And while the stock market continues to roller coaster with huge swings up and down, the basic challenges facing our economy may take years to repair, and the costs are going to be staggering, with some of the true costs remaining unknown – like those regarding aging and the costs for care as we age.

For example, today we are living longer and for many boomers that means that they are now finding themselves responsible for paying for the care of their parents as they age. Here’s the problem, we know that the majority of baby boomers have done a terrible job of saving for their own retirement and old age.  Now factor in the economic struggles we’re facing and the issues with helping aging parents and we have a potential disaster.

Boomers who are caring for their parents – in fact 63% of them, according to a report in the magazine Aging Care – say that they have no plan as to how they will pay for their parents' care over the next five years.  62% say the cost of caring for a parent has impacted their ability to plan for their own financial future.

Today there are approximately 34 million Americans providing care for older family members, and the outlook with the first of 78-million boomers beginning to turn 65 in just over 3-years doesn’t make the future look any brighter for those future seniors or their children.

Even though it’s been said many times, it bears repeating – it’s the myth that Medicare will pay for long term or custodial care in your home or in a nursing home or assisted living facility – that’s simply not true. Medicare only covers long-term care for a short time, usually about 21-days, and typically in a rehabilitation facility following a minimum 3-day hospitalization - and there are other strict rules for Medicare’s involvement. Medi-gap insurance helps, but it does not cover long-term custodial care or all related care costs.

Having a good long-term care insurance policy is a wonderful partial solution, because without long term care, custodial care and the burden of paying for long-term care will fall on the senior or his or her family.  Here again, based on the reality that most boomers are unprepared for their own retirement, and lack the necessary financial planning, the added burden of aging parents may well represent the next US financial crisis – and it will begin as a family crisis.

Why do I refer to long-term care insurance as only a partial solution?  Because in addition to room & board and basic care in a facility there are other expenses not covered by LTC insurance.  If the family provides the hands-on care as a supplement to what a LTC policy pays for in-home care by professionals, they often find themselves having to reach into their own pockets to pay for many daily expenses, including groceries, household goods, drugs, medical co-payments and transportation.  Imagine what this would mean to your family if you’re already strapped for cash and are facing the rising price for food, and the fluctuating cost of gasoline and so many other basic necessities of life – like taxes and mortgage payments.

Our government is in deep financial straits, China is our largest lender, and with trillions of dollars being pledged by our new president to save us from everything that we and Congress created for ourselves, and no money in the treasury to pay for it, the health care costs will be the next straw that breaks this camel’s back.

So, how much money are we talking about here?  Aging Care Magazine’s survey found that among families providing care for a parent, 34% spend $300 or more per month out of their own pocket for caregiving expenses, and 54% have sacrificed spending money on themselves to pay for care of their parents.  That’s very noble, but impacts the lives of the adult children affecting everything from daily lifestyles to future retirement.

There are other more hidden costs of caring for your parents; many of them affect workers and employers.  There’s a problem known as “Presenteeism” which is the situation where an adult child is at work, being paid for his or her productivity, but is in fact making phone calls to set up doctor’s appointments or check up on mom or dad at home.  Work issue surveys have found that 43% of caregivers have had to take time off work due to caregiving responsibilities; 48% say they are earning less money at work as a result of caregiving, and
25% have been fired or had to quit their job as a result of caregiving.  So you can see where this is going.

And there are other issues involved for the adult child such as the physical and emotional price they pay for being a caregiver.  Many work 40-hours and provide at least that much time in caregiving hours, some work as many as 80 hours per week caring for a parent in addition to their full time job – often with no respite or break.  That’s a recipe for a physical breakdown over time.  The combination of unplanned and unexpected caregiving expenses, less money for personal or retirement plans, and the impact at the workplace, if not addressed in the very near future may be the combination that crushes the financial future of many boomers.

The solution:  There is no easy solution, but you can help yourself if you plan early, are conservative in your spending, invest in a long term care insurance policy, save as much as money now as you can, and finally, don’t count on the government to save you – it looks like you’re going to be on your own for this challenge.

Ron Kauffman is a Certified Senior Advisor, and an expert on issues of aging and care giving.  He is the author of Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s Disease, which is available at www.seniorlifestyles.net.He can be reached at 561-626-4481 or by email at drron407@bellsouth.net.