Aug 12, 2026 · 35 min · 10 segments
**What happens when memory starts to change, and the people around us are not sure what to say or do?** In this episode of *Life Chapters, Money Choices*, Kim Potgieter and Michael Avery are joined…
Michael AveryHost
Kim PotgieterHost
And, uh, and trying to summarize such a complex syndrome, as you said, uh, you know, in a nutshell, and Kim, it reminds me of a conversation from the medico-legal side that we had around the power of attorney-
Just to s-stay with you for a while longer, Ryan, um, how do you distinguish here between so-called normal aging-
the familiar, "I walked into the room, and oh, I forgot what I was gonna do here," versus something that should prompt concern? Yeah.
Are, are there, are there signs, are there red flags that an individual or a family member might be able to look for to say, "Right, maybe this requires further treatment, observation, um, a, a visit to the doctor"?
Um, if the brain is a, um, a car, your Ferrari's gonna slow down in terms of mental processing, but it doesn't always break down.
Um, we tend to say, well, that cognitive processing speed or mentation is a word.
Um, although that slows down, it gets replaced hopefully at the same rate as wisdom, that you begin to understand how to make decisions based on your life experiences.
There's some research that shows the fastest your brain will operate is at the age of about 20 years old, and then it's slow, steady decline from there.
But what you compensate with is wisdom and life experience, and then, and, and so it's not all demoralizing.
Um, we, the Alzheimer's Association, I think in the US, have got a nice sort of four-question checklist which, um, makes sense, and it's really a functional, um, description.
And, uh, and trying to summarize such a complex syndrome, as you said, uh, you know, in a nutshell, and Kim, it reminds me of a conversation from the medico-legal side that we had around the power of attorney-
Just to s-stay with you for a while longer, Ryan, um, how do you distinguish here between so-called normal aging-
the familiar, "I walked into the room, and oh, I forgot what I was gonna do here," versus something that should prompt concern? Yeah.
Are, are there, are there signs, are there red flags that an individual or a family member might be able to look for to say, "Right, maybe this requires further treatment, observation, um, a, a visit to the doctor"?
Um, if the brain is a, um, a car, your Ferrari's gonna slow down in terms of mental processing, but it doesn't always break down.
Um, we tend to say, well, that cognitive processing speed or mentation is a word.
Um, although that slows down, it gets replaced hopefully at the same rate as wisdom, that you begin to understand how to make decisions based on your life experiences.
There's some research that shows the fastest your brain will operate is at the age of about 20 years old, and then it's slow, steady decline from there.
But what you compensate with is wisdom and life experience, and then, and, and so it's not all demoralizing.
Um, we, the Alzheimer's Association, I think in the US, have got a nice sort of four-question checklist which, um, makes sense, and it's really a functional, um, description.
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