Priorities for Adult Children of The Baby Boomer Generation

Priorities for Adult Children of The Baby Boomer Generation So what's first on our list? Retirement savings? Preparing for our children to go to college, or maybe looking into the best private schools for K-12? Career advancement? That's all very important stuff and certainly cannot be discounted as less than deserving of our immediate attention, but what about that impending, life altering topic just on the horizon? What have you done to prepare for your parents inevitable decline in health and their ability to live, commute, shop, feed and ultimately make decisions for themselves? It's coming, it will change your life, and if unprepared and uninformed, those plans you have made for your family and future will be greatly affected. No need to panic. Accommodating our parents as seniors, like adapting to having children or relocating for a new job is something we can, with some research and a plan, take on as an experience that enriches our lives. At Pacifica Medical our opinion is that the subject of caring for our aging parents is not a topic that gets the attention it deserves. Consider that each day for the next decade 10,000 Americans will become Senior Citizens. And so it follows that each day for the next decade about 22,000 of us will become adult children of senior citizens. Looking at those eye-popping statistics one would assume that managing or helping our parents, planning for the financial impact, the care they may need, the emotional aspect of getting old and how we may be better prepared to integrate those changes would be a prescient topic. So why aren't we talking about it? We get that senior care is not a "sexy" subject and of course any such discussion treads on the very sensitive topic of death, but it's time to get real, be smart and take responsibility. This is our lives we are talking about and the weight and work that comes with caring for elderly parents is very real and undeniably on it's way. Consider that if you have children under the age of ten the responsibility of being very involved in your parent's care will arrive at about the time your anticipating your kids will enter college. Convinced yet? Good. So here's what we at Pacifica Medical suggest as a starting point: 1. Understand Medicare and any supplemental insurance your parents may have. 2. If you have siblings, sit down with them and have at least a preliminary discussion about your parents care, and what duties and responsibilities will be managed by each of you. 3. Talk to your parents about their finances. Be sure to include any siblings in this discussion too. 4. Ask your parents what they want as they age and become less independent. 5. Meet your parents doctors now. Do not wait for something to go wrong before meeting those that will manage their health. 6. Know your options for the long term care of your parents, and the associated cost. If you know the tuition cost of your son's top five colleges but have no idea what it costs to hire a caregiver it's time to do your homework. If you can complete our suggested top six within a year you should be just about on track if your parents are young seniors. If your parents are over 70 it's time to get to work with the goal of taking the above outlined starting point to the next logical level. Have a financial plan in place, an advanced directive, settle sibling responsibilities, and know whats next in case there is a significant decline in the health of your parent or parents. It also may be time to meet with a geriatric or senior care specialist. If your parents are living at home and want to remain there a company like ours can provide full service in-home geriatric medical or companion care with total management of their physical and emotional care including coordinating physician visits, orders and medication. It is expensive this type of top shelf care, but of course you did your homework -so you already knew that.