A writer and advocate for the elderly notes what he describes as a stark dichotomy regarding the financial outlays made by legions of families across the United States for different purposes.
Those dual purposes: child-rearing up to the age of 17 and providing care for aging parents, respectively.
Persons who think — and reasonably so — that families who spend money to both get their kids to adulthood and to assist mom and/or dad with long-term care needs spend far more money on that front burner might want to reassess their assumptions, writes Howard Gleckman.
In fact, he notes, empirical findings strongly suggest that the earnings and accumulated savings of family wage earners — often those who are both parents of kids and children themselves of aging parents — are in many instances doled out at a far higher amount on parental care than they are on children.
And that bothers Gleckman, especially because the higher outlays for parents reflect an “enormous cost that is generally spread over much less time, typically four years in contrast to 17.”
There is no doubt regarding this bottom line applicable to cost outlays for long-term parental care that challenges high numbers of people in California and nationally: it can truly break the bank.
In fact, notes Gleckman, the average amount of money spent on an adult’s long-term needs — that is, out-of-pocket funds doled out by family members — is a staggering $140,000. And, again, that outlay is often necessitated over a very short period, which can render the exaction especially challenging, if not fundamentally life changing, to most families.
Gleckman’s article centrally spotlights the importance for families to timely engage in planning relevant to their aging parents and the singular needs they will have in their latter years.
A proven estate planning and tax professional can materially assist with that.