It was quiet. Too quiet.

I was home alone for a few days. My son, Josh, was teaching kids about the outdoors as a counselor at a summer camp near Asheville. My wife, Kelly, and daughter Megan were in New York City visiting with friends and meeting Michael Strahan at a taping of his show.

At first, it was kind of nice back at the house. When they are all gone, I usually try something new in the kitchen they might not want to try. This time it was a recipe for a spicy roasted chickpea snack. Yummy. Home alone, I could eat whatever I wanted. Watch whatever I wanted and do as I pleased, even if that was doing nothing at all. I enjoyed that no one asked me for anything.

In the end, though, I didn’t like it much. I wasn’t entirely surprised by this because that’s what usually happens when I am home alone. I miss having the people I care about near me. I knew that ahead of time and it still stunk. But, it wasn’t truly a problem.

For many retirees, living alone can be an enormous challenge.

Many of the same issues I joke about are experienced in damaging ways. This is particularly true for the newly widowed. One of the reasons my time alone was bearable was I knew it was temporary. A deceased spouse is not coming back. For some newly widowed, living alone can feel like indefinite solitary confinement.

Family, friends and neighbors may or may not be of any help. They may be limited in how much they can or will do. For family in particular, the geographical separation can be such that they simply can’t be there much.

“Can’t” is a powerful word and it often applies to living alone. Some people simply can’t live by themselves due to physical or cognitive considerations.

What can financial planners do to help retirees with this? I see three approaches fairly often.

Find Like-Minded People
The first applies to the emotional struggles of living alone. People need people in their lives. Planners can encourage clients to engage in the client’s social circles or try new ones. Seeking to engage socially can be very intimidating, but I have found that pointing clients toward groups involved in what is interesting to them can be effective.

The most obvious places to find like-minded people are places of worship and hobby-related groups. In most areas of the country, there are clubs and organizations of people that are interested in just about anything you can think of. The most common are art, music, food, dance, literature, games, sports (watching or participating), youth programs, animal welfare, gardening and travel.

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