Do it yourself, with the system in your hands
The Independent Pathway is Golden Hour Aging’s self-guided planning system for families of aging parents. Three entry points: the $300 System Diagnostic scores your parent’s phase, the $600 Targeted Sequence adds the volume for that phase, and the $1,500 Full Dossier is the complete physical and digital library. The first two credit fully toward the third.
Built for the family who is ready to be proactive and isn’t in crisis. Checkout happens on Golden Hour Aging’s existing secure pages.
Start here
The System Diagnostic
$300
Volume 0, “You Are Here”: the guided assessment that returns your parent’s Golden Hour Aging Score and names which of the four phases they are in.
- The digital diagnostic, Volume 0: “You Are Here”
- Your parent’s Golden Hour Aging Score
- Which of the four phases they are in today, in writing
You stop guessing. You know where your parent stands, in writing, and what that phase means.
Get the System Diagnostic
The score, plus the plan for it
The Targeted Sequence
$600
The full assessment, plus a single-use code that unlocks the one Phased Volume (I to IV) matched to the phase your score returns.
Written for one parent. Two parents are scored separately and are usually in different phases, so a pair is best served by the Full Dossier, which holds every volume.
- Everything in the System Diagnostic
- A single-use unlock code, issued when your score is in
- The digital Phased Volume matched to your family’s phase
You know the phase, and you hold the step-by-step volume written for exactly that phase.
Get the Targeted Sequence
The complete system
The Full Dossier
$1,500
The complete physical and digital library: all five volumes (0 to IV), the archival Dossier Box, and a digital mirror of everything.
- The Founder’s Dossier Box, a permanent archival home for your family’s plan
- All five volumes (0 to IV), full color, perfect bound
- An exact digital mirror of the whole library
The whole road, in your hands: where you are, what was missed, and what is coming next.
Get the Full Dossier100% of what you pay for the System Diagnostic or the Targeted Sequence is credited toward the Full Dossier.
Is doing it yourself realistic?
For a planner, yes, and you probably are one if you’ve read this far. The volumes were written so that a capable adult child can run the sequence alone: each one tells you, in order, what to watch, what to put in place and what comes next.
The fair comparison is with hiring a professional care manager, where an initial assessment typically runs $800 to $2,000 with ongoing work billed hourly. Some families need those hands. Many need the map, and the map is what you’re holding here.
If you want the map and the guide, that’s the supported pathway. And if you aren’t sure any of this is the moment yet, start with the free Stability Brief.
Questions families actually ask
What’s included at each level?
The $300 System Diagnostic is the assessment: your parent’s Golden Hour Aging Score and their phase, named. The $600 Targeted Sequence adds a single-use code that unlocks the one phase volume matched to your score, so it typically covers a single parent. The $1,500 Full Dossier is the complete system: all five volumes in a printed, bound library plus the archival Dossier Box, with an exact digital mirror, and it is the right choice for a pair of parents.
How does this compare to hiring a care manager?
A professional care manager typically charges $800 to $2,000 for an initial assessment and $90 to $250 an hour after that, per the ranges Google cites from industry sources, and Medicare generally doesn’t cover it. For families who need hands-on coordination, that can be the right answer. If what you need is to understand where your parent stands and what’s coming, the System Diagnostic is $300 and you keep the plan.
Do the first two steps credit toward the Dossier?
Yes, in full. 100% of what you pay for the System Diagnostic or the Targeted Sequence is credited if you upgrade to the Full Dossier, so starting small costs you nothing later.
What if I get stuck?
That’s what the supported pathway is for: the same system, with me working it alongside you across four one-on-one sessions.
Written by Stephanie Drobny, RN, MS-HSL, CPHQ, LSSGB Nurse executive, founder of Golden Hour Aging. Written September 2026 · last reviewed September 2026.
Start with the free Stability Brief
A guided self-assessment of how much strain your family is carrying as a parent ages, and what typically comes next. Free, by email, no obligation.