Solo aging works best when you 
build capacity first (the right people and paperwork),
then optimize where and how you live,
and finally reduce risk so independence lasts longer and decisions stay in your control.

The seven focus areas:

1. Build Your Team
Identifying trusted people, backups, and community supports who can step in when needed.

2. Put Health & Legal Plans in Place
Organizing essential documents and decision-makers before they are urgently required.

3. Choose Your Home Base
Evaluating where you live now and planning for a home that remains workable over time.

4. Plan for Transportation
Preparing for changes in driving and ensuring reliable ways to get where you need to go.

5. Make Your Finances Solo-Proof
Simplifying, protecting, and planning finances with one decision-maker in mind.

6. Stay Socially Connected
Maintaining friendships, routines, and purpose that support well-being and resilience.

7. Reduce Risk & Increase Safety
Taking practical steps to prevent falls, scams, and emergencies before they disrupt daily life.

1. Build Your Team

Solo aging works best when you stop thinking “Who will help me?” and start building a team by design. That can be friends, neighbors, extended family, a paid professional (care manager), and a few “backup” people who know your plan. Your goal is simple: if you got sick tomorrow, someone can (1) get into your home, (2) contact your doctor, (3) feed the cat, (4) keep your life from unraveling. AARP’s planning approach for people without nearby caregivers is a solid starting framework. AARP Guide for Aging Solo

2. Put Health & Legal Plans in Place 

Solo aging is where paperwork stops being boring and starts being a kindness to your future self. The essentials: health care proxy/health care agent, durable power of attorney, HIPAA access, and a clear “in case of emergency” plan. In Massachusetts, you have official, plain-English options for health care proxies and related guidance. Massachusetts Health Proxy

3. Choose Your Home Base

“Where should I live?” is less about real estate and more about friction. The best home base is the one that stays workable when your stamina, vision, or driving changes. Many people want to age in place, but it only works if you plan for supports, home modifications, and transportation early. Start with a realistic assessment: stairs, bathrooms, lighting, snow/ice, and whether you can get necessities without driving. NIA’s aging-in-place guidance is a good reality check. NIH Growing Older at Home

4. Plan for Transportation

Transportation is often the first domino. The best solo-aging plans assume driving might change and build alternatives before it becomes urgent. That includes ride options, senior shuttles, volunteer drivers, delivery, and learning how to use phone apps confidently (or having a “ride buddy” who can help). NCOA’s transportation hub is a useful national starting point, and AARP has research-based planning concepts like “advance driving directives” to make the transition less painful. NCOA Transportation Options

5. Make Your Finances Solo-Proof

Solo aging finances have one brutal truth: there’s no second income to cushion surprises. That doesn’t mean it’s bleak, it means you plan smarter: simplify accounts, automate bills, maintain a “resilience fund,” and understand benefits and insurance choices. Medicare decisions are a big one, and Massachusetts’ SHINE program provides free, unbiased Medicare counseling (which is rare and beautiful, like a non-scam robocall).MA SHINE program 

Get help (high value, low cost)

Massachusetts SHINE program (free Medicare counseling). SHINE program

CMS listing for SHINE (as MA’s SHIP program). CMS Listing for SHINE

SHIP national “find local Medicare help.” ShipHelp

SHIP guidance article on comparing Original Medicare vs Medicare Advantage. Comparison Guidance

6. Stay Socially Connected

Living alone is not the same as being isolated, but solo aging requires intentional connection. The “portfolio” here includes friendships, groups, volunteering, learning, and routines that get you out of the house. NIA’s guidance on loneliness/social isolation is evidence-based and practical, and AARP’s solo-aging reporting highlights how many people are building thriving lives without traditional family structures. NIH Tips for Staying Connected

7. Reduce Risk and Increase Safety

Safety is where small changes create huge freedom: fall-proofing, scam-proofing, and emergency readiness. Falls are a leading threat to independence, and there are excellent checklists from CDC and NIA to do room-by-room improvements. Scam prevention is also core solo-aging safety: the FTC’s guidance is blunt and useful. And emergency planning is easier when done calmly, not during a storm. CDC Home Fall Prevention checklist

Falls prevention

CDC “Check for Safety” home fall-prevention checklist (printable). Checklist

NIA: preventing falls at home, room by room. Prevent Falls - by room

NCOA: preventing falls with home safety modifications. Safety Modifications

Scams

FTC: scams against older adults (practical red flags). Scams Targeting Older Adults

FTC “Pass It On” materials (great for community education and handouts). Handouts

FTC 2025 data spotlight on “false alarm” scams draining retirement savings (useful for urgency and examples). False Alarm Scams

Emergency preparedness

Ready.gov “Older Adults” preparedness guide and steps. Guide