not just educate and inform, but to actually prompt people to make positive changes in their lives.  We want you to take action.  To change for the better.  To become the person you want to be.  To have a secure, meaningful life doing the things you want with the people you love.  The Observer Effect might just help.  Give it a try.  Start watching yourself.  Decide what you want to do or what you want to change and start tracking your progress.  I think you’ll find it will help you be more disciplined, focused, consistent and…yes…intentional.

Be Intentional,

Joe