Recent areas of focus for AARP, both in Minnesota and nationally, include financial security, livability, caregiving and helping people find ways to stay engaged as they age — "issues that impact everybody," said state director Will Phillips.

Here are some of the projects the state branch of the organization is currently working on:

Minnesota Secure Choice is a proposed state-managed workplace retirement savings plan available to all Minnesotans. Currently, nearly 40 percent of state residents have no retirement savings plan through their employer, although access to a workplace plan greatly increases the likelihood that people set aside money for the future. About 168,000 Minnesota households nearing retirement age (55-64) have no retirement savings and face the prospect of living in poverty or continuing to work well past the traditional retirement age.

AARP encourages local governments to develop Livable Communities to enhance the quality of life of older people and other residents — as well as, potentially, economic prospects for local businesses and governments. Livable communities feature compact, walkable neighborhoods with diverse development and convenient public transportation. In addition to information on the topic, AARP offers an online livability index (www.livabilityindex.aarp.org) that lets you plug in your address and get a rating for your neighborhood and surrounding community in seven categories. Each category is further broken down into specific factors measured, relevant public policies and informational resources. You can even customize it by increasing or decreasing the weight of different categories according to your personal priorities.

More than 670,000 Minnesotans are caregivers for an aging or ailing family member. AARP offers resources such as a downloadable "Minnesota Caregivers Resource Guide" and is lobbying the Legislature on behalf of the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act. The act would require hospitals to record the names of patients' caregivers, notify them when patients are discharged and provide instructions on the medical care (medications, injections, wound care, etc.) that patients will require at home.

Life Reimagined includes workshops and other programs to help people figure out "what's next" — after retirement, or after the kids move out, or at whatever point in their lives they find themselves looking for new activities and ways to stay engaged. Workshops are held every week or two around the metro area; see http://tinyurl.com/j365jhg.

KATY READ