_NYTimes_: “Families have always looked after their elderly loved ones. But never has old age lasted so long or been so costly, compromising the retirement of baby boomers who were expecting inheritances rather than the shock of depleted savings.”
Aside
Sad, but true. My sister left her home for a “few months” to help with sick, aged relations. She’s an RN, a hospice nurse.
Six years later, after all but one had died peacefully at home, due to her ministrations, she returned to her home, one aged relative in tow whom she had to install in a nursing home.
She visits there several hours daily, a virtual requirement if you want the best care for your loved one.
When she was here, I could help. Now my help is limited to visits once or twice a month (requiring nine hours of travel each time.) Financially, we’re both tapped out. No retirement, no savings. The last of the relative’s money spent on getting him qualified for Medicaid.
At 59 and, effectively, six years out of the workforce, the job resumes she’s submitted could paper the living room. And here I am online hopefully becoming an internet blogger.
Think about it the next time you get the newest and coolest upgrades to your system. Some of that needs to go into savings for just a few years from now. It just is.