(This article previously appeared on LinkedIn.)
It was reported in The Telegraph recently that women over age 50 are 25 times less likely to be offered a job interview than their counterparts in their late 20s. As a career coach, I’m increasingly working with women in their mid-40s upwards who are having problems getting the kind of jobs that they want because they feel they are losing out to younger women.
Tired of this age discrimination, many of these women are exiting the corporate world and starting their own businesses.
Employers are doing themselves a disservice by failing to recognize the value that the more mature woman can bring to the workplace.
So employers, below are seven reasons why these women make great employees.
And women in this age bracket, these reasons are a reminder of how fabulous you are:
1. They’re comfortable in their own skin.
By the time they get to midlife, women have had longer to work on their personal development and iron out self-esteem issues, accepting themselves for who they are. Consequently, they’re at a stage where they are not only comfortable with who they are, but confident with it.
While still wanting to look good, at this stage of life, they are more likely to be appreciative of what’s on the inside than the outside.
2. They no longer party hard on a “school” night.
Gone are the days when they burned the candle at both ends on a weeknight, strolling in to work following an evening on the town. Neither are they part of the Thursday-is-the-new-Friday lot, clubbing from Thursday evening through Sunday evening. They come to work alert and ready to do a good day’s work, taking pride in what they do.
They are less likely to take a sickie unless they are really ill and particularly not because they’ve been out the night before.  As women mature and become more conscientious, they are less likely to take time off that is not warranted. They are more aware of the impact of their absence on their colleagues and the wider organization.
3. They have a lot of life experience.
By the time they get to midlife, women have achieved a tremendous amount of experience. Many have managed to climb the corporate ladder while raising a family. They’ve also been through numerous restructures and seen organizational practices go full circle (from centralization to decentralization and back again, as an example), learning many lessons from it all.
These women have lived and worked through so much of the “latest” thinking, they know what works well and what doesn't.
4. They’re more likely to be doing the job because it’s what they want to do.
Although there will be exceptions, by the time women get to midlife, they seek authenticity in what they do. They want to do work that aligns with who they are. No longer is it just about earning lots of money; they want to do work that is fulfilling, with meaning and purpose.
If midlife women are applying to work in your organization, chances are that’s because you offer something they have a genuine interest in. It’s not just a job to pay the bills. They want to make a difference.
5. They are more resilient.
Simply because of their age and their experience, women now in midlife have had to go through many changes and learned to adapt. They've had setbacks, faced rejection and have figured out how to survive in a tough competitive world.
Because of the fast pace of change these days, organizations need resilient employees. They need people that are able to recognize and accept that change is needed, even if it is not what they want.
6. They make good mentors.
This is due to their life and work experience. Over the years, they have developed empathy, a skill that is essential to the mentoring relationship. They've juggled work and family life. They've managed difficult relationships with colleagues, juniors, seniors and stakeholders.
They've been there, done that and got the T-shirt.
To young women in the early stages of their careers, a mature woman who has trod the path before them can share her experience and mistakes and explain what worked well for her and why. They can help women coming up carve out and navigate their career paths.
7. They make great leaders.
Look at Forbes’s World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2015 and you will see that there are only 15 women under the age of 45. Enough said.


7 Reasons Why Midlife Women Make Great Employees

Carol Stewart

Women are known to be at higher risk for several health conditions, including breast cancer, osteoporosis, cervical cancer and urinary tract infections. These issues are frequently discussed by experts and regularly screened for in female patients. However, there is a less discussed health risk that impacts millions of women in the United States, increasing their likelihood of developing chronic conditions, depression and anxiety: unpaid family caregiving.
For many women caregivers, stress levels are already high due to family and work obligations, and adding caregiving responsibilities to that can drain them of what little time, energy and resources they have to spare."Though more men are beginning to serve as caregivers than they did in the past, women still make up around 60% of all unpaid family caregivers of older adults," says Lisa Weitzman, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Benjamin Rose and manager of WeCare…Because You Do, a telephone- and email-based care coaching program. 
"Caregiving is absolutely a women's health issue, and should be recognized as such." 
"We talk about how lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption can impact health, but caregiving is rarely mentioned with these, even though it can have a significant effect on health, especially among the high percentage of women who take on the role," she adds. "Caregiving is absolutely a women's health issue, and should be recognized as such."
Why Does Caregiving Impact Women to Such a Degree?
The kind of women who are caregivers 
Though caregivers can come from many different types of backgrounds and circumstances, the most common type of unpaid family caregiver is an employed woman in the 45 to 64 age range. "These women are generally mid-career, and may still be raising their own children while providing care for an older family member," says Weitzman. "Most likely, their stress levels are already high due to their family and work obligations, and adding caregiving responsibilities to that can unfortunately drain them of what little time, energy and resources they have to spare."
Working caregivers often find themselves in a difficult juggling act of maintaining their professional standards while also providing quality care. According to caregiving.com, about 24% of female family caregivers worry about their work performance being judged negatively due to their caregiving responsibilities, while one in three are forced to consider early retirement in order to maintain their role.
"The other type of caregiver we commonly see are retired or unemployed women caring for their spouses," says Weitzman. "These women are generally elderly themselves and have their own health and well-being issues. And what we see with this population in particular is that they prioritize the person they're caring for and stop paying attention to their own health."
The way women provide care 
The work of caregivers can be both physical and demanding. While professional caregivers train to be able to lift, carry or transport patients as needed, untrained caregivers will find these tasks much harder. "What may surprise many is that men are actually more willing than women to outsource the incredibly physical tasks of caregiving to professionals," Weitzman says. "Women tend to take caregiving responsibilities entirely onto themselves. They don't tend to ask for help, even for tasks that involve physically hard labor, like bathing, toileting, dressing and so on."
"The view of women as nurturers and men as providers is still deeply rooted."
The societal expectation on women to nurture others 
For many women, especially those from more traditional households, caregiving is still seen as a societal expectation and moral obligation rather than a role one chooses for oneself. "The view of women as nurturers and men as providers is still deeply rooted," says Weitzman. "And when caregiving is seen as a moral obligation, it is no longer seen as work. The supports that we give to somebody who is a working professional aren't provided to the women who are viewed as simply doing what they ought to do."
The Impact of Caregiving on Women
Physical and Mental Health 
"The physical and mental health ramifications of caregiving for women can last for many years after they are no longer caregivers," says Weitzman. "It impacts depression and cardiovascular levels. It impacts people's resistance to diseases and the way the body fights them because their immune system breaks down. Caregivers also tend to confront grief in two equally devastating stages, first in coping with the coming loss of their loved one, and then again when their loved one actually passes. For dementia caregivers, this can be a painfully long and slow goodbye."
Self-Neglect 
Female caregivers, especially older women caring for their spouses, run the risk of entirely neglecting their physical and mental health in order to prioritize their loved one. "Oftentimes, we see caregivers passing away before the person for whom they're caring because the stress of caregiving is so incredible, or they simply have completely ignored their own well-being," says Weitzman.
Social Isolation 
Self-neglect can often be worsened by caregivers socially insolating themselves from others. "What many don't realize is that socialization is a safety net," says Weitzman. "The people in our lives are often more likely than we ourselves are to recognize when something is wrong with us, and give us those much needed urges to take care of ourselves and see a doctor. This is especially true for women, who discuss health more openly with each other than men do."
Social isolation is also deeply tied to mental health, as we all had to contend with during COVID-19. "When we're struggling, we really need others in our lives to help us make it through," Weitzman adds. "Caregivers strive to be that person for their loved one, but don't seek that same support for themselves."
"Oftentimes, we see caregivers passing away before the person for whom they're caring because the stress of caregiving is so incredible,"
How Can Women Emphasize Their Own Well-Being? 
Build a professional and personal community 
Building a community is an important first step in combating isolation and delegating physically demanding care tasks. Other family members and friends may be more willing to take certain tasks off your plate than you think, and your area may offer more support services than you're aware of. Consult the Eldercare Locator to see what's available in your area, and reach out to family and friends when you need support. Even if they can't help with your loved one's care directly, having them in your corner as someone to talk to can still make a difference.
Self-identify as a caregiver 
A key element of being able to build a community as a caregiver is recognizing you are one in the first place. "Many women see caregiving as simply being a good daughter, sister, niece or friend," says Weitzman. "However, most services are marketed to family and friend caregivers, so accepting the title generally makes it easier to find and access these services, and accept that they're meant for people in your situation."
Find little moments of self-care 
"Not only is it OK to make time for yourself, it's imperative." 
While self-care is often painted as getaway vacations and trips to the spa, it's actually better for self-care to be small acts repeated over a long period of time rather than one momentous occasion. "Micro-breaks focused on finding peace in the moment and dedicating a little bit of your time to something you're passionate about are useful tools for helping yourself in the long-term," Weitzman says.
Embrace self-care as a necessity, not an option 
The real struggle is getting women to stop viewing even small acts of self-care as luxuries they don't have the time to afford themselves. "Not only is it OK to make time for yourself, it's imperative," says Weitzman, "Think about the airline rule of putting on your oxygen mask before helping someone else with theirs. If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of another person long-term because you just simply won't be able to withstand it."
Remember the good in what you're doing 
Though caregiving of course comes with challenges and risks, it's important to let the beautiful moments sink in as well. "It can be an honor to accompany somebody at the end of life," Weitzman says. "There can be a great deal of joy in the one-on-one moments you share, and in giving back to a person who has loved and been there for you. Holding onto those moments can bring peace in an otherwise difficult time."
Advocate for a better tomorrow 
Finally, it's important to remember that we all play a role in championing policies that make life a little better for caregivers. "We have family leave policy for women caring for children, but there's very little, if any, family leave policies for people caring for older adults," says Weitzman. "We need to recognize — and encourage others to recognize — the value of the work provided by family caregivers, which is close to $500 billion, more than the annual budget for Medicaid." 
"We couldn't have our older adults age in place if we didn't have our family caregivers. If that's the health care structure our nation has built, we need to be pushing our nation to provide concrete ways for caregivers to receive the help they need so they're not sacrificing themselves and their health for the sake of the ones they love," she says. 


Caregiving as a Women's Health Issue

Julie Hayes

An email I received from Caryn Lindsay of St. Paul, Minn., grabbed my attention because her story, sadly, is all too common these days. Lindsay, who's 58 and single, was worried that she'll need to dig further into her retirement funds and remain on Medicaid when her unemployment benefits run out. She was furloughed from a job as director of study abroad and global learning in August 2020.
Caryn Lindsay, 58, worries about how she'll manage when unemployment benefits run outShe wrote:
… with no revenue from study abroad, the office could not support my salary. I have been trying to pivot away from study abroad in my job search, but when faced with me and someone who — as one potential employer put it — 'could be up and running quickly' I fall out of the competition…
I met with Lindsay and her friend Jill Bjorklund, 59, over Zoom several weeks ago to learn more about their situations. Bjorklund had been a project coordinator for the Minneapolis Public School system earning around $80,000 until her position was cut in July 2021.
The Barriers for Some Looking for Work in Their 50s
Both women were thoughtful and articulate in discussing their professional histories and observations about the job market. Considering their professionalism, knowledge and skills you would think any employer would leap at the chance to hire them and pay them a salary commensurate with their expertise and experience.
But their difficult job search experience is widely shared, especially among women at midlife and older. As Ramona Schindelheim, editor-in-chief of WorkingNation, recently wrote on Next Avenue, adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s now make up half of the long-term unemployed (those out of work for more than six months) in the United States.
"A lot of middle-aged women who want to work are stuck."
The pernicious combination of ageism and age discrimination is a barrier for even talented professional women, something 2021 Influencer in Aging Guadalupe Hirt (co-founder of the company SecondActWomen) noted during a Century Summit panel. 
"A lot of middle-aged women who want to work are stuck," says Bjorklund. "We are too early to retire and too old to get re-employed. More and more women are in that position."
Research supports her observation.
An AARP survey published in September 2021 said that 31% of women ages 40 to 65 looking for work cited age discrimination as an impediment to finding a job.
Age Discrimination Is Severe for Older Women
Among the most striking conclusions from a review of the age discrimination scholarly literature by Tulane University economist Patrick Button was evidence that discrimination against older women is "much more severe" compared to their male peers. 
Jill Bjorkund took a huge pay cut for her new job after a layoffThis is why my default position is to doubt employers who say they can't find the talent they need. Ancient and hoary stereotypes blind them to hiring opportunities.
"Sadly, we know there are headwinds for older job seekers, tending to be worse for women," says Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica Institute and the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
That's certainly been the case for Lindsay and Bjorklund. Lindsay is still looking for work; Bjorklund found employment that offers her purpose and a paycheck, but her new paycheck is one-third less than her previous one.
Here's a bit about their experiences:
Lindsay had a career in the federal government and, for the last 15 years, in higher education focused on study abroad programs. She was furloughed from her job at Western Kentucky University when the pandemic struck because it became so hard for U.S. students to study globally.
Lindsay moved back to St. Paul to take care of her mother while looking for work. She was reluctant to apply for public benefits, but eventually filed for unemployment insurance and went on Medicaid.
"Jill reminded me that you have been paying into the system your entire career; don't feel bad," she told me.
Lindsay is doing everything that job search experts recommend, such as networking, tapping into the power of social media and exploring different career options. She's confident she'll find a good fit.
"I have a lot of broad experience that could be used in any sector," she says.  
Bjorklund describes her career as something of a "mix and match" experience. She worked part-time for 11 years while raising children and spent the past four years with the Minneapolis Public School system before her layoff.
Finding Purpose, But a Smaller Paycheck
Bjorklund wasn't particularly upset about losing her job, considering her 45-minute commute in often heavy traffic. And when she'd been unemployed while younger, it never took long to land another position. Not this time.
She found herself in "a situation where you interview and are feeling overqualified and no follow-up interview and no job offer."
She found herself in "a situation where you interview and are feeling overqualified and no follow-up interview and no job offer."
Her new job is with a local nonprofit, helping some people buy homes and others avoid foreclosure. She acknowledges it's somewhat disconcerting to think that her recent college graduate children are making the same amount, or more than she is.
But Bjorklund loves the work. "More important to me is to find a place where it is purposeful and I am making a difference and still learning something," she says.
The classic job-hunting guidelines for midlife- and older job seekers still hold true: Networking is critical. Professionals should update their skills, these days including on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Starting a side hustle, getting gig work or launching a self-employment venture can bring in income while pursuing full-time employment, too.
"Last, so important, is if you're not working — get out and do some volunteer work," says Collinson. "It's important to give, to have a sense of purpose. You're also building up your network."
Older job seekers also need to keep up their confidence and self-esteem, though that can be difficult.
"It's so easy to develop a negative mindset about yourself," cautions Dorian Mintzer, an author, therapist and life and retirement transition coach. "It's important to think of ourselves separate from work. Really work against the feeling of being unimportant." 
The stakes are high for out-of-work women in their 50s and 60s. Employer hostility and hiring management indifference are damaging to their long-term financial health as well as the economy's vitality and dynamism.
"There is a cost to society because there will be more of us in this situation," says Lindsay.


Unemployed, But Too Young to Retire

Chris Farrell

Lori Enzer of Los Angeles and her mom, Linda NewmanFor Janet Harris, 2020 will be remembered as a year of love and caregiving. A year ago, her husband, Alonzo, 74, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and doctors also found a spot on his liver. Having survived two strokes, Alonzo is a fighter. After undergoing two rounds of radiation therapy, the tumor appears to be eliminated.
This hopeful news is much needed. In June, Harris, 58, of Stony Mountain, Ga., found herself laid off from her job with the American Cancer Society after 22 years, given the pandemic's impact on the organization. 
Janet and Alonzo Harris of Stony Mountain, Ga."COVID and caregiving has affected every aspect of my life," says Harris.
The Carer Well-Being Index published by Embracing Carers showed U.S. caregivers are spending an average of nearly eight hours more each week on caregiving duties since the pandemic started. Nearly a third believe they'll spend more than 41 hours caregiving weekly in the new year with the continued challenges of COVID-19. 
"I was surprised that almost one-third of caregivers felt their time would increase that much over the coming months," says Heather Connor, head of global communications Healthcare at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as EMD Serano in the U.S. and Canada and is part of the Embracing Carers consortium of caregiving organizations. "But in light of other study findings, such as changing care responsibilities since COVID, it proves there is even more burden on this overwhelmed population of caregivers." 
First-time Caregivers Have Even More Challenges
The study also found 13% of respondents became caregivers since the pandemic, and that older loved ones are relying more on family caregivers these days. 
This is certainly the case for Sharon Douglas, 62, an event planner in Irvine, Calif. While struggling to keep her business going when the pandemic forced in-person event cancellations, Douglas suddenly found herself caregiving for two men in her life. 
Her father, 86, had beaten prostate cancer 24 years ago, but his urology check-up in May found he had bladder cancer and would need to undergo surgery. While Douglas was caring for him, her husband, David, 65, underwent surgery for a hip replacement. 
4 in 10 caregivers cannot see their older loved one this holiday season.
"I'm the nurse, maid, cook, pill dispenser, physical therapy aid, personal shopper and I run my own business," says Douglas. "The care for my dad and husband coupled with concerns about my business is constant. I'm in the twilight of my career and was planning on a couple more great years before I could slow down and maybe shift into retirement mode. But with my business losses this year due to COVID – I have no events until fall 2021 at the earliest – it means I'll be working harder and longer than I had planned."
Like 74% of the women caregivers surveyed, Douglas said she is fearful of contracting the virus because she doesn't know who would care for her dad and husband. She also has taken on more housework for two households – one of the top three tasks cited by caregivers in the study, along with technology management, such as telehealth and videochatting, and emotional support.
Home Care May Be More Burdensome on Caregivers
In a separate survey conducted by Care.com, the vast majority (93%) of older adults receiving care are concerned about a new wave of infections. And to that end, most caregivers surveyed have sought new care options due to the pandemic. About two-thirds believe home care is currently safer than assisted living or nursing home care.
"The resurgence in COVID-19 cases is an understandable concern for families and our survey showed a majority are considering moving their senior out of facility-based care for safety reasons, prompting over half of them (caregivers) – fifty-seven percent – to shoulder the care responsibilities," says Jill McNamara, director of senior care at Care.com.  
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Safety is a factor, but caregivers may also want to care for their loved ones at home, given the COVID-19 guidelines which limit their ability to visit loved ones in person or disallow it. The Care.com study found 4 in 10 caregivers cannot see their older loved ones this holiday season. In the Embracing Carers study, this has meant most caregivers whose family members feel isolated are providing them with increased emotional support.
Two-thirds of caregivers say the pandemic has worsened their emotional and mental health and COVID-19 has made caregiving harder.
Lori Enzer, 59, who recently retired from a marketing career and lives in Los Angeles, knows all too well about being isolated from older loved ones since COVID-19. Three years ago, Enzer and her sister decided to move her mother, 82, from New York City to be closer to Enzer. 
The Jewish Home for the Aging, a lifeplan community also known as continuing care retirement community (CCRC) with different levels of care on the same campus, was ideal for her mother who has congestive heart failure. It is also now the home for Enzer's dad, 86, who suffers from dementia. Down the street in another community is where Enzer's wheelchair-bound mother-in-law lives. She has not been able to visit with any of them in person since the pandemic began. 
"When we talk on the phone, I've noticed both my mom and my dad don't sound right. I don't think it is COVID, but it is the lack of me being able to visit in person. They aren't worried about COVID, but they also don't realize they are on lockdown," says Enzer.
Financial Strain and Leaving the Workforce
While Janet Harris is an example of the 16% of caregivers surveyed by Embracing Carers who lost their job during the pandemic, more than half of respondents said COVID-19 has worsened their financial health. Diverse caregivers like Harris, who is Black, are more likely than white caregivers to have had their salaries reduced. 
Jason ResendezSome caregivers are also making the decision to cut back on work or leave work entirely to care for loved ones. Jason Resendez, executive director of UsAgainstAlzheimer's Center for Brain Health Equity and a Next Avenue Influencer in Aging, pointed to a Bipartisan Policy Center report that found 21% of women reported leaving the workforce during the pandemic due to caregiving responsibilities. 
And, says C. Grace Whiting, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving and also an Influencer in Aging: "We know COVID disproportionately affects Black communities and with higher job loss among women of color since COVID, the need to have good health means having wealth. They go hand in hand, so financial protections for caregivers, especially minority caregivers, is important."
Caregiver Self-Care Is Essential
The Carer Well-Being Index showed 72% of caregivers feel more burnout since COVID-19. While the survey found about two-thirds of caregivers say the pandemic has worsened their emotional and mental health and that COVID-19 has made caregiving harder, most felt that caring for a loved one during the pandemic is also rewarding.
"The pandemic accelerated and elevated that caregivers are a vital part of the health care system," says Connor. "The data from our Carer Well-Being Index is clear, we have to look at systemic changes and solutions to support caregivers in their physical, social and financial health."


Caregiving and COVID-19: A Toxic Cocktail for Women

Sherri Snelling

Jan Smith was in the final semester of her training to be a funeral director when her 8-year-old nephew died after a heart transplant.
Funeral director Jan Smith of Flanner Buchanan in Indianapolis guides a casket into a hearse.Her family’s heartbreak deepened her understanding of the value of the work she was preparing for.
“I was able to be an observer of how my profession can help a family with a traumatic experience like the loss of a young child. I saw what a difference we make with creating that meaningful last experience,” said Smith, of Indianapolis.
The business of caring for the dead and overseeing final goodbyes, long dominated by solemn men in dark suits, is becoming women’s work.
A Shifting Tide
Now 41, Jan Smith was in a minority when she attended mortuary school in the 1990s; only 5 percent of her class was female.
Today, she’s vice president of funeral operations for Flanner Buchanan, which has 17 funeral home locations around Indianapolis. About half of her funeral director colleagues at her company are women and the majority of candidates applying for internships or jobs are female.
That’s typical of how the gender gap in the industry has narrowed.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, 16 percent of its current membership is female, up from 10 percent in 2004.
But the real shift will be felt as the next generation of funeral directors moves into prominence in the profession. In the past decade, the number of women enrolled in the nation’s 59 accredited mortuary science programs began to meet and then exceed the number of their male classmates. In 2016, 61 percent of students in college and university programs were female.
That’s consistent with the male-female demographics at the University of Minnesota. Its 110-year-old program of Mortuary Science offers a four-year bachelor of science degree.
Changing Nature of Funeral Director Profession
Angela Woosley, a senior teaching instructor in the program at the university’s Minneapolis campus, thinks the gender switch reflects a larger societal acceptance of women in roles previously dominated by men.
“Funeral directors have always been pillars of the community and in the past, maybe women would not have been in that category. But opportunities for leadership in many fields have opened up,” said Woosley, who is a licensed funeral director herself.
Woosley thinks one of the biggest reasons that more women are choosing the profession is because its fundamental nature has changed.
“Funeral directors used to perform a finite function and most funerals were pretty much done one way. Now we are facilitators. We take a client-centered approach to discover a family’s needs and to understand the story of the person who died. We bring the community together for a one-time event,” Woosley explained.
Historical Movement
Throughout history, women often attended the dead, assigned to the ceremonial tasks of washing, anointing and shrouding bodies to prepare them for burial.
In the U.S., men took over the role during the Civil War, with the introduction of the embalming process. The ability to preserve physical remains transformed death care into a profession and often a family business, passed from father to son.
“There was a longstanding cultural taboo that women were too delicate or squeamish for this work,” Woosley said. “When I still hear that, I say, remember that women have always been nurses. The ill and the dead share a lot in common; bodies do things that require a strong stomach.”
A New Kind of Funeral
With the decline of burial and the rise of cremation, the timeline for a service can be extended and in many cases, celebrations of life are replacing traditional funerals. As fewer Americans are affiliated with a house of worship, managing the details of ceremonies that were previously organized by clergy now often falls within the funeral director’s purview.
“Preparing for a service is like being a project manager or an event planner. It’s a job that requires communication skills and the ability to multi-task, two areas where we know women excel,” Woosley said.
The work of the contemporary funeral director involves more than making sure the flowers, black cars and video tributes are in place and ready to go. Today, the curriculum in mortuary science programs trains those who work in funeral service in grief psychology and prepares them to offer empathetic guidance to families in the first stage of mourning.
Women as Comforters
Monica Torres, a licensed funeral director with NXT Generation Mortuary Support Services in Phoenix, believes that her ability to extend comfort to support the bereaved is a uniquely feminine advantage.
“Families respond to women in that compassionate role. I can put my hand on someone’s hand or give them a hug and it won’t be misconstrued. It’s not going to be appropriate for my male counterpart to do that,” she said.
A skilled embalmer, Torres specializes in restoration and reconstruction and is called in by other funeral directors for help with traumatic cases, preparing a body for viewing when there’s been a death following a disfiguring car accident or gunshot wound.
“I get offended when people say they think what I do is creepy,” she said. “That’s someone’s grandmother, that’s someone’s baby. I take it personally that I’m the last person who will care for these people, and I can see the relief on the faces of family members who know they can trust me with their loved one.”
‘A Calling’
Like teachers, counselors, first responders and social workers, those who work as funeral directors are now sometimes included in lists of the so-called helping professions.
“We see sad situations but we have to keep it together,” said Smith. “It’s an honor to be with families and help them through what is often the most difficult time of their lives.”
Before Smith studied mortuary science, she earned a pre-med degree, planning to be a pediatrician. She’s found that her career in funeral service has given her the sort of satisfaction that she had anticipated she'd experience in caring for sick children.
“It really is a calling,” she said.


Why Your Funeral Director Will Likely Be Female

Kevyn Burger

(Editor's note: Soap opera actress Susan Lucci was in the news yesterday talking about the emergency heart surgery she had last fall after suffering a heart attack. Like many, she didn't know the signs of a heart attack for women and brushed off previous instances when she felt symptoms. The Next Avenue story below, originally published in 2015, explains the essentials about women and heart disease.)
We all know what a heart attack looks like. You feel a crushing pain in your chest and collapse to the floor. It all happens in a matter of seconds. Right?
Not necessarily. Especially if you are a woman.
The stereotypical heart attack that we see on TV does not reflect many of the symptoms women experience. With cardiovascular disease the No. 1 killer of both men and women, it is vital that we know the signs — and what you can do to lower your risk.
5 Things to Know about Women and Heart Disease
To coincide with American Heart Month and the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign, we have gathered experts’ views on the five things women don’t know – but should – about heart disease:
1. Symptoms are different. Women may or may not feel chest pain with a heart attack, which occurs when the blood flow to the heart is constricted or cut off. Common symptoms for women include shortness of breath, pain in the jaw, neck or back, nausea and vomiting, and extreme fatigue, says cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women’s heart health at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association.
“What I hear (from patients) is, ‘I used to carry packages up five flights of stairs, now I can’t even get up one flight,’” Steinbaum says. Or you may think you have indigestion, “but if it comes and goes, it is a sign that it’s your heart.”
Symptoms may come on when you’re active, and subside when you’re at rest, Steinbaum says. They also may develop over days or weeks.
2. Family history matters. If your father died of heart disease before age 55 or your mother before 60, you should be screened as soon as possible, says Steinbaum, author of Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book: Every Woman’s Guide to a Heart Healthy Life.
Ask your doctor to test your cholesterol, blood pressure and sugars — even if you didn’t have relatives who died young. He or she may also want to do additional tests that can ferret out heart disease while it is still in its early stages. Those include the carotid intima-media thickness test and the coronary calcium scan.
3. Stress can hurt you. When you feel stressed out, your body releases adrenaline, which in turn increases your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The hormone cortisol also surges, releasing sugars into the bloodstream and suppressing functions not essential in a “fight or flight” situation, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If the stress is constant, overexposure to cortisol can cause damage. Stress can also drive people to make unhealthy life choices like drinking too much alcohol.
“Stress is one of the greatest things that leads to inflammation,” Steinbaum said. Inflammation, in turn, plays a role in the clogging of arteries, according to the Harvard Heart Letter.
In a study published in 2010, researchers in Israel found that cortisol levels in hair — a marker of chronic stress — were a stronger predictor of heart attacks than cholesterol level or weight.
4. Prevention works. As much as 80 to 90 percent of the time, heart disease is preventable if it is diagnosed soon enough, Steinbaum says. If you show early signs, you may need to be on medication. “But you don’t have to have a heart attack and die,” she says.
Good prevention measures can stop the plaque in your arteries from becoming too great or too unstable. They can also keep your blood pressure and sugar levels from causing problems in the arteries.
5. Take action now. “It’s never too late to start exercising, change your diet, get healthy,” Steinbaum says. “I see it all the time — people who’ve never exercised get physically fit, and it’s amazing."
One of her patients became motivated to change when she woke up on her 63 birthday and realized she was the same age her father had been when he died of a heart attack. She discovered she had very high cholesterol, and began taking her health seriously.
“She has taken control of her life and she doesn’t have to be a victim of her family history,” Steinbaum says.
Women’s Intuition
The physician says many of her patients tell her they had a strong sense before a heart attack that something was wrong.
“Ninety percent of the time, I hear, ‘Yeah, I knew. I had a feeling it was my heart.’“ Pay attention to that message, she says. Trust your instincts.
And if you tend to be a glass-half-empty person, try to take a more optimistic view on life. Don’t be so quick to judge, and don’t assume that bad things are going to happen. Steinbaum says that having a positive attitude can make a huge difference to your heart.
“We have more control over our health than we thought. And there is nothing better or more empowering than knowing you have control over your future,” Steinbaum says.


Susan Lucci's Heart Scare Brings Awareness About Women and Heart Disease

Emily Gurnon

When it comes to heart disease, not only are the symptoms sometimes different for men and women but the disease itself may also be different.
There's an entertaining theory that men and women are from different planets. It's a not-so entertaining fact that men and women experience heart disease differently. It's not always clear why, but women are less likely to survive a heart attack than men. Women have a 50 percent greater chance of dying during heart surgery. And they're more likely than their male counterparts to develop heart failure, a weakening of the heart muscle that can be incapacitating and ultimately fatal.
Heart disease kills 500,000 women every year — 10 times more than breast cancer and more than all other cancers combined. It's also a leading cause of disability. Eight million women are living with it. While women develop cardiovascular disease about 10 years later than men, it's estimated that 1 in 10 American women 45 to 64 years of age has some form of heart disease, increasing to 1 in 4 women over the age of 65. 
Historically, studies that set the standard for detection and treatment of heart disease were done mostly on men. But researchers found the results didn't always apply to women. Now, thanks to new research sponsored by National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, more attention is being directed toward a better understanding of the unique features of heart disease in women.
 
Here's what scientists are finding out about gender differences and heart disease:

		Women with heart disease may have different symptoms than men. Women may experience the classic symptoms of gripping chest pain, sweating and shortness of breath, but they may also present with vaguer symptoms like generalized discomfort in the chest, breast, back, shoulders, jaw, neck or throat; indigestion; nausea; light-headedness; palpitations; sleep disturbances; and unexplained fatigue. 
		Tests that reliably pick up signs of heart damage in men don't always work in women. These range from simple blood tests to exercise stress tests to standard angiograms. Some women don't have the strength to do a full exercise stress test and an incomplete one doesn't work the heart enough to yield truly useful results. Single-vessel heart disease, which is more common in women than in men, may not be picked up on a routine exercise stress test. Women with chest pain and other heart symptoms are more likely than men to have coronary microvascular disease even though tests show clear large coronary arteries. (See More About Women and Coronary MVD below.) 
		Women tend to have heart attacks later in life. As a result, they're more likely to have other health issues. Symptoms of heart disease might be attributed to existing conditions, like arthritis or diabetes. Such problems as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes may make surgery a riskier proposition for them. 
		Women have smaller hearts and arteries than men. One reason women haven't fared as well as men after bypass surgery and balloon procedures may be that their smaller vessels clog up again more easily after the procedures. In addition, surgeons performing bypasses in women are less likely to use an artery from inside the chest wall, because it's smaller and harder to work with, even though using the chest artery gives most patients better odds of long-term survival.  
		There may be fundamental differences in the way women's hearts work. Researchers believe that women have a different intrinsic rhythm to the pacemaker of their hearts, causing them to beat faster. They also hypothesize that it may take a woman's heart longer to relax after each beat.Several recent landmark studies have revealed that more women than men suffer from coronary microvascular disease. It's estimated that of the 8 million women in the United States with heart disease, as many as 3 million of them have coronary MVD.
 
The diagnosis of coronary MVD poses a unique challenge. Chest pain and other symptoms that the heart muscle isn't getting enough blood have traditionally signaled a narrowing or blockage in one or more of the heart's large arteries — a condition that's easily seen on an angiogram. But in about 50 to 60 percent of symptomatic women and 20 percent of men, the problem lies not in the major arteries but in the smaller branches which are virtually invisible on a standard coronary angiogram. Bottom line, coronary MVD, like traditional coronary artery disease, increases a woman's chance for a heart attack.
Researchers are just beginning to understand coronary MVD. The same risk factors that cause problems with the larger coronary arteries — heredity, age, race, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, obesity and smoking — may also contribute to coronary microvascular disease. Women appear to be more affected by certain factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes than men. In addition, there are a host of other risk factors unique to women. Only women become pregnant, experience menopause and are prescribed contraceptive pills and postmenopausal estrogens.
Theories on why the disease may differ in women include the following:

		Low levels of estrogen. Because estrogen plays a role in processing nitric oxide, which helps arteries function properly, the endothelium may suffer when natural estrogen levels wane.
		More inflammation (an overreaction by the immune system). Inflammation stimulates the body to use cholesterol in the bloodstream as a band-aid to cover up irritated areas in the blood vessels.
		Higher incidence of anemia. Anemia is thought to slow the growth of cells needed to repair damaged blood vessels.
		Lower levels of hemoglobin (a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen). Hemoglobin deficits may starve the heart muscle and also reduce nitric oxide levels.
		Lower HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels. There is evidence that having low HDL is more predictive of the development of coronary heart disease in women than high LDL ("bad" cholesterol) levels are.
Findings so far have raised as many questions as have been answered, but the work represents a good start in zeroing in on ways to tailor diagnosis specifically for women. Progress has already been made in educating doctors about symptoms that, in the past, were under-recognized or misinterpreted in women. Scientists are focusing on how diagnostic and treatment techniques may need to be changed to improve women's outcomes.
   
Don't Ignore Symptoms Coronary Disease
Coronary microvascular disease is tough to diagnose. If you are experiencing symptoms that concern you, don't ignore them. You need to continue a dialog with your doctor until you're both satisfied.
If your doctor suspects you are at risk for heart disease, there are a number of traditional diagnostic tests used to look for blockages that affect blood flow in the large coronary arteries (coronary artery disease or CAD). However, standard tests for CAD, like electrocardiograms, exercise stress tests, echocardiograms and angiograms don't always detect coronary microvascular disease (MVD), a disease where the smallest coronary arteries are affected. 
As more is learned about coronary MVD, new protocols and tests are emerging.
Self-Reported Physical Fitness Scores Since symptoms of coronary MVD often first appear during routine daily tasks, a questionnaire called the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) that asks about an individual's ability to perform certain daily tasks can prove useful. It yields information about how well blood is flowing through coronary arteries and also helps doctors select appropriate next steps.
                             Duke Activity Status Index
Circle the points for a question only if you can answer "Yes, with no difficulty." Add up the circled points. The lower the score, the greater the risk.  Total scores of 4.7 or below are considered higher risk.
   
Stress Tests
Stress tests are performed to determine whether there's enough blood flow to the heart during physical activity. They involve performing simple exercise, usually with a treadmill or a stationary bike. Sometimes pharmacological agents are used to simulate the heart's reactions to exercise.  Standard stress tests tend not to be as reliable in women as in men, but using imaging such as echocardiograms or nuclear scans in conjunction with an exercise stress test improves their accuracy.

		Adensosine Coronary Flow Reserve and Acetylcholine Endothelial Function Test with Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)  This is a pharmacological stress test. During the two-step test, the drug adenosine, which causes the small vessels of the heart to dilate, is injected into one of the coronary arteries and the amount of blood flow is measured. Next, the drug acetylcholine, which causes dilation in the large arteries, is injected and the amount of blood flow is again measured. The superior resolution of magnetic resonance imaging is used to get images of the beating heart and to look at its structure and function. MRIs can show poor blood supply to the innermost areas of the heart and can detect changes in the small coronary blood vessels. If either test shows decreased blood flow to the heart muscle, a diagnosis of microvascular disease can be made.
		Dipyridamole Positron Emission Tomography (PET)   This cardiac PET scan also shows how much blood flow the heart receives at rest and under stress. During the first stage, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is administered while the patient is at rest. The images that are produced from this first PET scan are checked with a second PET scan after the patient is administered dipyridamole, a drug that produces an effect in the body similar to the effects of strenuous exercise.
		Doppler Wire Coronary Angiogram  The most definitive test for microvascular disease is a special type of coronary angiogram used to measure coronary artery flow reserve or coronary reactivity. It involves threading an ultrathin wire with blood-flow sensors at the tip deep into a coronary artery (called cardiac catheterization). Blood flow in the artery is then measured before and after injections of one or more medications to cause the microvessels to dilate. The smaller the change in pressure and flow, the stiffer the vessels. This test is done only at a small number of cardiac centers in the country. Cardiac catheterization procedures are invasive and expensive, but the risks of doing them have to be weighed against the risks of not receiving an accurate diagnosis.A great deal remains to be learned about coronary MVD, especially in women. In the meantime, there are some basic strategies that you can use to get an accurate diagnosis and the best possible medical care. Listen to your body and believe in your instincts. If you feel strongly that something is wrong but your doctor can't find a problem, get a second opinion. Find a specialist who is familiar with coronary MVD. Ask questions.  If you don't fully understand the answers, ask more questions until you do. There's nothing more important than your health. By balancing assertiveness with respect for your physicians, you can get the information you need.
Lifestyle Changes for Recovery Success
If you've received a diagnosis of coronary microvascular disease, getting adequate blood flow to your heart is critical. Lifestyle changes are the most effective treatment.
Treatment goals for coronary MVD are three-fold — stop it from getting worse, improve quality of life by relieving symptoms, and prevent a heart attack. Standard invasive treatments for coronary heart disease (CAD), like angioplasty, stenting and bypass surgery, aren't used to treat coronary MVD. Instead, treatment focuses on reducing risk through managing underlying conditions.
Talk to your doctor about your risk factors for heart disease and how to control them.

		Know your numbers — ask your doctor for these three tests and have the results explained to you.    ◦    Lipid profile. This test measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (often called bad cholesterol), HDL cholesterol (often called good cholesterol) and triglycerides (another form of fat in the blood).
    ◦    Blood pressure.
    ◦    Fasting blood glucose. This test is for diabetes.

		Know your body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. BMI is an estimate of body fat that's calculated from your height and weight. You can use the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's online BMI calculator to figure out your BMI. To measure your waistline, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.
		Know your symptoms and how and when to seek medical help. Be able to describe the usual pattern of your symptoms. Know how to control them.   
		Know which medicines you take and when and how to take them.
		Know the limits of your physical activity.Make heart-healthy lifestyle changes to reduce your risk factors.  You can't control some risk factors of heart disease, like age and family history.  But you can take aggressive steps to lower or control other risk factors, like high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes and smoking.
Follow a heart healthy eating plan. Two heart healthy eating plans are the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (for people who have high blood pressure) and the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet (for people who have high blood cholesterol).

		Increase your physical activity. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, and preferably, all days of the week. If you're trying to manage your weight and keep from gaining weight, try to get 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity on most days of the week.
		Quit smoking, if you smoke.
		Lose weight, if you're overweight.
		Learn ways to avoid or cope with stressTake medicines as your doctor prescribes.

		Standard anti-angina drugs that work by relaxing blood vessels, such as nitroglycerin, can help ease symptoms. Nitroglycerin is prescribed to relax blood vessels, improve blood flow to the heart muscle and treat chest pain.
		High cholesterol and high blood pressure are almost certainly among the causes of microvascular disease. In addition to diet and exercise, lipid-lowering drugs, like statins, can be used to improve cholesterol levels and beta blockers, calcium-channel blockers or vasodilators to lower blood pressure and decrease the heart's workload.
		If you have diabetes, check your blood sugar level every day to make sure your medicines and diet and exercise are working to keep it in a normal range. Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease and stroke.
		Low-dose aspirin can be used to help prevent blood clots or control inflammation. Other blood clot reducers include anticoagulants and antiplatelets.Treat anemia. It slows repair of damaged blood vessels. Anemia treatment depends on the cause and can involve iron supplements, folic acid or hormone injections, and blood transfusion or antiplatelet drugs.
 
Although a great deal of new knowledge about coronary MVD has been uncovered in the last decade, more work needs to be done. Watch for new findings from the federally financed Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study.
This article reprinted with permission from Second Opinion, a public television health program hosted by Dr. Peter Salgo and produced by WXXI (Rochester, N.Y.),  West 175 and the University of Rochester Medical Center.


Gender Differences and Heart Disease

(This article previously appeared on Grandparents.com.)
What pieces look great on every woman's body at every age? Here are seven sartorial choices that will never let you down:
1. The Wrap Dress

When Diane von Furstenberg designed the wrap dress, she offered women so much more than just the latest thing in fashion — versatility, ease, and an instant hourglass shape to name a few. Today, many brands share in their love of this timeless style. Opt for a bold print to distract the eye from any trouble spots, otherwise the directions here are simple: slip-on, tie-up and go!
Pictured: Printed Wrap-Front Dress
2. The A-Line Skirt

“A-line” is defined as any style that’s fitted at the hips and gradually widens towards the hem. Think of Dior’s 1947 breakthrough “New Look.” The silhouette cinches the smallest part of the waist and grazes over the hips, flattering all shapes and sizes. From classic midi’s to printed knee-length, a-line skirts are instantly slimming.
(MORE: What Looks Good on Boomer Bodies This Season)
3. The Classic White Button-Down

The rules for finding the perfect flattering blouse? Make sure it’s crisp, and not too form-fitting. The criteria doesn’t only score style points: a crisp collar helps to define strong shoulders and works to frame your face, while a looser fit actually helps slim the frame (all while making you look effortlessly Parisian!).
4. Dark Denim Straight-Leg Jeans

Denim is basically part of our DNA. Sometimes, we even wear the true blues on a daily basis. Unfortunately, jeans can get a bad rap (we’re talking about your “mom” jeans). Stick to these guidelines to find your workhorse pair: dark wash, straight leg, mid-rise.
Pictured: NYDJ Marilyn Straight Leg Jean
5. The Schoolboy Blazer

A tailored blazer lends structure to any outfit and any shape. Sharpening your weekend jeans or a staple for the office, this is one of your most wardrobe-friendly pieces. The hemline should land just at the hips for the best fit on any body type, and is most stylish with the buttons left open. Go bold with a signature color, but you also can't go wrong with basic black or charcoal.
(MORE: A Cool Photo Project: Young and Old Swap Clothes)
6. The Trench Coat

One of the chicest items in every woman’s wardrobe should be her tan double breasted trench coat. The reason? This outerwear style flatters everyone, so invest in a style that works for you. An appropriate topper to any outfit, or worn as the centerpiece for an outdoor event, you’ll never stop having reasons to wear it.
Pictured: Convertible Waterproof Trench
Price: $80
Available at: LLbean.com
7. Nude Heels

Nothing helps to elongate your leg line like a pair of single-sole pointy-toed nude pumps. The heel height is your choice, no matter what this silhouette makes you appear taller and slimmer when matched to pants, skirts, or dresses.


7 Clothing Items That Flatter Every Body

Elizabeth Burns

“There’s no stopping this train,” Jean Chatzky, financial editor of NBC’s The Today Show, writes in her new book, Women with Money: The Judgment-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Less Stressed, Purposeful (and, Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve. (It covers everything from the emotions of money to investing in real estate to leaving a legacy.) By 2028, Chatzky notes, women will control 75% of discretionary spending around the world and by 2030, 66% of America’s wealth.
Jean Chatzky, AuthorBut women need a different money playbook than men, Chatzky has concluded from her research and decades of professional and personal experience. “Women view money through a different sort of lens,” Chatzky writes. I just spoke with her to delve into this notion and to hear more about her money tips, especially for women 50+, as you’ll see below. (Chatzky’s 54, as she notes in what she calls her most personal money book; she’s written nine others.)
Here’s the nut of Chatzky’s argument, which I wholeheartedly agree with: “First and foremost, for us, the life we want to create is the target, while money is the tool that helps us achieve it. For many men, it is the other way around.”
But, she adds, “Many of us [women] don’t feel knowledgeable enough to run our financial lives with both confidence and conviction. Too many of us still prefer to sweep all things financial under the rug.” To address this, Chatzky launched HerMoney Media and HerMoney.com in 2018.
Here’s what Chatzky told me about her mission to empower women to take control of their financial lives and how she thinks they can do it (full disclosure: I’ve known Chatzky for years and she endorsed my book, What’s Next? several years ago): 
Kerry Hannon: Why did you write this book now? What’s changed in the decade since you wrote Make Money, Not Excuses: Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever?
Jean Chatzky: In terms of demographics, there is more money in the hands of women. And when you look at education and inheritance, those things are both moving very quickly, as opposed to how fast the salary gap will close, according to current projections.
But the other thing that made me want to come back to women and money is that what I am hearing from women through Hermoney.com and through my podcast is this desire to take control. In particular, to wrap their arms around investments.
What does this book mean to you and your daughter and stepdaughter?
It’s about embracing the power that we have and the power that is coming our way. I want my daughter and my stepdaughter, and my daughter-in-law, to grow up in a world where they have control of their money and they aren’t feeling challenged to take control.
For me, the journey to control was a long time coming. I didn’t necessarily feel confident, and I hope they get there a lot sooner than I did.
What do you think is the biggest stumbling block today for women when it comes to managing their money?
It is still confidence when it comes to investing, and there is insatiable need for safety and security. There is no doubt in my mind that it is absolutely a need.
Financially, all too often, there is too much cash in the bank and not enough money in the market working in a way to stay ahead of taxes and inflation.
Why is it still so difficult for women to talk about money?
What we have been doing with these HerMoney Happy Hours [gatherings of women to talk frankly about money] is putting women together in a safe space. What we have found in doing that is that it is incredibly freeing and liberating and fun. Women want to participate in a space like that.
And so I almost think we are going to need to do it in that way for a while — at least for women in our generation who have grown up being uncomfortable talking about money. Millennials are different. Millennials are more comfortable talking about money and salary. I think it is a product of the fact that so many of them have student debt. When the majority of people you know have a lot of debt, there is no shame, or blame, attached to that debt because you came to it to get your education.
What’s your best advice for couples when it comes to holding joint bank accounts? 
You have to figure out what works for you and your spouse and tune out the noise. I have in the book a lot of different ways couples have approached money that works for them. They are all fine. As long as you and your spouse agree than no one else’s opinion is relevant.
You have a chapter called The Joy of Spending. What’s your best counsel when it comes to spending?
I think if you are not sure where spending lines up with your joy, then it’s helpful to track your spending and take a look at which expenses you feel good about and which expenses you regret. That will give you a window into what you value.
That’s the important thing. Figuring out a way to line up your spending with what you truly enjoy and wipe the ones that you wish you had not made out of your day-to-day experience.
What’s your best guidance on parents giving money to their grown children?
Sometimes our kids need a hand. But it is important to telegraph what you’re doing and why you are doing it, so that everybody understands it, and so it doesn’t go on forever.
Many of us have had the experience with grown kids where they need a reset in life and a financial hand in order to accomplish that. I don’t think there is a problem with parents, who have the money, helping with that sort of thing.
The problem comes when you are sabotaging your own future, in which case you have to say: ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to do this for you right now. But I can sit down and help you try to figure out a way to do it yourself.’
In your book, you write about caregiving for your mother and stepfather. What is your take on caring for older parents? 
The key is knowing what is coming your way in terms of financial responsibility. Unlike borrowing for student loans or deferring retirement, when our parents need help financially, they don't have another source of income.
But what we can try to do is to prevent it, by having conversations about money at a time that is not in the middle of an event that has any other tensions around it.
What was the biggest stumbling block for you to taking control of your money life?
Investing, in and of itself, was not such a hurdle for me, but risk was. I always had to push myself with my asset allocation to get myself to a place where it was appropriate for my age and risk tolerance.
What money mistakes have you made?
I think I have made them all. Most of them when I was young and was able to learn from them.
I really feel I didn’t come into my own financially until I got divorced around age 40. That kicked me into higher financial gear. I wish I had done it a decade earlier — not get divorced, but get in high gear.
What’s your biggest takeaway for women after writing from this book? 
Pay attention. Even if it is uncomfortable, open yourself up to talking more about money. When you really talk more about it, you can take some of the emotion out of it and it becomes more a tool to help you get the life that you want.


Jean Chatzky's Money Tips for Women Over 50

Kerry Hannon

As Marcia Kester Doyle was raising her four children and running a small business with her husband, she kept her hair simple; a shoulder length, sprayed-in-place ’do that required little fussing.
“But as I became an empty nester, I looked at myself and I realized I was bored with my appearance,” said the 58-year-old Pompano Beach, Fla. resident who blogs as Menopausal Mother. “I thought: 'I’m sassier than I look. This should be my time to express myself and do something unique and creative with my hair.'”
Inspired by her daughter, who had adopted pink streaks while in high school, Doyle decided to follow her lead. In 2014, Doyle asked her longtime hair stylist to dye the bottom third of her blonde hair a candy-apple red.
“Right away, I saw that I could get away with it. I got so many looks and compliments. Strangers would come up to tell me they loved it,” Doyle said. “I was going to one of my first writers’ conferences and I wanted to stand out so people I met would remember me. It worked; when I got callbacks later, editors said, ‘You’re the one with the fun hair.’”
A Rainbow of Hair Color Choices
Hair in rainbow colors — from pale pastels to vibrant shades of neon— has been growing in popularity over the past decade or so, and it started with tweens, teens and college-age women. They were following style trends set by pop stars including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and, of course, P!nk, who all sported technicolor tresses.
Today, the cotton-candy pinks, purples and brilliant blues that would have once been worn only at Halloween are being adopted as a daily look by more women in middle- and later age. The headcount of those who are dying to embrace the playful palette is adding up, with many Facebook and Instagram posts displaying newly-colored locks.
Vibrant Role Models
Colorful streaks, tips, ombres or all-over coverage are showing up among high-profile boomer women as well.
Singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, 64, is still rocking colorful hair: not only sporting her bubble-gum colored hair on stage, she also wears it in ads serving as a spokesperson for a prescription psoriasis medication. Pundit Danielle Pletka, 54, vice-president for foreign and defense policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, appears on Meet the Press with bold blue streaks and tips peeking through her blonde hairstyle. And in a Walgreens commercial, two silver-haired girlfriends who go to the pharmacy for medication wind up buying DIY dye before dancing the night away at their class reunion, resplendent in purple highlights to honor their high school colors.
Emphasizing Their Personal Brand
Choosing a hairstyle that is outside the box is consistent with how some boomers want to curate their image.
“The generation before us honored the aging process and wanted to age gracefully, in a dignified way. Boomers are just not making that choice,” said Amy Lynch, 65, president of Generational Edge, a Tennessee company that consults with businesses on generational differences. “Boomers have always valued individuality.”
While some women buy the eye-catching dye when they retire and no longer need to conform to office dress code and appearance standards, others use the Easter egg colors to emphasize their personal brand in the workplace.
“It’s important for baby boomers not to appear aged or dated at work. The bright colors can signify youthfulness,” Lynch said. “Of course, it depends on the industry; you wouldn’t see this among senior bankers or law partners. I live in Nashville and in the music or video industry, no one would think twice. The color says, ‘I’m adventurous, I’m lighthearted, I’m open to what’s new.’”
Lynch compares the acceptance of blue or orange hair to tattoos, a trend that started on the margins and has since moved to the mainstream. And like tattoos, there are indicators that bright hair color is more than a passing fad.
“The category is still growing. More manufacturers are entering the market and investing in new and improved products. Coloring services are an important revenue driver for salons,” said Aura Mae, who serves on the board of directors for the American Board of Certified Haircolorists. Mae, 51, has worked as a traveling educator for major hair color manufacturers, training hairdressers on the application of the rainbow hues.
And Mae practices what she teaches. Her salon in Tacoma, Wash. has attracted a devoted following of women choosing colors not found in nature. Mae’s own curls are currently an arresting shade of teal; she proudly declares that she has tried most of the on-trend color concoctions that are commercially available.
“I do great-grandmothers who like the look,” she said. “Bright colors are not a great choice for someone who wants to blend in and doesn’t want strangers commenting on her hair. This is for women who want to make a statement and stand out in a crowded room or marketplace. It’s assertive.”
Worth the Commitment
Mae notes tresses that are naturally gray work as an effective canvas for the palette of unconventional hues. She sees more of her silvery-haired clients feeling emboldened to try a surprising style.
“We can place these creative colors within the natural salt and pepper. I like to add in pieces of baby blue for dimension; with the white and gray it looks like your favorite pair of blue jeans,” Mae said. “Skin tone naturally loses some of its luster in later years, so a bright color is a great accessory. You can’t feel drab with crazy crayon-colored hair.”
Maintaining the lavender, orange or cerulean shades can require both time and money, with frequent visits to the drugstore to buy over-the-counter tints for those who dye by their own hand, or regular appointments in a colorist’s chair for those who schedule the multi-process work of a salon professional.
For Doyle, it’s well worth the commitment.
“It’s three hours, every four weeks for me,” she confessed. “For some women, it’s mani-pedis or a massage. My hair is my luxury and I look forward to getting it done. It looks so beautiful when it’s finished.”
Two years ago, Doyle switched from red to fuchsia, and she continues to enjoy compliments from friends and strangers.
As for her daughter whose unorthodox color inspired her, she’s now a special education teacher who has reverted to her natural blonde color.
“She wants to play it straight and be taken seriously by her colleagues and when she meets with parents,” Doyle said. “I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”


Colorful Hair Dyes for Boomer Women

There is power in talking openly about mental health and mental illness. Featuring expert insight and personal stories, find support and resources on how to challenge stigma and rethink mental health as we age.

In the last 10 years, Americans aged 60 and older have amassed debts quicker than all other age groups, partly because too few saved enough to retire comfortably. This series seeks to raise awareness about common debt traps and how to escape them

For some, leaving the workforce proves to be unfulfilling or not financially sustainable. We’ll feature stories about people who ‘unretire,’ including those who start a new business.

Through interviews, personal stories and practical advice, this special collection encourages the cultivation of our whole selves — body and mind — as we all look for ways to slow down, reset and recharge. Over the next few months, we will explore Writers & Books, Wellness & Fitness and Travel & Adventures.

Talking About It: Aging and Mental Health

Debt Free

The Great Unretirement

The Living Quarter