The note received by a 100-year-old New Zealand man read just like it was from one Old Salt to another until he saw "Philip" and the monogram of Buckingham Palace.

The young assistant had just confirmed that, no, they didn't have any phone diaries with print large enough for Gold Card holders to read.

I got into a fist fight with a 75-year-old man the other morning. Not the coolest thing I have ever done.. but he started it, writes Matt Heath.

As retirement looms, they see the baby-boomers take an ever-increasing share of the economic pie, not just in the form of superannuation but in healthcare too, writes Susan St John.

Telomeres - the little stretches of DNA that hold our chromosomes together - could have the answers to switching off the ageing process.

One of the most successful authors in British history, with legions of fans and millions of pounds to her name is not immune to pressure.

I was slightly puzzled recently when I received an invitation to contribute to a second edition of a title called Grumpy Old Men, writes Peter Bromhead.

A woman who left her mother in an appalling state of neglect should be sent to prison for a long time after committing one of the worst cases of elder abuse this country has seen, Grey Power says.

"I'm not looking forward to July 28 this year," I gloomily announced, "on that date, I'll be especially reminded that I'm getting old."

This ageing process is such a bitch, writes Robyn Yousef. In your mind you're still a rampant teenager, but your flesh expands, then folds and drops, pieces dry out and random people start addressing you as "dear".

The country's major rest home chains are facing a legal battle over pay as the unions representing aged care workers bring proceedings under the Equal Pay Act.

About 280,000 New Zealanders are waiting for elective surgery, and more than half are not on waiting lists, new research shows.

A caregiver says elderly residents at a rest home in the Wellington area were dressed again in dirty continence pads to save money on new pads.

A two-month Herald investigation of rest homes has found some major failings - including a confused married woman "mauled" by a resident and a 9-month scabies outbreak.

Full rest home and private hospital audit reports will be published online from tomorrow in a six-month trial to see whether people read them.

Retired air force warrant officer Frank Bailey, MBE, has never been a complainer. But when he speaks of his late wife, Lilian, he chokes up.

Think a typical Kiwi entrepreneur is young and tech-savvy? Think again.

The Government has been urged to create a new aged care watchdog with legal power to tackle the rising incidence of financial abuse of vulnerable elderly people.

A New Zealand-controlled retirement village business is expanding its British investments, building a new 115 million London project.

Prime Minister John Key has his head in the sand with his block on raising the retirement age and is more interested in clinging to power.

Auckland neuro-scientists have made important discoveries in how Alzheimer's and Parkinson's may affect the brain.

When people have expressed concern about me climbing Kilimanjaro, going hot-air ballooning or even running marathons, my response has been the same.

Frank Glavish last year became the oldest person to give evidence in a district court when he stood in the dock and faced a woman who had ripped him off after posing as a long-lost relative.