Wiles

citing reverse mortgages as an example. Some people don’t realize these are loans that must be paid back. Others aren’t clear about fees or additional details. “It’s actually a very complicated product,” she said. their finances by dropping out of the workforce to become caregivers for aging parents or a spouse, though the decision often isn’t voluntary. Sixty percent of all long-term care is provided for “free” by uncompensated family members and friends, said Robert Burke, director of a long-term care institute at George Washington University.

In such cases, caregivers must give up a paycheck, forego promotions and pass up job opportunities, he noted. $600,000 in financial assets, excluding the equity in a home. But perhaps as few as one in 10 retiring baby boomers are at that threshold or will be, he added.

A key aging issue isn’t just about living longer but living better. The goal is to “die as late as possible and as young as possible,” said Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, scientific director at the National Institute of Aging.

Some of his tips for aging well are obvious — don’t smoke, exercise more and manage your cholesterol, for example. Others aren’t so intuitive.

For example, sleeping seven to eight hours a day appears to be the sweet spot for adults, Ferrucci said. Older people who routinely get fewer than six hours, and those who sleep nine hours or more, might be hurting their health, he said.

Diet also is important. A typical American male from roughly birth to age 70 will eat around 80 tons of food. “We are what we eat,” said Ferrucci, who also cited stress reduction and mental stimulation as important to aging well. “The way you approach life is going to condition the way you age,” he said.

Howard, the retired Georgetown cognitive psychologist, asserted that age-related mental decline varies considerably, depending largely on what each person does about it.

The old view was that all cognitive functions decline with age, and there’s nothing much we can do to slow it. An emerging view is that some mental components hold up pretty well, such as basic vocabulary and the retention of what she calls “world knowledge” or basic facts learned at young ages.

Factors that appear to prevent or slow decline include social engagement, diet, computer-based brain games, bilingualism, meditation, a willingness to keep learning (a new language or hobby, for example) and having a positive attitude.

But above all, Howard cited exercise including walking — for at least three days a week, 45 minutes a day. “It should be aerobic exercise, and it doesn’t have to be running a marathon,” she said. “But you should be pushing to get better and do more each day.”