By Jill Schlesinger

Tribune Media Services


“I guess that means we only have a limited time left in the money management business,” he teased. That study has always haunted me.


The “Healthy Brain, Healthy Decisions” study was a collaboration of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of California-San Francisco.

The good news is that people ages 50 to 79 are as logically consistent as younger decision-makers, and they retain their ability to sift through and focus on important information, while ignoring less relevant information. This is referred to as “strategic learning capacity,” and it may actually increase with age.



While memory, reasoning and complex problem solving can decline with age, this report underscores that those who remain cognitively healthy and free of dementia, Alzheimer’s or other neurological causes of cognitive impairment, are perfectly capable of managing their financial affairs and making prudent decisions.

So here’s something to consider: If you or a loved one find yourself struggling with mental tasks that were previously easy, don’t just chalk it up to aging. The findings suggest that when changes in decision-making emerge, they should prompt a medical evaluation for potentially reversible causes of cognitive decline, or for chronic conditions that would require a substantial shift in lifestyle.

Amazingly, our brains can strengthen as we age. The more you challenge your brain, the more new nerve pathways you form. Beyond reading or finishing your daily crossword, another way to challenge the brain is to learn how to play an instrument or speak a new language, both of which provide great stimulation. So do games like chess and bridge.

Jill Schlesinger is the Editor-at-Large for