If you’re a baby boomer, you have recently hit retirement age, or it is right on the horizon.
After working all those years, you are now looking forward to a life where you remain active but are free from the daily grind of work. But you may be in for a little surprise. You may be taking care of your parents.
As a result of better health, people are living longer. So why isn’t it possible that if you are 65 or 70, you still have living parents in their early 90s?
That could mean something as simple as checking in occasionally on an aging parent or arranging for caregivers. But in the most extreme cases, it could also mean moving across the country to live near your parents.
While the first factor for a retiree caring for older parents is being a physical presence, there are other issues as well.
You may have done all the necessary financial planning for your own retirement. Did you consider the possibility that you might be helping to support your parents? The average family caregiver for someone 50 years or older spends roughly $5,500 per year on out-of-pocket caregiving expenditures. That could be higher if your parents are in their 90s.
And none of that takes into account the cost of moving if you have to relocate to care for older parents.
However if you plan and budget properly, this can be the most rewarding experience of your life. After all, your parents raised you, and now, if you have the time, health and finances, you can have the experience of caring for them, just as they did for you. It may bring you closer than you’ve ever been as adults.