Aging Solo

Are you navigating later life without a spouse, without adult children, and without the family safety net that most planning books take for granted?

You are not alone. An estimated one in five adults over sixty-five is now aging solo — and that number is rising every year. Yet almost every book on aging assumes you have a family to call when the hospital phones, a spouse to manage the bills, an adult child to serve as your proxy, a loved one to honor your final wishes.

Aging Solo is the book that fills the gap.

Written by Eleanor Hayes — a leading voice in solo-ager planning who has guided hundreds of adults through the practical work of building their own safety net — this is the first action-playbook built specifically for the millions of Americans navigating later life without family support.

Inside, you will discover the Four Pillars of Solo Aging — a clear, proven framework that organizes every decision a family would otherwise handle informally:

• Pillar 1 — Healthcare Advocacy: Build a documented healthcare advocacy team so someone will always speak for you when you cannot speak for yourself.

• Pillar 2 — Daily Support Network: Map your support circle, recruit vetted friends and paid help, and build reciprocal arrangements that sustain you for decades.

• Pillar 3 — Financial Continuity: Create a safeguarded power of attorney, defend against financial predation, and finance long-term care without family caregiving.

• Pillar 4 — End-of-Life Planning: Build a complete end-of-life plan — medical, legal, personal, ceremonial — so your wishes are honored when you can no longer speak for them.

Then assemble it all into a single 90-Day Solo Aging Plan that consolidates every pillar into one document you can hand to the people you trust.

Unlike awareness books that describe the problem without offering solutions, Aging Solo is structured around practical tools — templates, checklists, decision frameworks, conversation scripts, and a Crisis Playbook you or your proxy can invoke under pressure. Every chapter ends with a practical tool you can complete in a single sitting.

Whether you are an anticipatory solo ager in your fifties or sixties planning ahead, a recently divorced or widowed adult confronting solo aging without warning, or an older solo ager facing an immediate decision, this book meets you where you are and walks you step by step to a documented, executable plan.

The question every solo ager carries — who will care for me, decide for me, and honor my wishes when I have no family to do so? — deserves a real answer. Not sentiment. Not awareness. A plan.

Aging Solo is that plan.

Scroll up and order your copy today — and start building the confidence that comes from having done the work.