Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
Margaret Newcomb, 69, a retired French teacher, is desperately trying to protect her retirement savings by caring for her 82-year-old husband, who has severe dementia, at home in Seattle. She used to fear his disease-induced paranoia, but now he’s so frail and confused that he wanders away with no idea of how to find his way home. He gets lost so often that she attaches a tag to his shoelace with her phone number.
Feylyn Lewis, 35, sacrificed a promising career as a research director in England to return home to Nashville after her mother had a debilitating stroke. They ran up $15,000 in medical and credit card debt while she took on the role of caretaker.
Navigating Dementia Care: The Financial Strain on Middle-Class Families
My dad was diagnosed with dementia and Medicare’s 7-word response baffled me. I’m simply a daughter who cares about her parents. And I’m a citizen looking around at our irrational health care system and feeling helpless, enraged and scared. If your parents were poor, I would say don’t worry about this. And if your parents had 2 to 3 million in their IRA accounts, I would say don’t worry about this. But your parents are middle-class, and in this case, that’s a problem.