Plan ahead.

The practical elements of life that one has to deal with are tedious…darn, it is not just fun and games, travel and unearthing great restaurants.

The Golden Years are lurking and time is fleeting.

I find the term Golden Years as insidious as Defund the Police…both inaccurately labeled.

Let’s talk future.

Queen E. had an amazing long term care policy.

We paid into the policy for years and it was a healthy annual fee, but my mom never wanted to live in a senior home environment.

She wanted to captain her own ship, steering it into  the future.

Her policy was so generous that it no longer exists…but, of course.

In a nutshell, the present day very expensive extended care basically offers a policy that affords financial coverage for approximately 2 years after activating the policy.

Since group living would kill me I ran across an interesting option.

Adventurous older people have discovered that for little more than the cost of retiring to an assisted-living facility, they can enjoy many of the same amenities by endlessly cruising.

Similar activities and comfortable quarters are offered on major cruise ships which naturally include meals, social events, educational programs and round-the-clock access to medical care all while exploring the exotic waters of the Caribbean, Asia, Central America and beyond.

The price differential is not that different from high-end assisted living. Additionally, many of the senior facilities demand that you surrender much of your life savings.

The cruise lines even offer Frequent Cruising Loyalty programs for upgrades.

Clever.

I must admit that I would sooner become a Dallas Cowboys fan then ever cruise again.

The closest I will get is watching Below Deck on Bravo.

The only cruise I ever took I experienced the worst of humans what with being gobsmacked by the food gorging, the saving of lounge chairs commencing at 5am followed by WWE towel combat and the unreality of passengers lining up 2 hours before the marzipan buffet and allegedly consuming massive amounts of weird tasting confection.

Let us not forget the disembarking lottery system to leave the ship when you dock at a port.

I handed out generous tips to the staff to cut the line or we would have never left the ship because people move slowly after ingesting troughs full of “free” food and mounds of marzipan.

Anyway, I live to inform and entertain so there you go.

Happy sailing one and all into the Golden Years.