I teared up a bit while reading an article I found over at CNN recently on caregiving. Specifically, this article detailed how the baby boomer generation is now getting old enough to retire but because of health advancements in recent years, their parents are still alive and needing full time care. According to the article statistics, 65 million people in the US are unpaid caregivers which seems so different from how things used to be before the baby boom generation, before the technical and health care advancements of the current generation.
When the baby boom generation’s own parents were entering retirement, many of their own parents were already dead and gone, cites the article, “When my parents were my age, their parents were dead and they were having fun white-water rafting down the Snake River and here I sit — two houses down,” said Jones.
The article was really sad in the beginning though, despite the title of “enriched lives”. These baby boomers seemed bitter about having to care for their parents. Yes, some of their own plans are getting put on hold while they care for their parents. Their retirement is being delayed a bit and their own health is apparently taking a toll from caring, physically, for their unable parents. But as the article wrapped up, there was a sweetness about it. One could really see the love these baby boomers have for their parents, sacrificing for them, getting to know their parents better and as the article put it, “…cleaning up my karma and putting old hurts to right”.
The article made me really think about my own retirement and mortality (I found some great resources on Genworth.com about long term care as well as life insurance though so that helped a little). I’m not looking forward to getting older or to my own parents getting older but honestly, I wouldn’t mind a little one on one time with them as I care for them, a chance to get to know the people they became after caring for their own kids. I wouldn’t mind giving them a chance to get to know the person I have become either.
I bought Long Term Care insurance 4-5 years ago for my wife and I. I saw first hand how expensive nursing care can be with my mother. She was in a nursing facility for years and finally in a Dementia unit. Although she funded it through savings, it would have been easier with Long Term Care insurance. It wasn’t available in the 1960s when she was of an age to buy it.
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My mother isn’t able anymore to work the kinds of on-your-feet-all-day jobs that she is qualified for. But my grandmother has at least one doctor’s appointment per week anymore, so that is her job now. In return, my grandmother buys her lunch when they go out.
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I don’t have any long-term insurance, but this is good to think about!
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It stinks getting older. Not only do you not work as well as you used to, but you start to realize how short your own mortality is.
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Oh man, i hate thinking about life insurance, i feel like its so morbid. I definitely have it to protect my love ones but its not something I enjoy spending my weekend researching 😉
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Hello all. Not to continue on being morbid, but I lost my father in 2009, and he was in his 70s. Many people now live longer, but it is important to have your paperwork in line. Who is going to make decisions for you when you can’t make them for yourself? Also shop around very extensively for life insurance. Some plans cut the benefits in half once you reach a certain age, which makes a huge difference for your loved ones who are caring for you. It’s a tough topic for sure, and the love certainly comes through when the people in your life get older, but don’t take the security of documentation and paper work too lightly.
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