Three Things for the Sandwich Generation to Consider
What is the sandwich generation? It’s the group of adults who still have kids at home and also have older parents who need help with daily activities of living. It’s not the most enjoyable situation for some as it becomes a struggle to balance helping your parents, keeping up maintenance in two homes, and being there for children.
Before you dive in and agree to help your parents, you need to carefully consider a few things. If you rush into care, you may end up feeling overwhelmed. Here are some issues to consider.
Putting Everything on Hold Will Impact Your Future
Even if you want to care for your mom or dad, you have to think about your future. If you quit work to help them out, what happens with your health insurance? You’d end up paying out of pocket premiums rather than company-sponsored ones. That can be incredibly costly.
Instead, some family carers opt to go without and stop carrying health insurance. If you decide to do that, how will you afford to pay for medical care? If your mom pushed you away and you broke your wrist, the average cost according to Guardian Insurance is $2,500 if surgery isn’t required. X-rays cost as much as $460.
Is it Better to Move in Together?
In the AARP’s 2020 survey about caregivers, 40 percent of caregivers admitted they’d moved in with the person in need of care. The financial aspect of care becomes easier to manage when you’re pooling money and only have one home to maintain and manage. It also saves time as you’re not commuting to and from your parents’ house.
If this is an option, you have to decide which house is better designed for two families to live together. Your kids may not want to switch schools. Your parents may not want to move from their home and neighborhood. It makes it hard to decide what to do.
You Can’t Stop Planning for Your Retirement
It makes more sense to provide the care your parents need. Once you make that decision, you have to think about your retirement. What will you do when it’s time to retire? Will you have enough money to do so or are you going to have to keep working well into your 70’s or 80’s?
It’s often impossible to know how long your parents will need help. If your mom has Alzheimer’s, she may survive long past the average. It’s not unheard of to see people with Alzheimer’s live 10, 15, or 20 years with the disease.
If that happens, you’d be going without an income or building up retirement savings for a long time. No one can expect to afford retirement on Social Security alone, so you have to have a plan.
Before you commit to being the one to drop everything and care for your parents, weigh your options. You could keep working and have senior care services to assist on the days you work. Talk to our senior care specialist to learn how to make these arrangements.
Sources: https://www.guardiandirect.com/resources/articles/10-common-medical-costs-without-accident-insurance#
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2020/05/full-report-caregiving-in-the-united-states.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.001.pdf
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