416: Elder Justice: Taking the Initiative on Elder Abuse with Marie-Therese Connolly

Today, I’m talking to Marie-Therese Connolly. MT Connolly is a lawyer working in the courts and in Congress to tackle an ongoing and fundamental issue of elder abuse–both physical and psychological–as well as financial exploitation and wrongful deprivation of rights.  She was instrumental in architecting the federal Elder Justice Act. She also founded the DoJ’s Elder Justice Initiative and authored the Elder Justice Roadmap.  In her book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life, she addresses the challenges of aging, how things go wrong, and offers powerful tools we can use to forge better and healthier lives for ourselves, our families, and our communities. In today’s conversation, MT and I discussed how we can protect our parents and grandparents, what our culture teaches us about aging (and conversely, what aging teaches us), and why it’s a great time to get old–even though our support systems appear to be broken.  GET A FREE ACCESS TO MT CONNOLLY’S BOOK TITLED, THE MEASURE OF OUR AGE: NAVIGATING CARE, SAFETY, MONEY AND MEANING LATER IN LIFE Here's all you have to do... Step 1.) Subscribe to the podcast and leave an honest rating & review over on iTunes. Step 2.) Text the word BOOK to 866-482-9559 and we’ll make sure you get signed up for free. It’s that simple! In this podcast interview, you’ll learn: Why elder abuse has been a longstanding problem in our society and our world.  How we as people underestimate the power of aging and its challenges.  What happened as MT fought for the Elder Justice Act, what went wrong, and what she’s optimistic about. Why so many people don’t realize how many resources they need to cover long-term care, to stay in their homes, or get other support they might need.  How to evaluate retirement communities and care homes. The common risks of families taking on caregiving. Why old and young people are meant to spend time together and learn from one another.  The special challenges facing solo and childless retirees–and the importance of building community.  How to protect yourself and your loved ones from financial exploitation.  Also, our Market Outlook Webinar is coming soon! To get a registration link once the webinar is available, please text MARKET to (866) 482-9559. Show Notes: RetireWithPurpose.com/416 Rate & Review the Podcast: RetireWithPurpose.com/review