A clear path through life’s toughest transitions.

From sudden medical changes to complex family decisions — I help you think it through, stay aligned, and execute the right next steps together.

A fall, a diagnosis, a loss, a move. When life changes, every family needs someone who sees the whole picture. As an Aging Transition Specialist, I help families and their loved ones think it through, decide together and find the right help, with free tools and a clear path to follow.

When something happens, there's no map.

When something happens to a parent or partner, families scramble. Hospitals discharge before anyone feels ready. Most people don't know where to find the help that exists.

And somewhere in the paperwork and appointments, the person you love starts to disappear behind a chart.

In these moments, every family needs a sounding board: someone who sees the whole picture and helps you take the next right step.

63 million Americans are family caregivers. Roughly 4 in 10 who help after a hospital stay say they didn't get the training they needed. And a third of adults 50 to 80 feel lonely.

You shouldn't have to figure it out alone.

Free readiness check
SilverBeacon · The framework

A Path Through Transitions

Four stages. The same four areas at every stage. Your loved one at the center.

  • Your People
  • Your Affairs
  • Your Wellbeing
  • Your Decisions
  • Your loved one, at the center
where you startedSomething happensa fall, a diagnosis, a loss, a move
  1. Feels: steady01

    Before

    Prepare while it's calm

  2. Feels: an ending02

    First days

    Know what to do now

  3. Feels: in between03

    First months

    Find your footing

  4. Feels: a new beginning04

    New normal

    Manage what's changed

    • New routines and roles
    • Pursuits built on what they love
    • Family check-ins
    • Ready for the next change

The "feels" labels draw on William Bridges' model of transition: every change begins with an ending, passes through a neutral zone, and leads to a new beginning.

Your Aging Transition Specialist

Every family needs a chief of staff when aging brings change

When a parent falls or a spouse gets a diagnosis, families suddenly face medical, legal, financial, housing and family decisions all at once. Each specialist handles their piece. What most families are missing is one person who sees the whole picture: a sounding board who helps everyone think clearly, decide together and find the right help.

That is the role of an Aging Transition Specialist. I'm Bernard Putz. I bring decades of facilitating hard decisions in organizations, a PhD in Organizational Psychology and training as a Certified Aging in Place Specialist to your family's table.

How I help familiesBook a free 20-minute call

Prefer to start on your own? The free tools and guides follow the same path.

What a chief of staff does

Sees the whole pictureYour loved one's people, affairs, wellbeing and decisions, at every stage of the path.
Runs the hard conversationsFacilitated family meetings where everyone is heard, including the person at the center.
Brings in the right expertsThe attorney, therapist, care agency or contractor you need, found and briefed.
Keeps things movingDecisions, deadlines and paperwork tracked, so the caregiver can focus on the person they love.

Through every change, nothing falls through the cracks.

At every stage of the path, SilverBeacon looks at the same four areas, so your family knows who leads, who can act, and what matters most to the person at the center.

  • Your People

    Who leads, who to call, and who needs to know when something changes.

  • Your Affairs

    Who has authority to act, the bills that can't wait, and the documents to find.

  • Your Wellbeing

    Care, home safety, and staying connected and engaged through every change.

  • Your Decisions

    Their wishes, and who speaks for them when they can't.

Explore the full framework

WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES

Transitions we help with

Every family's situation is different. These are the moments I help families through, with a free guide for each.

  1. After a fall or hospital stay. What to ask before discharge, who can act, and getting home safely.

  2. A new diagnosis. Who needs to know, and the decisions to make now, while your loved one can make them.

  3. Memory changes. Safety, authority while it can still be arranged, and activities that adapt as memory changes.

  4. Losing a spouse. The accounts and bills that can't wait, and staying connected through grief.

  5. A move. Downsizing, assisted living or moving in with family, with who they are coming along.

  6. Retirement and finding purpose. Putting a lifetime of experience to work, and staying needed.

How we work together

  • 1. A free 20-minute call

    Tell me what's changing. We'll talk it through and decide together whether I can help. There's no obligation.

  • 2. See the whole picture

    In a 90-minute session we look across your loved one's people, affairs, wellbeing and decisions, and agree on the three most important next steps.

  • 3. Keep it moving

    I facilitate the family conversations, bring in the right professionals and follow up on every decision, for as long as you want a chief of staff.

Book a free call

What families get

For the person you care for, and for you:

  • A sounding board

    Someone calm and experienced to think it through with when a big decision lands.

  • The whole picture

    Health, home, money, legal authority and family roles, looked at together so nothing falls through the cracks.

  • A family on the same page

    Facilitated conversations where everyone is heard, including the person at the center, and everyone leaves knowing their part.

  • Still themselves

    Your loved one's wishes, and what makes them who they are, stay at the center of every decision.

  • Less on your plate

    The right professionals found and briefed, and deadlines and paperwork tracked, so you aren't carrying it all alone.

Free tools

Tools for the transitions ahead

Practical tools to help your family think through what's coming. No sign-up and no cost.

Free · 3 min

Transition Readiness Check

Eight questions: if something changed tomorrow, where would your family get stuck?

Take the check →Free · 10–15 min

Starting the Conversation

See what can go wrong when nobody talks about it, and get words for starting the conversation with someone you love.

Open the guide →Free · 20–30 min

Coming Home: Care Planning Checklist

Plan care at home after a hospital stay or a new diagnosis: 56 steps across nine areas.

Open the Checklist →
See all tools →

Forty years of helping organizations through change. Then my own family went through it.

I spent my career leading organizations through consequential change, at Deloitte, Capgemini and in the financial sector. When I guided my own family through aging transitions, I saw two things. Scattered information and unclear authority made hard moments harder. And somewhere in the hospital stays and paperwork, the person at the center started to disappear.

SilverBeacon is my answer. I work with families as an Aging Transition Specialist, using a clear path and practical tools built on behavioral science, gerontology and today's AI, so the person at the center stays themselves through every transition.

Read my story

Talk it through.

Start with a free 20-minute call. Tell me what's changing, and we'll look at the whole picture together.

Book a free call