In this Based Camp episode, Simone and Malcolm Collins dive into the harsh realities of aging alone through a Wall Street Journal article about Amy Kant, a 65-year-old single, childless woman facing health issues, estate planning struggles, and isolation. They explore the growing demographic of “solo agers,” the long-term consequences of choosing career and freedom over family, feminist regrets, and why so many women (and men) end up dying alone.

Topics include: the breakdown of intergenerational social contracts, business opportunities in elder care/power of attorney/estate planning/unclaimed assets, pronatalist perspectives, and real listener stories of regret. Malcolm also shares new rfab.ai features like the recipe generator and discusses building liable human services.

A raw, unfiltered look at demographic decline, life choices, and turning societal problems into opportunities.

Show Notes

Can two dark things cancel each other to create a rainbow?

* Dark thing: The job market is atrocious and about to get worse

* Dark thing: Millions of childless elderly people—and aged parents who moved away from and dissociated from their children—are headed into old age and death without support networks

* Rainbow? There are huge business and job opportunities

We can use a recent Wall Street Journal article, More Americans Are Aging Alone. One Woman Told Us What It’s Like, for inspiration!

(Not reading every paragraph)

“Amy Kant initially thought she should name a power of attorney about 10 years ago after caring for a dying friend. She still hasn’t appointed someone to do it.

The 65-year-old is single with no children, and bound up in that choice over who should make financial decisions on her behalf are other big questions that are often intensified when aging alone. How to handle eldercare? Estate planning? Where will she live in her later years?”

* Company opportunity? Power of attorney for isolated old people?

* Easy attorney job

* Many elder law and estate planning attorneys serve as POA agents (they charge both hourly and flat fees)

* You may not need to be an attorney: Some states recognize licensed/bonded “professional fiduciaries” who can be hired to act as your agent under POA, trustee, or similar roles

* You could also take the CPA route:

* Some planners recommend using a CPA, financial advisor, or daily money manager to handle money management and, in some cases, to serve as agent under a financial POA.

* Financial planners may not advertise as “POA companies,” but they can be named personally in the document

* Less relevant: Certain not‑for‑profit care management firms (staffed by nurses, social workers, and care managers) specifically market themselves as agents under POA for older adults without family.

* But these won’t be able to keep up with demand

* What percentage of Americans over 65 have savings sufficient to cover their costs in retirement?

* Federal Reserve data, summarized by several analyses, shows that around 51–62% of households headed by someone in their mid‑60s or older have money in retirement‑specific accounts (401(k), IRA, etc.). That means roughly 4 in 10 have no retirement account at all, though they may have Social Security, pensions, or other assets.

* A 2024 analysis of Federal Reserve survey data found only about 31% of Americans of all ages feel “on track” with retirement savings, implying that even among those who have savings, many believe it is not sufficient.

“Kant had long cherished the freedom that came with being single. She prided herself on doing headstands in yoga and walking 5 miles a day. But lately being single has felt like a struggle, and not just because of the weighty financial decisions hanging over her head. Back surgery and a heart valve replacement in the past few years have turned her condominium outside Boston into a recovery ward.”

“She spends most of her time at home these days recovering from heart surgery complications, with friends stopping by. She finds solace painting in a spare bedroom she turned into a studio, but knows she will eventually have to move to a smaller place that’s easier to get around in.”

* This isn’t just a problem for aging singles; it’s a problem for aging parents who move away from and stop supporting their kids

* There’s more of a social contract for kids to provide elder care for parents who provided childcare for their kids

* Though admittedly 18-20% of Millennials (people between 25-34 today) live with their parents, so those parents can likely expect care

“Kant is among the millions of Americans learning to navigate aging alone. Roughly 10% of the more than 125 million adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.—or at least 12.5 million people—are solo agers who live alone and have neither a spouse nor a child, according to an AARP analysis of census data. It’s a growing demographic hitting both genders, driven in part by climbing divorce rates among older Americans and a rising number of adult children becoming alienated from their parents.”

* Wow—and estate planners / financial advisors are super underwhelming and pretty low tech, so someone good with AI and navigating regulatory bureaucracies can lean up

“Kant didn’t set out with a master plan. In her 20s and 30s, she chose lower-paying nonprofit jobs to give priority to her art. She remembers how friends envied her freedom; while they were tied down with dinner duty, their kids’ homework, and college savings, Kant spent her evenings painting and didn’t think twice about going out on weeknights.”

* This is a really great example of how the Urban Monoculture lies to people and sells an unsustainable lifestyle

“She eventually earned her M.B.A. By her 40s, she was working as a fundraiser, maxing out traditional retirement account contributions to ensure her financial stability in later years.”

* What are the odds that she ultimately saved more money for retirement by getting an MBA?

“In her 40s she considered adoption but ultimately decided against it. Then in her 50s, after her own mother died, she went through a period of regret that she had decided against single motherhood.”

* Wonder why she did not adopt (pronatalist families do all the time + women in r/fencesitters mention it all the time)

* What percentage of childless elderly adults regret not having kids?

* An Australian study (often cited in media summaries) found that about one quarter of child‑free women later reported regretting the decision once they were past child‑bearing age and facing old age alone

“While Kant feels OK about her nest egg today, she’s worried it might shrink if the stock-market falls from its record high levels. Once she recuperates, she plans to return to part-time consulting to keep her mind active and feel productive.”

* This is another reason why Gen Z and Gen Alpha have trouble getting jobs

“When Kant first realized the importance of naming a power of attorney, she didn’t know whom to choose at the time, and put off the decision. She only recently identified the right friend for the role after her illnesses made clear she needed to act. Kant is planning to ask that friend soon.”

* SHE HAS NOT ASKED HER YET???

“A longtime college friend serves as her healthcare proxy, and Kant maintains a spreadsheet of friends to coordinate visits when she’s ill. Still, she understands the boundaries of a chosen family. Her friends have their own households to manage; some have already died. Kant also needs to draft a will and decide how to divide her assets.”

* SHE HAS NOT DRAFTED A WILL

“Kant has given herself a one-year deadline to complete her estate-planning documents. She is hoping she will have the mental energy needed to tackle such tasks once she is further along in her recovery.”

* Dying without a valid will is called dying “intestate.”

* When a single, childless person dies with a positive net worth but no will, their assets go through intestate probate and are distributed by state law to their next of kin (or, if none exist, to the state), not according to any informal wishes.

* STARTUP IDEA: Make this efficient and collect a fee

* The closest thing is “heir‑locator” / “finder” services and asset‑recovery firms that track down heirs to deceased people’s money (including cousins), often for a contingency fee. These operate alongside the standard unclaimed‑property system run by the states.

* When someone dies and assets go unclaimed or the owner cannot be located, banks and companies eventually turn those assets over to the state’s unclaimed‑property office

* Heirs can later claim them if they prove their relationship.

* You can search and claim for free via tools like The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (Unclaimed.org) and MissingMoney, or directly through eac...