QUESTION:

Retiring on the backs of our children

Reading a recent article in the New York Times, "Elder Care Costs Deplete Savings of a Generation", 12/30/06, was a very sobering experience. My mother died at age 95 a year and a half ago. Fortunately, with excellent financial planning, my sisters and I were able to provide our mother with capable and compassionate late-life medical and living arrangements.

My own retirement situation, however, is very different. A personal business was closed after more than twenty years due to poor performance, and after having put almost all personal savings into it to try to keep it viable. No pension plan was in place.
Personal life insurance was cashed in because loans taken against it had made premiums too high to afford. I am now in financial survival mode at retirement age, instead of having adequate or even minimal funds for a dignified retirement.

This will put me in the position of the elderly parents described in this article who are dependent on their children for basic needs because their financial resources are inadequate. This is not a happy or secure situation for either the parent or the children. It puts both generations at risk, not to mention possibly grandchildren.

Americans need to begin to ask whether public policy can be devised to help alleviate this growing problem.
asked by jcbrochester, 1/14/2007
Categories: Caring for Aged Parents, Relationships
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