A longer lifespan is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. It also raises urgent questions about caregiving, financial security, and how we prepare for life after 65. On this episode of The Age of Aging, we take a look at the financial challenges that come with living longer.

First, Terrence Casey moderates a wide-ranging conversation with Surya Kolluri of the TIAA Institute and Dr. Mary Naylor of Penn Nursing’s NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health about the financial realities of longevity in America. Later in the episode, financial experts Bode Hennegan and Christine Moriarty share practical strategies for planning ahead, avoiding common financial mistakes, and building long-term stability.

Inside this episode:

3:15 – A Different Life Structure: Surya Kolluri and Mary Naylor discuss the financial implications of an extended lifespan and why it will require fundamental changes on individual and societal level.

18:17 – The Sandwich Generation: Kolluri and Dr. Naylor Examine the growing pressures facing adults caring for both children and aging parents, and the policies needed to support them.

29:32 – 5 Financial Pitfalls: Bode Hennegan shares her top 5 most common pitfalls she sees older adults make when planning for later life.

35:24 – Money Peace: Christine Moriarty gives her top 5 financial planning tips for older adults.

41:24 – Start Saving and Communicating: Terrence Casey and Jake Johnson wrap up the episode by sharing the statistics that stayed with them most, and the changes they plan to make in their own lives.

Resources available on the episode webpage linked below

• Visit the TIAA Institute’s website

• Visit the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health’s website

• More information on Surya Kolluri

• More information on Mary Naylor

• Learn more about Life Managers and Associates

• Learn more about Money Peace

Special thanks this episode to Surya Kolluri, Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, Bode Hennegan, and Christine Moriarty

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production, hosted by Editorial Director Terrence Casey and Producer Jake Johnson, in partnership with the Penn FTD Center, the Penn Institute on Aging, and Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Contributors include Dalia Elsaid, Jason Karlawish, Emily Largent, and Alison Lynn.

The show is made possible by generous support from the Michael Naidoff Communications Hub Fund.

Caring for an aging loved one isn’t easy — but you don’t have to do it alone. At Rothkoff Law Group, families across New Jersey and Pennsylvania receive guidance through every stage of the aging journey. Their team of elder care attorneys, geriatric care coordinators, and public benefits specialists advocate for your loved one’s well-being and your peace of mind.

Rothkoff Law Group — your partner in elder care advocacy and senior care planning every step of the way. Visit RothkoffLaw.com for more information.

The history of dementia research is a story of scientific progress stalled and derailed for nearly a century. 120 years ago, psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer made a groundbreaking discovery in the brain of a 55-year-old woman named Auguste Deter. Unfortunately, social and political turmoil would mean that his findings would not be widely understood until the end of the 20th century.

On this episode of The Age of Aging, Terrence Casey and Dr. Jason Karlawish reflect on Alzheimer’s discovery as well as the work of his colleague Oskar Fischer — a scientist on par with if not more consequential than Alzheimer in understanding the neuropathology of dementia — whose work was cut short by antisemitism and Nazi persecution. Together, they uncover how that finding was almost swallowed by the ideologies, politics, and global conflicts of the early 20th century — and the uncomfortable parallels between that time and our current moment.

Inside this episode:

0:48 – The First Case: Terrence Casey introduces the story of Auguste Deter, whose 1901 admission to a Frankfurt asylum would become the foundation of modern Alzheimer’s research.

4:34 – A Disease Without a Name: Why Deter’s symptoms didn’t fit existing diagnoses and how Alzheimer’s early observations challenged assumptions about aging and “senility.”

13:27 – A Revolutionary Idea: In 1911, Alzheimer proposed that “senile” and “presenile” dementia might be the same disease.

17:31 – Science Interrupted: How World War I, economic collapse, and political upheaval derailed progress in dementia research across Europe.

19:10 – The Forgotten Pioneer: How the contributions of Oskar Fischer to dementia research were nearly erased by antisemitism and Nazi persecution.

23:01 – The “Dark Ages” of Dementia: Why much of the 20th century viewed dementia as inevitable aging rather than disease.

30:48 – Lessons for Today: Why scientific progress depends on social, political, and economic stability — and what current global trends could mean for the future of dementia research.

32:41 – Rediscovery and Progress: The late 20th-century revival of Alzheimer’s research, including advances in diagnosis, biomarkers, and treatment.

Resources available on the episode webpage linked below

• Learn more about the life and work of Alois Alzheimer

• More information on the story of Alzheimer and Auguste Deter (PBS)

• Read The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Dr. Jason Karlawish

• “Oskar Fischer and the study of dementia,” by Michel Goedert (National Library of Medicine)

Special thanks this episode to Jason Karlawish, MD.

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production, hosted by Editorial Director Terrence Casey and Producer Jake Johnson, in partnership with the Penn FTD Center, the Penn Institute on Aging, and Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Contributors include Dalia Elsaid, Jason Karlawish, Emily Largent, and Alison Lynn.

The show is made possible by generous support from the Michael Naidoff Communications Hub Fund.

Caring for an aging loved one isn’t easy — but you don’t have to do it alone. At Rothkoff Law Group, families across New Jersey and Pennsylvania receive guidance through every stage of the aging journey. Their team o...

What does it mean to age well? For soprano Lucy Shelton, the answer may lie in music itself. At 82, Shelton recently made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera — performing in the world premiere of Innocence, a Finnish opera about a school shooting, sung in nine languages. On this episode of The Age of Aging, Dr. Jason Karlawish sits down with Shelton to explore her remarkable career, the relationship between music and the aging mind, and what it means to keep creating — and performing — well into the eighth decade of life.

Inside this episode:

• 0:00 – Shepherd on the Rock: Dr. Karlawish introduces Lucy Shelton with her recording of "Shepherd on the Rock" by Franz Schubert and shares why he wanted to interview her.

• 4:17 – Met Opera Debut at 82: Shelton and Dr. Karlawish discuss her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Innocence, a Finnish opera performed in nine languages.

• 9:08 – A Musical Life: Shelton reflects on growing up in a musical family, discovering her voice, and building a career as a singer — not an opera singer.

• 15:23 – Singer vs. Opera Singer: Shelton explains what sets her apart from traditional opera singers, including the vocal techniques that have allowed her to keep performing into her eighties.

• 20:56 – Art Meets Life in Lucidity: Shelton describes performing Lucidity, a chamber opera written for her about a singer living with dementia — and what it meant to hold her score on stage, not just as a prop, but out of personal necessity.

• 26:34 – Bringing Lucidity to Philadelphia: Dr. Karlawish and Shelton discuss the possibility of bringing the opera to Philadelphia.

• 27:26– Music, Memory, and the Mind: Dr. Karlawish and Terrence Casey explore the connection between music and the aging brain, including PMC's partnership in the Community Voices Choir — a collaboration welcoming adults of all levels of cognition through music.

Resources available on the episode webpage linked below

• Review of “Innocence,” in The Wall Street Journal

• The New York Times Review of “Innocence.”

• More information on “Innocence.” (The New York Times)

• Visit Lucy Shelton’s website

• Learn more about Shelton’s previous opera, “Lucidity.” (NPR)

• Learn more about sprechstimme (Britannica)

• More information on the Community Voices Choir

• What Is the Association Between Music-Related Leisure Activities and Dementia Risk? A Cohort Study (International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry)

• Longitudinal effects of choir singing on aging cognition and wellbeing: a two-year follow-up study (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience)

Special thanks this episode to Jason Karlawish, MD, and Lucy Shelton.

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production hosted by Editorial Director Terr...