Some states treat a woman like a criminal if she suffers a miscarriage.

If AIDS, crack, or the Bomb didn't get ya, there was always no jobs after college to dissuade you from trying.

No regrets, really. We'll certainly get taken advantage of when our minds go, someday, with no family advocates. But, we can always choose to cut out early with a long walk off a short pier and no one will notice, so it's freeing too. Made life more affordable than subsistence, and it will be easier to shake this life on the way out, too.

plenty of people stay sharp all their long lives - Dick Van Dyke for example

and very often it's the "family advocates" who are taking advantage

No guarantees in this country. Even if you have children, who says they have the resources or emotional bandwidth to deal with aging parent issues while struggling to keep themselves and their families off the streets? How many have had children predecease them? I guess one could always rob a bank for three hots and a cot,, but a long walk off a short peir sounds more comfortable!