Where do people my age meet someone?

The short answer

In much the same places people meet friends. Some meet through people they already know, some through something they do every week, and some online. Each route works differently, and each has its own safe habits.

You don't have to try any of them. You can try one and stop, or read this chapter and leave it there.

What to do

1. Tell one or two friends you trust that you'd be open to meeting someone.
2. Keep going to the weekly things you enjoy, for their own sake.
3. Choose a site aimed at your age group, if you try one, and find out how to cancel before you pay.
4. Ask a friend, a relative or a librarian to sit with you while you set up a profile, if you'd like help.
5. Leave your address, your money and the date he died out of any profile.
6. Read How do I stay safe online? before you reply to anyone online.

What can wait

• Joining more than one site, or paying for a long membership.
• Deciding what any of this becomes.
• Telling anyone beyond the one or two friends who are helping you.

Who can help

• A friend who will introduce you, or sit with you while you set up a profile. A librarian at your public library can help with the computer side.
• The Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov, can help you find a senior center near you. A senior center may offer meals, classes and activities.
• If anyone you met online has asked you for money, the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 1-877-908-3360, is free and open to anyone, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.

The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.

Hear when the next book is out

Five or six short emails a year at most, and a note when a new book is out. Each one is about something that tends to come up in the first two years. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.