The ever increasing life expectancy is leading to a possible problem of people reaching retirement age and still having elderly parents that require care.
As the human life span continues to get longer, people are sometimes reaching retirement age and finding they have elderly parents who need care. And, sometimes those new retirees are no longer physically capable of providing the care. One possible way to handle this situation was recently written about in the New York Times article "A Twist on Caring for a Parent: Move Into the Home."
The article tells the story of a 71-year-old man who moved into the same continuing care retirement community as his 96-year-old mother. It allows the man to help his mother while still having the facility staff to do what he is not able to do. All chores, such as cooking, cleaning and laundry, are done by the staff.
Obviously, this is an expensive solution to the problem and many families will not be able to afford to have two generations living in the same retirement community. How to take care of an ever aging population is something that elder law experts and legislatures will have to eventually address.
Having elderly children care for their elderly parents is unlikely to work in the long term.
For now, it is best to plan ahead. Through proper retirement and estate planning it is possible to ensure that elderly family members, including yourself, will have proper care.
Contact an estate planning attorney for advice on how to reach that goal.
Reference: New York Times (Jan. 4, 2016) "A Twist on Caring for a Parent: Move Into the Home."
