PenPenWrites

Here we are again: Looking at an issue we’d probably rather not think about. When it comes to our retirement savings and other accumulations of worldly goods, it’s no longer a given that, once we pass on, our kids and grandkids will be awash in newfound wealth or a modicum of cash. Unless we’re fabulously wealthy, there may not be much of our worldly goods left for them. Left, that is, after we age gracefully or not so gracefully out of this world,

I’ve written a post here on the underlying falsity in headlines that forecast $68 trillion to $84 trillion in money and assets changing hands over the next two decades. That transfer does not account for the high cost of care as we age into less healthy bodies and minds. I feel like the canary in the coal mine–having faced down my share of “caregiving” costs for my spouse (but not yet for me)–and now I’m joined by the Washington Post, which ran this story

As the cost of aging soars, families’ wealth is evaporating

• Growing old is eroding the inheritance Americans hoped to leave behind
• Many will have nothing to pass on.

The Post findings are based on an analysis of the finances of thousands of seniors in the last decade of their lives. Using data from the federally funded Health and Retirement Study, the analysts found

• For many families, the cost of care eats away much of what they had hoped to pass on.
• Within a growing segment, elder care costs are not just diminishing their savings, but obliterating them.
• The latter is even worse news for our adult kids. They may end up spending their own savings to cover our care.

The major factors the Post lists for creating the proverbial perfect storm of loss include: .

• We’re living longer. “Medical advances have made it possible to successfully manage many chronic diseases. But that has people paying for more years of care than in the past.”
• Care has gotten increasingly expensive. “The costs of senior living facilities have soared. The median assisted-living rate increased 44 percent in five years, according to the CareScout surveys, nearly double the rate of inflation.
• Demand exceeds supply. “The sheer size of the baby boomer generation is increasing the demand for resources and contributing to rising labor costs and, in turn, the price tag of long-term care.
• ICE isn’t helping. Neither are low rates of pay. There is “a growing caregiver shortage across health care.

Not the kind of summer reading we’d like to linger over in our lounge chairs.

I’d love to end this post with a “Here’s What You Can Do About It” advisory. Yes, upping the savings can help, but there are limits. There is no way of knowing how much we’ll need. Or, as the Post story puts it, there is an inherent uncertainty in how much is enough.

• Will someone die of a heart attack at age 75? Or will they need 10 years of the most intensive and expensive care?
• Nearly 1 in 5 people will require high-intensity care for more than three years, according to 2025 research from Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research.

I’m going to close this post and get back to reading The Director by Daniel Kehlman. It may be grim but it’s more diverting than checking on my nest egg.

Painting: Arshile Gorky, “Gorky and His Mother”