NYC: Healthy Place to Grow Old

While New York City has also been well-known for being a financial world center, according to a recent Huffington Post article, it also has a great track record of “medical science and healthcare.”  Earlier this month, at the Merrill Lynch Offices, a Financial Wellness Symposium was held.  What was unique about it was that it brought two issues together – financial success and medical care.

With a focus on aging, the longevity economy was discussed as well as the financial health of New Yorkers within both individual and urban regions. These are important matters to address given that within the next decade, around 20 percent of New York City will be in the ‘elderly’ category.  Hence becoming increasingly ‘age-friendly’ is crucial. We must realize that our financial and personal health are “bound up in medical as well as financial institutional transformations.”

Another way of combining these two concepts is via the home sharing endeavor created by the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens. Since its inception more than 20 years ago, it has gained a reputation – nationwide – of becoming “an affordable housing opportunity that can provide financial relief as well as companionship. Both hosts and guests benefit from reduced housing costs and the possibility of companionship to offset the isolation and loneliness experienced by many living alone.”