Knowledgeable Aging

Resources for the Aging Population

“Emotional Economics” — The four keys to understanding your self-worth as you age

Saving for retirement and having a nest egg for your later years is sound financial planning, but it is equally important to pay attention and invest in your self-worth.  Emotional Economics explores what it means to be enough when we are no longer defined by what we do, but by who we are.

Four beliefs, key to aging better and aging well are explored:  I am enough, I have enough, there is enough, and I know what is good enough.  In this presentation, Dr. Mary Flett will unpack these concepts from a gero-psycho-spiritual perspective, discussing the challenges of re-defining self in a culture that doesn’t value aging, offering insight into how to stretch resources in an era where the lifespan is extending, but services and capacity for care are limited, addressing the very real fears of poverty and being marginalized in old age, and discussing how to have the hard conversations about quality of life when dying is the focus of the conversation.


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Listen to the Podcast

  • 1:39 – What is emotional economics
  • 2:58 – There are “4” aspects to emotional economics
  • 3:05 – I am enough
  • 8:15 – I have enough
  • 14:24 – There is enough
  • 18:10 – I know what is good enough
  • 21:55 – Questions
Mary L. Flett, Ph.D.

Mary L. Flett, PhD is a keen observer of what it means to be an aging adult and offers her unique perspective on embracing the shift that aging brings. She is a passionate and engaging speaker on all things related to aging, and is known for her unique ability to bring humor and compassion to complex and emotionally challenging topics.  She recently published a three-book series, “Aging with Finesse”, containing selections of blogs she has been writing for the past four years.

After over 30 years of working with elders as a psychologist, Dr. Mary now offers consultation on how to age-in place, how to manage life transitions, and how to adapt to the changes life presents as we age.  She created Five Pillars of Aging, which she describes as a template for “re-negotiating your lease on life”.  Five Pillars is a virtual classroom, with courses on how to create a legacy of values, how to stay engaged over the lifespan, how to adapt and accommodate rather than resist aging, exploring purpose and meaning in later life as a spiritual calling, and what she has coined, “emotional economics”.  This last pillar synthesizes the key challenge of aging:  believing I am enough, I have enough, knowing there is enough, and defining for yourself what is “good enough”.

Learn More


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