College, retirement and now parents
Fox Business says people are doing a good job saving to send their kids to college and planning for their own retirement, but a new later-in-life expense is catching families by surprise.
How’s this sound for a fun Thanksgiving?
Mom and Dad, you’re getting older. As your children, we need you to pick someone to handle your money when you’re too sick to make your own decisions. We also need to figure out how to care for you as you get older, and by the way, this is going to cost us a lot of money that would otherwise go toward sending your grandchildren to college and allowing your children to retire.
This may not be the conversation to have over turkey and football, but the reality is America’s aging population will force families to have difficult conversations in the coming years. Among the most uncomfortable issues? Caring for aging parents is becoming a major expense.
Fox Business reports on a study by Caring.com:
Nearly half of family caregivers spend more than $5,000 a year on expenses associated with providing care. Of those spending more than $5,000, 16% are seeing costs of as much as $9,999 while 11% are spending as high as $19,999 and 5% are absorbing out of pocket expenses of as much as $49,999.
Medical expenses can eat into family savings, especially when seniors don’t have long-term health insurance to cover health-related bills that come with aging. Medicaid is something of an option, but there are restrictions on who is eligible and how you spend your money before applying. For example, did you know seniors cannot give a gift or sell something for less than market value within five years of receiving Medicaid assistance?
Experts recommend talking to aging parents about finances before any sort of health crisis. They recommend seniors declare a power of attorney while healthy to prevent their estates ending up in court, which an expert quoted by Fox News described as “unpleasant.”
These are not easy things to discuss. Underlying the conversation is the reality that people are going to die, and something needs to be done with their money when they’re gone. The best way to minimize disaster? Plan ahead. A good tip from the story? Instead of talking in terms of death of crippling conditions, frame the conversation around short-term illnesses.
Uncomfortable conversations while everyone is healthy and stable can help avoid difficult decisions at even more difficult times. It’s also a good reminder to younger adults to plan ahead for your parents’ care, because a day is likely coming they’ll need your help.
What aging issues are you or loved ones dealing with? Share your input and experiences and help bring attention to aging-related issues in Detroit, Metro Detroit, and across Michigan.
Aging Together is a project between MLive Detroit, WDET 101.9FM Detroit and Model D Media that explores the issues of older adults in Detroit, Michigan and everywhere.
