What resources can you recommend for locating interesting volunteer opportunities? Since I retired, I've been doing some volunteer work but most of the opportunities I've tried have not been very fulfilling.

For many individuals, finding a volunteer opportunity that satisfies your interests, utilizes your talents and matches your availability can be challenging. Here are some tips and online tools that can help you find an interesting and satisfying volunteer opportunity.

Getting Started

Volunteering is a great way to make a positive contribution to your community and stay actively engaged. Not to mention, it is good for your health too. But how can you find the right opportunity for you? Start by asking yourself some basic questions like: What types of organizations or activities am I interested in? What kind of skills can I offer a volunteer organization? How much time am I willing to give? What do I want to gain from my experience (e.g., meet new people, learn new skills, help those in need, etc.)?

Once you have a general idea of what you would like to do, there are dozens of volunteer websites that can help you search for different opportunities in your area. Many of the sites have search engines that allow you to search by location and area of interest. The sites will then give you a list of opportunities that you can browse through. Depending on your interest and expertise, here are some options to help you get started.

General volunteer matching sites: To find a wide variety of volunteer opportunities in your community, check out VolunteerMatch.org, IdeaList.org and AllForGood.org. These websites allow you to search for local volunteer opportunities or start your own project and invite others to help you. Another website worth mentioning is HandsOnNetwork.org, which connects volunteers to opportunities through more than 250 volunteer centers throughout the U.S.

Retiree volunteer sites: If you are retired and interested in opportunities targeting older adults and retirees, some good options include AARP's CreateTheGood.org, along with SeniorCorps.gov, which matches retirees with community projects and organizations that need experienced volunteer help.

Senior Corps offers three different programs: RSVP, which has a variety of volunteer activities with flexible time commitments; the Senior Companion Program that brings together volunteers with homebound seniors who have difficulty with day-to-day living tasks; and the Foster Grandparent Program that matches volunteers with children in the community who have exceptional needs.

Government-sponsored sites: There are a number of government-sponsored websites that can help you look for different volunteer opportunities. To locate dozens of general options in your area, visit Serve.gov. To find natural and cultural volunteer opportunities in places like national and state parks, see Volunteer.gov. If you are interested in emergency preparedness and disaster response volunteer services, go to Ready.gov. Lastly, if you are interested in longer-term volunteer opportunities, check out AmeriCorps.gov and PeaceCorps.gov/50plus, which offers a variety of three-month to two-year programs in the U.S. and abroad.

Professional and executive sites: If you have expertise in areas like business planning and development, marketing, communications, finance, fundraising, web design, graphic design, writing or editing, check out Catchafire.org, TaprootPlus.org and ESCUS.org. These websites can link you to volunteer opportunities with nonprofit organizations in need that are looking for certain skill sets. Another option, if you are looking to help entrepreneurs and small business owners, is to check out a volunteer mentoring program like SCORE at SCORE.org.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

Can you tell me what steps need to be taken after a loved one dies? My 80-year-old father has a terminal illness and I would like to find out what I will need to do when he passes so that I am prepared.

I'm sorry about your father's situation. This is an important question and is something that many families inquire about when a loved one's death becomes imminent. Here is a run-down of some things you can do that can help keep a sad event from becoming even more painful.

Before Death Occurs

There are several tasks you can do now while your father is still living that will make things a lot easier and less hectic after he passes away.

First, find out where your father keeps his important papers, including his birth certificate, marriage and divorce certificates, Social Security information, life insurance documents, military discharge papers, financial documents as well as keys to safe deposit boxes or home safes. You also need to make sure you have an up to date copy of your father's will or trust.

You will also want to ensure that your father has an advance health care directive. An advance health care directive specifies end-of-life medical treatments and appoints a health care proxy to make medical decisions in the event of incapacitation. If your father has not filled out an advance health care directive, see CaringInfo.org for free state-specific forms and instructions.

In addition, discuss with your father whether he wants a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order, which will tell health care professionals not to perform CPR if your father's heart or breathing stops. Your father's doctor can help you with this.

It is also a good idea to pre-arrange funeral and burial or cremation arrangements.

Immediately After Death

When an individual passes away, a legal pronouncement of death must be obtained. If a doctor is not present, you will need to contact someone to make this pronouncement. For example, if someone under hospice care passes away at home, a hospice nurse can be called. The nurse can declare the death of the individual and help facilitate proper transportation.

If an individual passes away at home without hospice care, call 911 and locate the individual's DNR document, if he or she has one. Without a DNR order, paramedics will generally start emergency procedures and, except where permitted to pronounce death, take the person to an emergency room for a doctor to make the declaration.

If an autopsy is not required, the next step is to call a funeral home, mortuary or crematorium to arrange proper transportation. If your father is an organ or tissue donor, the funeral home or county coroner should be contacted immediately.

Within a Few Days

If funeral plans were not pre-arranged, then arrangements will need to be made and an obituary should be prepared. If you father was in the military or belonged to a fraternal or religious group, you should contact those organizations because they may have burial benefits or conduct funeral services.

Up to 10 Days After Death

To wind down your father's financial affairs, you will need to obtain multiple copies of his death certificate. These are typically provided by the funeral home.

If you are the executor of your father's estate, you will need to take his will to the appropriate county or city office to have it accepted for probate. The executor should also open a bank account for the estate to pay bills, taxes, funeral costs and other estate-related expenses.

You will need to contact your father's advisors including his estate planning attorney, if he had one. You should also contact his tax preparer to see if estate or final income tax returns should be filed. His financial advisor can provide information regarding his financial holdings. His life insurance agent should be contacted in order to obtain claim forms. Speak to a representative at his bank to locate and close accounts. You should call the Social Security Office (800-772-1213) along with other agencies that provided benefits in order to stop payments and, if applicable, ask about survivor benefits. You should also cancel his credit cards and, if relevant, stop household services like utilities, mail, etc.

For more information regarding the duties of an executor, a great resource is "The Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust" available at Nolo.com.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

What are some financial factors to consider when retiring abroad? My husband and I will be retiring in a few years and are interested in saving money by moving to a foreign country.

Retiring abroad has become a growing trend for millions of U.S. retirees who are looking to stretch their retirement savings. Here are some tips and resources for you to consider and to help you prepare.

Researching Tools

For starters, you can find information and articles on the countries and cities you are interested in at websites like InternationalLiving.com and EscapeArtist.com.

Another good idea is to talk with retirees who have already made the move that you are considering. They can give you tips and suggestions, explain the advantages and disadvantages and provide you with the day-to-day reality of living in a particular country. Visit ExpatExchange.com and ExpatForum.com for additional information and resources.

Before committing to a particular location, most experts recommend that you visit the location multiple times during different seasons to see whether you can envision yourself living there, rather than simply exploring the location as a tourist.

It is also important to consider these financial factors:

Cost of living: Retiring abroad was once seen as a surefire way to live beyond your means and, for some countries, it still is. However, the U.S. dollar is not what it used to be, so your money may not stretch as far as you think. See Numbeo.com for a country-by-country cost of living comparison.

Taxes: No matter what foreign country you decide to retire to, as long as you are a U.S. citizen, you must file an annual tax return and report all income above certain minimums. This is true regardless of where the income is earned. For details see the IRS Publication 54, "Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad" at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf.

Health care: Medicare and most U.S. health insurance companies do not provide coverage outside the U.S. Check with the U.S. embassy (see USembassy.state.gov) in your destination country to see how to receive coverage as a foreign resident. Many countries provide government-sponsored health care that is inexpensive, accessible and just as good as what you would receive in the States. Another option is to buy a policy through Medibroker (Medibroker.com) or Bupa Global (BupaGlobal.com).

Be aware that most people who retire abroad eventually return to the U.S. As such, you should consider paying your Medicare Part B premiums. If you drop and resume Part B, or delay initial enrollment, you will pay a 10% premium penalty for every 12-month period in which you could have been enrolled.

Banking: Opening or maintaining a bank account abroad has become more difficult because of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a U.S. law designed to prevent Americans from hiding assets abroad. So, you may have to establish a savings and checking account with an institution that has international reach, like Citibank. Another option is to consider maintaining your bank account so that you can access your account online and get U.S. credit and debit cards that do not charge foreign transaction fees.

Housing: Buying a home in a foreign country can be complicated. Therefore, it is usually less expensive and simpler to rent, unless you know you are going to live there for a long time.

Social Security: You can receive your monthly Social Security benefits almost anywhere around the world (see SSA.gov/international/payments.html). Your benefits can be deposited into a bank account in the U.S. or in your new home country with some exceptions.

The U.S. State Department offers a handy checklist that can help you think through all the issues on retiring abroad. To access it, visit Travel.state.gov and search for "retirement abroad."

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

If a prescription label says "take with meals," does it matter what you eat? I currently take eight different medications for various health problems and would like to know if there are any foods I need to avoid.

It depends on the medication. Many meds should be taken with food — any food — to increase their absorption and reduce the risk of side effects. But some foods and medications can interact, reducing the medications' effectiveness or increasing the risk of harmful side effects.

To stay safe, you should always talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your prescriptions, along with what foods and beverages to avoid while you are taking them. In the meantime, here are some foods you should avoid when taking some commonly prescribed drugs.

Cholesterol Medications: If you take a certain statin drug to control high cholesterol such as Lipitor, Zocor, Altoprev, Mevacor, or generics atorvastatin, simvastatin or lovastatin, you should avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice. Grapefruit can augment the amount of the drug in your bloodstream and increase the risk of side effects, especially leg pain.

Blood Pressure Medicine: If you take an ACE inhibitor drug including Capoten, Vasotec, Monopril, or Zestril to lower your blood pressure, you should limit foods that contain potassium, like bananas, oranges, tomatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes and salt substitutes that contain potassium. ACE inhibitors raise the body's potassium levels. Eating too many potassium rich-foods while taking an ACE inhibitor can cause an irregular heartbeat and heart palpitations.

Blood Thinning Medications: If you are taking Coumadin, Jantoven, or the generic warfarin, you should limit kale and other greens, including broccoli, cabbage, spinach and brussel sprouts. These foods can block the effects of blood-thinning medications, which could put you at risk for developing blood clots. You also need to watch out for garlic, ginger, vitamin E and fish oil supplements because they can increase the medication's blood-thinning abilities, which could put you at risk for excessive bleeding.

Antidepressants: If you take a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressant like Marplan, Nardil, Emsam, Parnate, or generics isocarboxazid, phenelzine, selegiline or tranylcypromine, you should avoid aged cheeses, chocolate, cured meats and alcoholic drinks. These contain tyramine, which can raise blood pressure. Normally, the body controls tyramine levels with an enzyme called monoamine oxidase, but MAOI antidepressants block that enzyme.

Thyroid Medications: If you take a medication for hypothyroidism like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid or generic levothyroxine, you should avoid tofu, walnuts and soymilk because these can prevent your body from absorbing your thyroid medication.

Anti-Anxiety Medications: If you take medication for anxiety like Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, or generics alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam or lorazepam, you should avoid alcohol. These medications act as sedatives, binding with the brain's natural tranquilizers to calm you down. If you mix these drugs with alcohol, the side effects intensify and can cause you to feel lightheaded, sleepy or forgetful.

Antibiotics: If you are taking an antibiotic like Sumycin, Dynacin, Monodox, or generic tetracycline, doxycycline or minocycline, you should avoid dairy and calcium supplements for a couple hours before and after taking the medicine. This includes milk, yogurt and cheese. The calcium in dairy products binds to the antibiotic, which can prevent your body from absorbing it and may make the medication ineffective.

To find more dietary guidance on the drugs you take, see reliable health websites like MedlinePlus.gov or MayoClinic.org. Also consider the excellent new AARP book "Don't Eat This If You're Taking That: The Hidden Risks of Mixing Food and Medicine" available at Amazon.com and BN.com for $13.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

What is the best way to distribute my personal possessions to my children after I pass away without causing hard feelings or conflict? I own valuable jewelry, art, family heirlooms and antique furniture and, unfortunately, my three adult children do not always see eye-to-eye.

Divvying up personal possessions among adult children or other loved ones can often be a difficult task. Deciding who should get what without showing favoritism, hurting someone's feelings or causing a feud can be difficult. This is true even for close-knit families who enter the process with the best of intentions. Here are a few tips to consider that may help you decide the best way to divide your possessions with minimal conflict. 

Problem Areas

First, you need to be aware that often it is the small, simple items of little monetary value that may cause the most conflict. This is because the value we attach to small personal possessions is usually sentimental or emotional, and because the simple items are the things that most families fail to talk about.

Family battles can also escalate over whether things are being divided fairly based on the items' monetary value. To assure fair distribution, you may want to consider getting an appraisal for items of higher value like your jewelry, antiques and art. To locate an appraiser, see Appraisers.org or AppraisersAssociation.org.

Ways to Divvy

The best solution for passing along your personal possessions is for you to go through your house with your children either separately or all together. Open up cabinets, drawers, closets and boxes to find out which items they would like to inherit and why. You may be unaware of certain emotional attachments that your children have with items in your home. If more than one child wants the same thing, you will have the ultimate say.

You will need to make a signed and dated list describing who will receive which items. Then you will want to reference this list in your will. You can revise this list at any time. You may want to consider writing a letter or creating an audio or video recording that further explains your intentions.

You can also specify a strategy for divvying up the rest of your property. Here are some methods that are fair and reasonable:

• Take turns choosing: Use a round-robin process where your children take turns choosing the items they would like to have. If who goes first becomes an issue, they can always flip a coin, draw straws or roll dice. Also, to help simplify things, break down the dividing process room-by-room, versus tackling the entire house. To keep track of who gets what, either make a list or use adhesive dots with a color assigned to each person to tag the item.
• Have a family auction: Give each person involved the same amount of play money, or they can use virtual points or poker chips to bid on the items they want.

For more ideas, see "Who Gets Grandma's Yellow Pie Plate?" at YellowPiePlate.umn.edu. This is a resource created by the University of Minnesota Extension Service that gives pointers to help families discuss property distribution and lists important factors to keep in mind that can help avoid conflict. You can also purchase a detailed workbook, interactive CD or DVD on the University of Minnesota Extension Service's website.

It is very important that you discuss your plans in advance with your children so they know what to expect. You may even want to start giving them some of these items now, instead of distributing everything through your will or trust.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

Since retiring a few years ago, my husband has become increasingly irritable and apathetic. I'm concerned that he may be depressed, even though he may not realize it. Where can we turn to get help with this and what, if anything, does Medicare pay for?

Unfortunately, depression is a widespread problem that affects approximately 15% of the 65-and-older population. Here is what you need to know about identifying depression, treating depression and Medicare coverage.

Identifying Depression

Everyone feels sad or gets the blues now and then, but when these feelings linger more than a few weeks it may be depression. Depression is a real illness that affects moods, feelings, behavior and physical health. Contrary to what many people believe, it is not a normal part of aging or a personal weakness and is very treatable.

It is also important to know that depression is not just sadness. For many individuals, it can manifest as apathy or irritability. Individuals may also experience problems with memory or concentration.

To help assess the seriousness of your husband's problem, he may want to start by taking an online depression screening test. Mental Health America, a national nonprofit organization, offers a variety of free online mental health screening tools at MentalHealthAmerica.net. He can also visit HelpYourselfHelpOthers.org, which is offered by Screening for Mental Health, Inc.

Both of these websites' tests are anonymous and confidential. The tests take less than 10 minutes to complete and can help you determine the severity of your husband's problem.

Get Help

If you find that he is suffering from symptoms of depression, he should visit his doctor for a medical evaluation to rule out possible medical causes. Some medications, for example, can produce side effects that mimic symptoms of depression. It is also important to distinguish between depression and dementia, which can share some of the same symptoms.

If he is diagnosed with depression, there are a variety of treatment options, including talk therapy, antidepressant medications or a combination of both.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a particularly effective type of talk therapy. CBT helps patients recognize and change destructive thinking patterns that can lead to negative feelings.

For help finding a therapist who is trained in CBT, ask your doctor for a referral, check your local yellow pages under "counseling" or "psychologist" or use an online search engine to locate a CBT therapist in your area. You can also check with the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (FindCBT.org) or the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (AcademyofCT.org).

To search for therapists that accept Medicare, use Medicare's Physician Compare tool. Go to Medicare.gov/physiciancompare and type in your zip code or city and state, then type in the type of profession you want locate, like "psychiatry" or "clinical psychologist" in the "What are you searching for?" box.

Medicare Coverage

You will be happy to know that Medicare currently covers 100% of the costs for annual depression screenings that are done in a doctor's office or other primary care clinic. It also pays for 80% of its approved amount for outpatient mental health services like counseling and therapy services, and will cover almost all medications used to treat depression under the Part D prescription drug benefit.

If you and your husband get your Medicare benefits through a private Medicare Advantage plan, then the same services must be covered as original Medicare, but your husband will likely be required to see an in-network provider. You will need to contact your plan administrator directly for the details.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

Money is often an issue for the millions of U.S. grandparents who are raising their grandchildren today. To help with day-to-day expenses, there are a variety of government programs and tax benefits that can make a big difference in stretching your budget. Here's where to look for help.

Financial Assistance Programs

For starters, find out whether your family qualifies for your state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which may include cash assistance, food stamps and free or low-cost daycare. If your household income is too high to qualify as a family, ask about the "child-only grant" for just the grandchild's support alone. You should also find out if your state offers any additional programs like guardianship subsidies, non-parent grants or kinship care.

Contact your state's TANF program (see ACF.HHS.gov/ofa for contact information) or call your county's social services office for more information about these programs.

You should also determine if your grandkids are eligible for Social Security benefits, including benefits for children, survivor benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). You can find this out by visiting your local Social Security office or by calling 800-772-1213 or visit SSA.gov.

Also, check out BenefitsCheckUp.org, a comprehensive website that allows you to search for additional financial assistance programs or discounts that you may be eligible for, such as discounts on energy bills and prescription medications.

Tax Benefits

In addition to the financial assistance programs, there are also a number of tax benefits that may help. For example, the Dependency Exemption allows you to deduct $4,050 for each qualifying grandchild in 2017.

There is also the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is available in 2017 to those with moderate to low incomes. The Child Tax Credit is also available in 2017 for those who earn too much money to qualify for the EITC.

If you are employed and are incurring childcare expenses, the Child and Dependent Care Credit may save you money on your 2017 return. Also, if you choose to legally adopt your grandkids, there is an Adoption Credit that provides a federal tax credit of up to $13,570 in 2017.

There are also education-related tax credits available if your grandchildren attended college in 2017. These credits include the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit.

To learn more about these tax benefits, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 or visit IRS.gov. You can also call the IRS publication line at 800-829-3676 and ask them to mail you the publications that further explain the aforementioned benefits for your 2017 tax return. Ask for publications 501, 503, 596, 970, 972. Also be aware that these credits and benefits could change in 2018 pending any tax law changes.

Health Insurance

If your grandchildren need health insurance, depending on your income level, you may be eligible for free or low-cost health insurance through your state's Medicaid Program and the Children's Health Insurance Program. See InsureKidsNow.gov or call 877-543-7669 for more information.

Legal Aid

You also should consider speaking to a family law attorney to discuss the pros and cons of obtaining legal guardianship, custody or adoption. Without some sort of legal custody, you may not be eligible for many of the previously listed financial assistance programs. You may also face problems with basic things like enrolling your grandchildren in school or giving a doctor permission to provide medical assistance. For help locating affordable or free legal assistance, visit www.FindLegalHelp.org or call the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 for referrals.

For more information and resources, see the Grandfamilies State Law and Policy Resource Center at GrandFamilies.org.

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Living” book. Any links in this article are offered as a service and there is no endorsement of any product. These articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect this organization’s official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Living, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.