 |
There are obvious as well as hidden costs
when caring for aging parents.
|
Trish responded as most of us
would when she realized her aging parents needed help. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer and her
father just wasn't up to the task of caring for his ailing wife during her
recovery. Being a single woman without
children, Trish left her career and closed up her house and returned to her
childhood home to care for them. What
was to be a temporary stay turned permanent when her mother passed away quite unexpectedly and Trish was
faced with the long term care of her aging father. Siblings with their own busy families pitched
in here and there, but the day to day tasks of caring for Dad fell squarely on
Trish’s shoulders. Trish struggled to
make ends meet on her father’s limited pension but medical bills and living
expenses made it difficult. She also began to worry about her own future as she
had given up a profitable career to be the family Caregiver.
Adult children Step up to the Task
Trish’s
experiences are not at all uncommon these days as the Baby Boomer generation
enters their elder years. In fact, over
25% of adult children over 50 are now providing personal care and financial
assistance to their parents. This
percentage has tripled over the past 15 years and is expected to continue to
grow.
Family values play
a large role when deciding to put personal lives on hold and become the primary
Caregiver for an aging parent. Most
families, in response to a sudden need, make the decision without true
consideration of the depth of commitment required or the present or future cost. Of course providing care for a cherished loved
one is not about the numbers, yet it is wise to know what to expect when taking
on this responsibility.
Pull out the Calculator
Providing care for
an aging parent does have a cost. According
to a 2011 study by the MetLife Institute, women who take time off work to care
for a loved one, on average, lose close to $350,000 in earned income, pension
and Social Security benefits. Men
statistically average less loss, but that is because they are less likely to
become the primary Caregiver for their parents.
It is job that is traditionally taken on by daughters and
daughter-in-laws. In addition to lost future
income, there is often the present loss of health insurance, benefits as well
as opportunities for career advancement.
Moreover rejoining the workforce at a later date is sometimes much
harder than expected. All these issues
add up to real financial cost for caring for aging parents. This financial loss taken on by the adult
children can often be multiplied by their parent’s cost of health care and elder
care.
Most aging
Americans have some financial preparations made for their retirement. Yet the financial planning industry has
traditionally focused on perfecting portfolios and building nest eggs. Until recently there has been little talk
about planning for the cost of the care years. The cost of care can totally
derail a sound financial plan and then the burden of paying for later life care
often falls on the adult children. With
hourly rate for certified home nursing aides ranging from $17.00 up to
$30.00/hour and nursing facility costs averaging over $80,000 a year, the cost
of elder care can be staggering.
Have the Conversation
The problem is that
most families don’t start thinking about their parent’s care needs until there
is need for actual care. Usually that is
due to a parent’s illness or a crisis situation which demands immediate attention.
Aging parents and adult children generally are not proactively arranging for these
long term care needs and so are caught unaware and unprepared.
The best time to
make caregiving decisions is long before they are needed. Having open dialog with your parents and
siblings about the financial situation and making advanced decisions on how to
cover care costs and divide up care tasks with family members will make the entire
process much easier.
Trish never
regrets the time she spent caring for her parents, but now that they have
passed on, she wonders how to get her own life back on track and get prepared
for her own elder care years.
|
Sources :
“How to Prepare to Financially
Support Aging Parents” by Philip Moeller.
Retrieved from www.money.usnes.com
on 3/10/14.
"The MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working
Caregivers” by MetLife. Retrieved from www.metlife.com on 3/10/14.
No comments:
Post a Comment