Bainbridge Island company provides help for boomers with aging parents

What: Silver Planet, Bainbridge Island

Who: Karen Klein, 52, CEO

Mission: Provide baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) with the information to evaluate resources about aging and its surrounding issues. The Web site is www.silverplanet.com

Employees: 4

Financials: The private company expects to become profitable in the second quarter of 2011. It relies on referral fees and advertising, but also charges customers for live phone counseling.

Rate base: Online experts are available six days a week. The rates range from $70 for a basic 50-minute assessment to $150 an hour for questions that involve an architect or an attorney. Regular appointments take a few days to set up, or customers can pay an emergency premium to get a return call in 30 minutes.

Mother cam: While clients can connect to the site to address their own issues, the site is designed for those who need to manage care for their aging parents. "People used to spend their entire lives in the same place," Klein said. "Today, many people live hundreds of miles from their parents, but need to be involved in their care. We help them to deal with the information overload, so they can ask the right questions and determine who they can trust with that care."

Staying put: People vary in their reactions to the aging process, but Klein said there is a universal desire to stay in their homes for as long as possible. Klein said innovations such as online access to medical records and improved emergency devices can postpone a trip to the nursing home.

Hearing aid: "Communication is part of what we do," Klein said. "We use social networking to give people a place to go to connect with others who are dealing with the same aging issues."

— Charles Bermant