We are facing a crisis in America, with many senior citizens outliving their retirement savings and then slip into dementia where family needs to step in and help them and/or pay for caregivers—which can be very expensive, The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story called “When Caring For Mom Costs Over $1 Million.” The story profiled Violet Carson, who had seen her husband pass away when he was 78. Her daughter told The Journal that the family thought Violet wouldn’t last much longer as she had Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body, dementia and was already on 24/7 care. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would last until she was 88,” said her daughter Teresa Wyche. The Carson Family spent more than $1.3 million taking care of Violet at home over more than a decade’s time. Thank God they could afford it—the median net worth of people 75 and older is $254,800, according to the Federal Reserve Bank. This truly is a crisis with seniors running out of money later in life just as their health and mental capacity begins to decline.
