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During the 1950s and 1960s most seniors either moved in with their adult children or an adult child or caregiver moved in with them when they were unable to care for themselves. Life expectancy was much lower and most families did not have to care for their family members beyond their 40s, 50s, or 60s. There were very few outside care facilities available. In fact, for many decades families took care of their own.
Now days, there is a plethora of choices for seniors, especially for those who have the financial means to afford the best care available. For the rest, options may not be as positive as some would desire. Having a written plan in place where you have expressed your desires for the future will help ensure you are properly taken care of into your later years.
Times have changed
Now it is not unusual for the elderly to live well into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Financially, more people are on fixed-incomes after often living for years with two incomes. Unfortunately, the tendency in the last couple of decades was to spend rather than save. Now those on fixed incomes are feeling the pinch, especially if the spouse with the higher income has died. The uncertain economy and much higher cost of living adds to the financial woes of the growing number of senior citizens.
According to recent reports, the fastest growing segment of the US population are those in their 80s. Most families do not have the means or resources to care for their elderly family members. Job loss, divorce, their own medical problems and loss of pensions due to layoffs or company failures have added to their financial stress.
What you can do to prepare for the future
There are a number of steps seniors can take to help ensure they are prepared as much as possible for their future needs. No one knows how long they will live, what physical or medical condition they will be in, or what needs they may have in the future. However, having a written plan that is in place to guide trusted family members, friends, and professionals such as doctors and lawyers, will help ease every one’s mind going into the future.
- Know your personal financial and health situation
- Provide a written plan for how you want to be cared for if you become incapacitated
- Know who will be responsible for your care and who will sign important documents and make life decisions if you are unable
- Make sure all formal documents such as a will or durable power of attorney, et cetera are in place.
Although the written plan is tentative based on what happens in real life, writing down your desires and wishes helps you and your advisers plan how to spend or save your resources and will guide you in what direction you may want to take for your future care. Those around you that you trust can help you make difficult decisions. Although the plan is not carved in stone, it will give you structure and hope for the future.
We certainly do not know what our future holds, but having a plan or at the very least our thoughts and desires written down will help others guide us into our final years if we are not capable of taking care of ourselves.
