February 26, 2018

Some people may not anticipate being a caregiver in the future, but that’s something they need to check in with their parents about. Adult children are not always aware that their parents are planning to use them as a caregiver. A lack of long term care insurance and other assets that could be used to pay for critical health benefits in the future may mean that some parents are planning on their adult children to take care of them. Although parents often have unmet expectations of their children, this rarely comes up until the caregiving issue is in an emergency state. 

Parents who may be left with no one else to help them around the house or to bring them to doctor’s appointment can be a devastating situation for an adult child who is less able to save for their own future as they help pay for their parents’ future care. A study completed by Bay Alarm Medical shows that more than 55% of parents anticipate that their children will be the ones taking care of them, financially or physically, as they get older but most children did not agree with that notion or even know about it. In the Midwest, for example, only approximately one-third of adult children expected that they were responsible for caring for their aging parents.

Although participants in other regions of the United States were much more likely to say that they felt an obligation to take care of their aging parents, the ones most likely to step up for responsibility were the children who were closest with their parents. Many families avoid talking about this or other money related topics because it is an uncomfortable subject. However, it can also be an important one if you anticipate that your children will be the ones taking care of you.