Take steps (literally) to ward offff dementia, save your retirement fund

Grab a bowl of berries and walk up a steep hill.

Now you’re ready to learn three other ways to save your retirement fund. Confused? The advice is simplistic and ignores the devastating fifinancial toll dementia-related expenses often add to a person’s struggle with the disease, but if there are some low-cost and relatively easy ways to delay the onset as long as possible, they’re certainly worth a look.

Rates of dementia have gone down, not up, in the last few years, most proba bly bec ause of l i f e s t yl e changes that have begun to take place,” said Dr. Jon Lieffffffffffff, a neuropsychiatrist and a past president of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. Lifestyle can dramatically alter the course of vascular disease and may affffffffffffect Alzheimer’s, though that isn’t totally clear, Lieffff said.

A 2 0 1 3 R A N D C o r p . study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, estimated dementia’s annual U.S. economic impact at $159 billion, not including uncompensated c are by family members. Two years later, projecting possible rates of future spending, researchers including RAND’s Michael Hurd, writing for the Journal of Population Aging, suggested that future costs could drop by 40 percent if rates of prevalence continue shrinking as predicted.

Lieff said there are five key lifestyle switches that can make a big difference on brain health:

■ Food. Load up on ber- ries and nix the processed foods wherever possible, he said. He’s not a believer in pricey supplements, but n o t e d Vi t a min D c a n b e essential for Northerners or others who don’t get much sun. He also doesn’t think wine, tequila or other alcoholic drinks have any brain health benefifits. Avoid sugars and red meat as much as possible, he says. To be sure, eating fresh berries from pricey organic foods store can get costly, but you can cut down on the costs by shopping at cheaper retailers. Taking red meat out of the budget will save some dollars, too.

■ Exercise. “If there’s a magic bullet in all this, it’s exercise,” Lieff said. The good news, at least for couch potatoes, is that moderation is a good thing. Even a few minutes a few times each day can have substantial, positive effffffffffffects on the brain, he said.

■ Sleep. The brain needs sleep to restore its circuitry, so get rid of the light from electronics in the bedroom and work to get back on a regular sleep schedule if you’ve gotten away from that since retirement.

■ Brain use. Use it or lose it, Lieffff said. Learn a dance or a new piece of music, or teach math to a kid.

■ Nature. Walking through a park or putting a plant or a pet in your house can have restorative brain effec ts, Lieffff said.

With average costs of a private nursing home room now more than $92,000 annually (according to insurer Genworth), doing as much as possible to delay those costs makes sense, said Mari Adam, a Boca Raton fifinancial planner.