This paper focuses on resource versatility and specificity for elder physical and mental health. First, the history of the progress of research on life events, resources, and well-being is reviewed. The trend toward emphasizing specific events rather than aggregate events and the trend toward giving greater recognition to the context in which stress and resources operate are discussed. An explanation of the context in which stress and resources operate are discussed. The Louisville project in which a probability sample of nearly 3,000 respondents aged 55 and older were interviewed concerning life events and resources is provided, and examples from that project are given in this paper. It is suggested that perhaps greater attention should be paid to both desirable events and positive mental health. The topics of specificity, explication, and context are reviewed. It is concluded that three directions of research will be essential if the field is to develop. Specifically, it is stated that: (1) precise studies are needed that are specific, rigorous, and refined, whose resource measures are clearly unidimensional, and whose event subtypes are narrowly defined; (2) comparative studies are needed which compare resources on different event sub-types that are more complex and cumbersome; and (3) models of mechanisms that operate across different events, or within event classes, need to be developed and tested. (ABL)