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I take care of my 93 year old mom in her home where I’ve lived for more than ten years. I don't receive any pay but I get free room and board.


I don’t have any medical experience but I think I earn my keep managing her affairs and health needs.


I was a stay-at-home mom for most of my children’s young lives so I can’t say I have my ducks in a row for my future.


Being alone wasn’t in the plan back when we were making decisions regarding our kids, to the extent that I can’t claim my husband’s social security benefits for five more years, until he reaches retirement age.


I am 66. My kids informed me not to expect them to care for me, long before I began to think about it. Fortunately, my mom has most all her mental faculties and hopefully I will, too.


I wonder if there will be better options for living arrangements for us in the not too far away future, than there is today.

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Assisted living facilities are big business! I was listening to a fantastic article on public radio about it. It’s a business, plain and simple. It’s for profit!
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Sorry you all, I’m just volunteering and misplaced my frustration with those I was doing my best to help. It’s a bit of a mess when dealing with people newly arrived to America. Well, the US. After doing it for a week I chose to drink wine and yes, it helped me forget enough to sleep peacefully again.

I’ll continue to help others but please understand that both immigrants and elders can be difficult. No matter what we offer people or how generous we think it is, people lived doing things their own way and want to continue doing so. I get it, I like the way I organize my kitchen cabinets and live in my home and on and on. I want to do it my way just as everyone else does 😊🙏
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There was a Silver Nest home in Kings Mills OH (northern Cincinnati), nice neighborhood. Everyone was credit checked, criminal background checks and had several meetings before they moved in together. They lasted three weeks. All were women who had had their own homes. All four women agreed it was a total disaster. Everyone should remember tThe Golden Girls was a TV sitcom, not real life. I can’t see it working out for very many people.
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anonymous896861 Aug 2019
Oh wow we had a two similar situations in Florida when I was in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas. And it was funded! 🤦🏼‍♀️

It wasn’t through SilverNest, but wow! These were women that could not, would not live with other women no matter how difficult their situation was.

Oh well, I haven’t given up and hope to see something that works 🙂
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I think there will be facilities available. Whether or not they will be affordable is another issue. Everyone should be focusing on saving for retirement. But many people don’t want to do that or won’t make budget concessions now to save for later. I can’t remember who said but I agree we need to hold our retirement funds hostage.
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freqflyer Aug 2019
Yep, I am holding my retirement funds hostage. The sticker shock when my parents needed help with their care. My gosh, my Dad was paying $20k per month, yes per month, to have 3 shifts of caregivers at his house. Then Dad sold his house and moved to senior living where the cost was between $5k-$7k which was less costly compared to 3-shifts of caregivers.

One thing I noticed, Dad was happier with the caregivers who were in their 40's and 50's as they were able to hold a conversation. Luckily he had two such wonderful caregivers who were there for him for over a year. The younger caregivers had lost their ability to converse due to being glued to their cellphones. That isn't a good sign of things to come.

In my area, I have a choice of many independent living place, lots of assisted livings, but not many nursing homes. The buildings will be there, but will there be enough employees to help out? Will there be enough people from around the world willing to jump through all the red tape to be part of the U.S. society, and to work these jobs?
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I won't get into it here, but I honestly don't think we're going to have to worry about it too far into the future. Beyond that, robots could be a very real and convenient possibility. There are great strides being made on that end. Look at all the AI stuff going on which is not necessarily a good thing. Unless we do get a socialized model of long term care, I don't know if it will ever be affordable unfortunately. As far as me, I've told my family once it gets to the point where I am no longer useful and just taking up space put me down like a horse or grab the nearest pillow. ;)
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Sweetstuff Aug 2019
I’m with you on this one. Put me with the horses. I won’t be seeing any long term care facility. No thank you.
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https://youtu.be/-DC2rpibCPA
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Geaton, I get what you’re saying but no. I speak with these immigrants daily.. try to. There are so many Mayan languages and they speak no Spanish or English. None. They might hear it in the marketplace but they don’t speak it. In Florida you will soon only have the option of being wealthy enough to pay for caregivers that will take care of you willingly due to the income you provide or you’ll move elsewhere. This is no secret, Ms Mathew was brought in to slash Medicaid but is not able to do so until after the next election. Most of us here have known this for years.. nothing new.

Every day I hear how adverse these immigrants are to providing personal care to you, me! or our loved ones. Lately I’ve listened to hundreds of Venezuelans insist they will never be that desperate that they’ll wipe some old white person’s wrinkly old *ss in order to live in this country. They’d rather wash cars, clean floors, pick berries, deliver pizzas and so on.

They don’t have nursing homes all over and do not get why we do. They see North America, the UK.. and Australia? (Only been there once so I have no opinion) and don’t understand why we’d not provide for our our parents, family, friends that they’d need to live away from us. It’s really just different. So different.
Next week I’ll travel and will hopefully have more positive things to share but right now it’s a bit of a mess.
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Geaton777 Aug 2019
In my MIL's facility many of the staff are west Africans. These jobs provide much better stability and income. As for those who "insist they will never be that desperate that they’ll wipe some old white person’s wrinkly old *ss in order to live in this country. They’d rather wash cars, clean floors, pick berries, deliver pizzas" then that makes them racists and shame on them and they shouldn't take up the space of some other visionary and hard-working Future American immigrant. Sorry, but people from the current countries fighting to get in are socialist ones and these people cannot imagine being able to carve out their own success. Success here still requires hard work and risk but the beauty of American is that it provides opportunities for success found no where else and almost anyone willing to work hard can achieve it. So says this granddaughter of Italian immigrants who came here with nothing, not even an education, and produced 8 successful, healthy children, 3 of whom are millionaires. They did plenty of menial jobs to get where they are. There are so many higher-paying jobs and opportunities right now, it's a great time for those who don't want to or can't afford to go to college to get ahead without going into debt. I have both going on in my own immediate family.
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From what I am seeing out there I think we may be seeing the last generation willing to do any caring in the home. I think affordable is the word here. I expect that in a future (I will not live to see) we will have a much more socialized medical system because we will HAVE to have it. It is not affordable today, and it will only be worse in the future. I can't even imagine, but our parents couldn't imagine the future we live in today, either.
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Isthisrealyreal Aug 2019
Alva, we already have socialized health care, no one wants to call it that but that's exactly what obama shoved down our throats.
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I think it's a good thing to know now that your kids are not willing to help, outside of any judgment about that decision. I'm 60 and manage care for 4 relatives between the ages of 85 to 100. They all "expected" family members to take care of them. This is an old-world model that is currently failing for many.

Regarding the future: there are so many advances in medicine and technology in a year that I don't think it's a productive exercise to think about "what might be". They may come up with a cure for dementia, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, etc. and become so good at replacing body parts, we just can't imagine right now. I'm connected to the med-tech industry and can assure you lots is going on.

The biggest issue now and maybe into the near future is the supply and demand of inexpensive physical labor. Birthrates have dropped, younger generations do not want to do that "icky" work at any price. For right now the govt needs to fix the immigration policy so that low-wage workers can legally come in and fulfill their dreams of pursuing happiness, and others can get the affordable care they need.
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I am questioning the advice to bring in immigrants in order to fill the gap, why is it supposed to be okay to offer low pay and treat employees like crap as long as they are desperate enough to take it? When did the role of nursing - true hands on caring for people and not highly advanced trauma or surgical care - become such a disdained and undervalued occupation?
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jacobsonbob Aug 2019
Perhaps there will be a country where care is affordable and people from the US can move there to receive care. For countries that lack enough jobs for their population, this might be a situation in which jobs are provided by caring for elderly Americans at less cost than in the US. I'm single and without children, so I wouldn't mind moving overseas.
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What to do with all the elders as the Baby Boomers continue to age is a huge impending crisis. Free college for all! Forgiveness of federal student loan debt! are getting far more media attention (and congressional interest) than the impending elder crisis.
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Around the table one night, I asked Hubs & teens what to do when Dad & I can't cut our own toenails anymore... or need loads of care. Ha! Hubs has magical thinking that foreign handmaids will appear to meet his needs (& obviously cash to pay them). Daughter says that's our problem & plans to move... very very far away. Son is studying physics & hopes to study engineering too. He said robots will do it.

So that's our plan. Robots. Programmed to cut toenails, plus drink service for Friday happy hour :)
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earlybird Aug 2019
Hello Beatty, I found your post very interesting. Robots might be the answer for us in the near future. In my research, I believe there will be the future of robots paving the way for an easier life, such as driving, cleaning our houses cutting our lawns and so many other tasks. My robot will be named Rosie.
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I have installed a good bit of aging related features in both of my houses. Lowered counters to wheelchair height, stair lift stems on staircases, walk-in bathtubs, walk-in showers with shower benches. Extra large size to accommodate lift or other bath aids, heavy duty hand grips in showers and tugs, height adjustable shower heads. Hope to age in place. Long term budgeting for in-home help.
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earlybird Aug 2019
Good for you, Becky. I am doing the same.
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I envision groups of friends getting together and moving into one large house together, sharing expenses, helping each other through illness (and death) and perhaps sharing the cost of an in-house nurse to assist everyone in the home who needs assistance. I do not plan on my children helping me at all in old age even though I watched over my Mother since my dad died when I was 19 years old and until Mom died when I was 51. Most of my friends remained single and have no children. I think we are all going to have to stick together and help each other when we are old and failing. Retirement communities and assisted living are way too expensive for most of us.
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CharK60 Aug 2019
The part about community living sounds great! What a wonderful idea!

I'm sorry to hear how long you ended up taking care of your mother, and yet you lost her at such a young age.

Please accept my sympathies.
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68 year old Boomer here......and the short answer is a resounding "NO". Unless Congress comes up with a plan that began yesterday we will be in dire straights.
Medicare is a godsend to most (as long as you have the finances to support it), but those with no resources have Medicaid to foot the bill which government pays for exclusively. Not always the best of care. We could stop with removing the tax cap so everyone at all income levels would be contributing which would add a substantial boost....but that's just for starters. Seems government is sleeping at the wheel when it comes to long term planning. As for me, my plans are to move into a retirement manufactured home park because of the affordability and leaves me with remaining assets to simply enjoy life. Don't want my kids to have the burden of taking care of me....I will spend down my money and then check out. We'll see how that goes : )
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CharK60 Aug 2019
Good plan on both issues!

My oldest daughter intends for me to get a mobile home with funds from my mothers house.
I”m not at all confident that there will be any inheritance and I’m not building any backup for myself while caring for her these last twelve years, so I have no idea what I’ll do.
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There will be paid options, perhaps even more costly than now.  Whether or not the level of care will remain the same, deteriorate, or get better may probably depend on how many people can actually afford the expensive facilities.

I noticed something interesting a few weeks ago when I was checking out companies.   I don't know if this is a trend or not, but suspect it might be, or may become so.

I discovered that one nationwide home care agency is owned by an LLC, which also owns another company in the general geriatric medical and care field.   This could make more cash available for purchasing home care and related companies, creating more competition.    But the LLC ownership obviously means that the individual partners are looking for returns, now and in the future. 

What I think really needs to happen is more focus on caring at home, with funds allocated for retrofitting homes which may have been designed for much younger occupants.    And that depends a lot on who's elected, whether or not a strong consumer lobby can successfully lobby Congress, and whether or not the institutional lobby will out maneuver the citizen lobby.

Another focus that needs to be strengthened is the family and extended community one, to help support aging in place.   There's a vast difference between the senior centers in this area.  A few are outstanding.  In my father's community the SC had a registered dietician and social worker on staff, plus two small buses for transportation.    My community finally got a bus last year, but only for 3 hours per day.

The kind of system libraries have, facilitating  lending of books to other  libraries, would be helpful.   And the less experienced senior centers could learn from the more experienced ones.

AARP considers itself an advocate for improved issues of senior living.    The field could use more advocates, but those focused sincerely on potential patients as opposed to increasing their share of the market.

What I would, and plan to do, is start retrofitting to adapt to age limitations.   I'm using bookcases to store canned goods which used to be stored in the basement so I don't have to go up and down to get food.    I'm planning (emphasize "planning"!) to downsize to eliminate the amount of "stuff" to clean.   

Later this year I'm going to have the electrical system upgraded to add more outlets so I have some on each side of the rooms, to eliminate connecting cords and potential trip hazards. 

In a rather unpleasant task, I'm pulling up all the carpeting to eliminate vacuuming and dust.     

These are just for starters.
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TNtechie Jul 2019
GA, when you're adding outlets, consider adding an outlet half way up the wall behind a couple of doors too. Behind a door outlet works really well for an unblocked outlet to plug in a vacuum or steam mop; half way up the wall means you don't even need to bend over.
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Unfortunately, I don’t see it. Not in the next 20 years. If the elderly can’t contribute to the economy in a capitalistic society they become a liability.
They no longer move the economy forward. Baby boomers born in the early 60s will still need an excess amount of $ spent to prolong their lives... very few willingly die once they’ve outlived their ability to contribute to the economy.

Survival instinct kicking in? Selfishness? Who knows.. Might be that survival of the species, community, family.. just isn’t their priority anymore.

Sad, isn’t it? Passing away/death used to be seen as natural. Good. They live their life well and hope the coming generations have the opportunity to do so also.. They give their lives up in order that others can survive and thrive.

So, after those last boomers die? Hopefully the younger generations will come to the conclusion that this isn’t working and will make some changes.
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CharK60 Aug 2019
Oh man, you sound like we’re doomed to “Soylent Green” type of world structure. If only they could cure Alzheimer’s we could have better quality of life while living so long.
THAT is the issue isn’t it? That we live so long that our bodies give out and make us useless even to ourselves...
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This thread has diverged into two topics.

Here in Canada Medical Assistance In Dying MAiD is a legal option. I know of two people who have chosen that route. There is no pressure by doctors and the patient cannot have dementia. There is controversy regarding the no dementia clause as many feel that if a person states in writing and has the document, witnessed, when they are ok that if they get dementia they want the option to die it should be allowed.

The option of refusing treatment has always been with us. A friend’s Dad chose to stop dialysis when he got bone cancer. He slipped into a coma and died 3 days later.

I like the Dutch combination of nursery school and nursing home. I hope when I need nursing care that is an option locally.

I am either at the very tail end of the Baby Boom or the beginning of the next group. If I live as long as my parents, I expect nursing homes to have lots of vacancies.
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CharK60 Aug 2019
I wasn’t aware of that practice but even to those it sounds like an option for, I don’t see many agreeing to sign out voluntarily.
Further, I can see families objecting to it for their loved ones. “Anybody but mine” I can see being an issue.
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There will be jobs managing all the healthcare the elders need.

There are mild versions of death panels now, I agree. For instance, there is rationing for organ donation recipients.

I read and see so much healthcare/surgeries/treatments, etc. for elders who really have no quality of life. That can't continue.
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CharK60 Aug 2019
Don’t they also limit organ donations to people who abuse their bodies like alcoholics and drug addicts. I think it’s reasonable to give organs to folks who will use them awhile since there’s only limited supply.
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Some countries are doing it right. Japan for example. There a private nursing home is $25,000/year. Japan has a economy on the same level as ours. It's a matter of values. They value the elderly. In the US, the elderly are disposable.
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I believe so, however, in my area I project AL in a decent place will be 11-12K a month and very few will be able to afford this,
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No, if it isn't revamped it won't be available.

The government needs to put regulations in place for facilities that can be enforced or they don't get paid. Being a for profit business will always keep the standards low and prices high.

I think that those of us that have dealt with our parents will figure out how to live with quality and not have to spend upwards of 10k per person monthly.
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CharK60 Aug 2019
Oh boy, I hope you’re right.
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I wonder about this, too. I am in the middle of the baby boomers.

Sometimes I think that there will surely be a death panel, because there will just be too many of us aging baby boomers to maintain the system.

But a Gen X'r who works in our office tells me no to that, because the aging Boomers will present such an opportunity for jobs and money!
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CharK60 Jul 2019
Sorry, but I don’t get it...

In the first place: what jobs? Computers are doing all the work now and don’t require health insurance or sick days.

In the second: what money? I haven’t even contributed to my social security for years, but they say there won’t even be any of that left.
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I'm at the tail end of the baby boom and I've always joked that by the time I need to go into AL and long term care the system will either be amazingly good or broken irrevocably.
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CharK60 Jul 2019
Thanks for responding but somehow I don’t feel less worried. Not your fault, I know...
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