Other blue zones include Albert Lea, Minn.; Sioux City and Iowa City, Iowa' Portland, Ore.; Naples, Fla.; and Nicoya, Costa Rica. The AARP and the World Health Organization maintain lists of age-friendly cities and communities.
“With this research, a financial advisor can enable their clients to make wise decisions around their largest asset, which is usually a home, and potentially use the resources in that asset to help them experience a happy and fulfilling old age,” said Mulhausen.
The reality of aging is that eight in 10 adults over the age of 65 have chronic disease, according to CDC data, and more than two-thirds have two or more chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, dementia, depression and diabetes.
“Healthy aging includes disease prevention as well as maintaining or promoting physical, cognitive and mental health,” said Friedman. “Financial advisors can make recommendations to their clients on how to spend assets to promote these factors.”
Medicare is one subject matter that should be an integral part of advisors' discussions with aging clients, said Mulhausen.
“They can offer to help their clients who struggle to understand their benefits and navigate what's available to them through the Medicare program by assisting with their initial enrollment and any annual open enrollment needs,” he said.