Nov 8, 2023
Long term care is for the care recipient, but it's really about the caregiver, and far too many caregivers are spending their own income and retirement assets to provide for a parent, or an older family member or friend, because the care recipient ran out of money. You promised to never put them in a nursing home, and you are now sacrificing your own futures in your attempt to keep that promise. Family caregivers are spending, on average, 26% of income to provide this care. That's a BIG chunk of the budget!
As we start to take time off from work to help, not only is our income reduced, but our future income from social security and retirement plans is also diminished. If we're not careful, we will end up in the same financial position when we reach our parents' ages. And our kids will be going through these same problems. We need to stop the cycle and design a plan today to provide for our needs, and for our family's protection and childrens' futures tomorrow.
If our parents knew what we spend to provide for their last chapters, they would be devastated, so we don't tell them. We just keep paying whatever it costs for them and tell them not to worry.
We need to stop and consider that many of our parents chose the default LTC plan, which is spend all your own money until it's gone and then rely on the state Medicaid system. Maybe they didn't do this on purpose, but they did it.
No one wants to be a ward of the state, so we all need to take the time we need to prepare for our own tomorrows and that of future generations and stop this cycle of government dependence.
Schedule time with me to Prepare for Tomorrow at https://calendly.com/diane-p4t/60min
Ask me a question at diane@preparing4tomorrow.com