On Your Own Terms: Taking Charge of Aging in Place (TheSeniorTechie Guides) - Softcover

Wilczynski, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798995501749

Publisher: TheSeniorTechie Press, 2026

Synopsis

I wrote a book for people who've run their own lives for decades and intend to stay in charge of how they age at home.

You want to stay in your own home. You also want to remain the person who decides what happens there.

Those are two different goals, and protecting both takes more than good intentions.

In On Your Own Terms: Taking Charge of Aging in Place, Paul Wilczynski shows you how to make the big decisions about your later life yourself, before a fall, a hospital stay, or someone else’s worry makes them for you. He is a retired software developer who reads the technical fine print most people skip, and he is aging in place himself. He writes to you as a capable adult, not a problem to be managed.

Staying home is a strategy, not just what happens when you don’t move. With plain explanations, relatable stories, and a one-page checklist ending every chapter, you’ll learn how to:

• Take stock of your home, health, help, and money, and spot the weak points before they become emergencies
• Make the home changes that matter most, starting with the bathroom, lighting, and stairs, and work on reducing your risk of falls
• Use medical alert devices, monitoring, voice assistants, and telehealth on terms you set, knowing what each can really do and where your information goes
• See how scams are built, and set up defenses against them, including convincing fakes
• Stay connected, and keep getting where you need to go as your driving changes
• Work out what staying home really costs, find possible sources of financial help, and hire support without giving up your say
• Decide in advance what would make moving the right choice, so the decision still reflects your wishes

Each chapter stands on its own, so you can start with the problem in front of you. Most also tell you what to skip.

This is not a catalog of gadgets, a promise that you can stay home forever, or a lecture about accepting your limitations. It is a working plan for protecting your independence, using your money wisely, and accepting help on terms you understand and choose.

Whether you live alone, share your home, or have family nearby or far away, the starting point is the same: know your situation, make a plan, and stay in charge. If a son or daughter handed you this book, a short note in the first chapter speaks to both of you.

Your home. Your rules. Your say.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Wilczynski is a retired software developer whose decades of solving complex problems now fuel his work helping older adults navigate modern life. As TheSeniorTechie, he runs TheSeniorTechie.com, a site, newsletter, and workshop series created "by a senior, forseniors." In his mid-70s and living in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife, Joan Brasier, Paul writes to spare families the avoidable digital mess he's seen too often.

Edition details

• Publisher: TheSeniorTechie Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798995501749
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Kulish Andrea
• Number of pages: 270