Gen Xers und Millennials sind nicht bereit für die Langzeitpflegekrise, mit denen ihre Boomer-Eltern ausgesetzt sind
https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-xers-burdened-long-term-care-costs-for-boomers-2025-1?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-futurology-sub-post
38 Kommentare
***From Business Insider’s Eliza Relman and Jennifer Sor***:
As the population of older Americans balloons, the financial costs associated with aging are, too.
Many millennials and [Gen Xers](https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-x-retirement-savings-crisis-401k-kids-parents-work-caregiving-2024-12) are facing a stark reality: their parents and grandparents [don’t have the means](https://www.businessinsider.com/older-homeowners-at-risk-of-homelessness-retirement-2025-1) to pay for long-term care — and they’ll need to help foot the bill, especially since government aid often doesn’t cover large parts of this care.
Many younger people end up leaving their jobs or working less in order to care for their aging family members — and that sacrifice can hurt them financially both today and in the future, including by shrinking their income and [Social Security benefits](https://www.businessinsider.com/social-security-medicaid-snap-benefits-income-reliance-increases-aging-population-2024-11), experts say.
„The bigger issue is you can create almost a cycle of poverty,“ Marc Cohen, a professor of gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, told Business Insider. „It’s not something that just sticks with one generation. The costs are borne communally.“
Much like other forms of care — from emergency rooms to daycares — the labor and facilities needed for long-term care don’t come cheap. A shortage of long-term care workers, coupled with inflation, has [sent prices up in recent years](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/health/long-term-care-facilities-costs.html). As the oldest members of the baby boomer generation near 80, the demand for these services is expected to rise sharply — putting upward pressure on costs.
[Read more](https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-xers-burdened-long-term-care-costs-for-boomers-2025-1?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-futurology-sub-post).
Who said we planned on helping our boomer parents in the first place?
I’m perfectly ready.
Not. My. Problem.
I’m perfectly fine not having an inheritance because assisted living took everything. My life is complex enough with my own immediate family without having to juggle people halfway across the country. Not putting myself in a position to resent them the same way they resented their parents in turn.
I’m ready.
Parents were smart with their money and have lots of savings. I’m lucky that they’re nice people and so we have an Inlaw suite in the basement.
We’ll be fine. Also I’m in Canada so I’m not going to get destroyed by the us healthcare system.
I stopped talking to my mom once she started babbling about 9/11 conspiracies and politicians summoning hurricanes like wizards. I don’t need that crap in my life, shit is silly enough right now. It also doesn’t bother me that she said she’d rather walk off into the woods then be in an old folks home. So hopefully things will take care of themselves.
Mom worked as a VA nurse her whole career.. pension and lifetime good healthcare insurance for her and my dad. Happy for them and that I don’t have to worry.. also sad for myself because I am also a nurse and will never see benefits like that in my career.
Sounds like what one could fairly call a „self-resolving problem“…
My parents took care of a friend for years that was dying of cancer because his parents and siblings refused to. So he left my folks everything. His family didn’t realize he had millions in savings due to savvy investments and were super mad. Luckily my folks will be ok in long term care.
Went no contact years ago. Absolutely zero sympathy from me.
Frankly hope it’s long and painful, so they have time to think about the consequences to their behaviour.
I laughed at the headline knowing exactly what the comment section would contain.
I know we’re broke, but I think most of us can afford a single pillow.
My mom bought her own small farm a few years ago and is in incredible shape. She gets fresh eggs daily, spends at least an hour every day moving around and feeding animals, and at least another hour walking her dogs around the property, and she can move a 50lb bale of hay with more ease than the vast majority of people her age. When she used to live in the city, I was worried. Now, I’m more worried about her straining her shoulder.
Lol baby boomers about to realize that fucking the economy up after them isn’t going to work out so well.
Yep, dealing with it now . My boomer parent’s MAGA cultism doesn’t help either when they vote against their own fucking interests.
Not my problem. They didn’t take care of me when I was a kid and they voted their whole lives for the policies that have been hurting me and are hurting them now. I’m sure they’ve got some bootstraps to pull themselves up by.
Hope it doesn’t happen, but I have an extra bedroom if needed
I follow the golden rule, and its inverse, treat others how you wish to be treated, and thus treat those who treat you with indifference or worse with indifference, since that is obviously how they wish to be treated since they have done that to you, its only fair. The generation told us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (a saying meant to describe a literal impossible task) should do the same when they are in need. i hope they get as much support from thier children as they showed them.
My parents divorced and both married younger people. My father has already passed away. My step-father still skis while my mom hit 80 and is slowing down big time. I see my friends dealing with a lot more than I had to and I know I got lucky. I think in a way it’s the time more than the money. So many end of life care decisions, so many forms, so much paperwork. So much legal work. It’s a full time job.
Im use to having nothing, so prob makes no difference to me.
GenX has been surviving in the wild for a long time, we will weather this too. Not sure about everyone else though
This GenXer is not convinced the planet is going to make it 30 more years so I’m living like there is no tomorrow
Unlucky for me my parents abandoned and totally neglected me. Lucky for me I don’t feel bad about doing nothing and the bare minimum.
My dad died unexpectedly last year. I moved back in with my mom (58) partially to help with my brother (26 & on the spectrum). I’m already gearing up.
As everyone is chiming in with how good or bad their parents are, we’re forgetting the extraction mindset that got us here. Get every penny out of everyone so they die with nothing. Or they can put the next generations on the hook for it. Soon we’ll be indebted for several generations that don’t yet exist.
Remember, people who live in the United States – check your local laws and the local laws of the state the people who may be claimed as your parents reside.
Keep a trail of evidence of exactly how few fucks you give about these people if you have gone no contact. Some states have tried implementing laws to make the “children” of these people financially responsible for their care.
Keep records if you have cut them off or vice versa, especially if abuse was involved. Don’t let them fuck you over again.
When I’m too old to take care of myself, I don’t want to burden anyone unless it’s a nurse or a robot. And if no one takes care of me, that’s fine too. At that point I would be ready to leave this world behind
There is a known exponential curve of expenses to cover the last two to three months for anyone who enters a hospital. Even with Medicare, it can cost upwards of $50k to $75k, and Medicare does not cover long-term care.
The boomers are not done leaving us all a giant bill on their way out. We’ll collectively spend over $50 TRILLION to pay for their retirement benefits and medical expenses.
Good. Fuck em I say. They ruined everything they didn’t take. I hope they get everything they deserve coming for them.
I’m in the middle of it right now. Seeing the long term care system up close my only goal for the rest of my life is trying to ensure I have my own exit strategy. Legal or otherwise.
These comments are rough. I’m glad my dad gave a shit about me so I can consider helping him in the future. I’m „retired“ at 43yo, so that I can live on my sailboat while I still have the physical ability to do all the things I need to do to sail.
At some point I will move back to my hometown where I have our family home for rent currently. Dad has a big dumb house that will get sold to downsize him into something more manageable, or we can rent out part of his house and grow gardens on his land.
Either way, I will likely help take care of my dad any way that I can because he made sure I had food and a place to live for 18 years of my life.
That large transfer of wealth from the boomers will end up in the hands of the long term care industry.
This is the real transfer of wealth. It’s not going to GenX or GenY.
I’m 38 years old with a 79 year old stroke victim mom.
She fell and broke her shoulder 3 years ago, the family decided for her to live closer to her daughter (me), she does not have a good relationship with her son, he helps out when he can but he lives 300 miles away.
She has told me my ENTIRE LIFE that when it’s time to put her in a home, to take her to the VA (she’s a veteran). Lo and behold, she does not qualify. She is 50% service connected, but apparently there is a „hard line“ to get into the VA’s assisted living…you have to be 70% service connected. Guess how much she saved for retirement when she was banking on this…
Before that, I wanted her in assisted living, we compromised on independent living. Six months later she falls again, and now has to go into assisted living. Her care was $5,200 a month, not including her diapers and spending money. She then had a stroke. Her care ballooned to $11,300 a month.
I could write a book about her abysmal care. She was never bathed, sat in a puddle of her urine most days, did not have good food, and the activities were barely there.
She now lives with me. She cannot even wipe her own ass because of the stroke. She can barely walk. This is going to happen to SO many people in my cohort it hurts my heart. I’m in a position where I can look after her. I know way to many people who are not as fortunate as me…I have a coworker who is 21 who is trying to take care of her 60 year old father who also just had a stroke…SHE’S 21!! FFS!! And he did it to himself with all the drugs and alcohol he abused.
The kicker? There are not going to be enough assisted livings or caregivers when the majority of boomers finally need the care. My mom is the oldest of all the boomers…get ready, y’all.
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. If anyone needs any advice, just ask, let’s be here for each other. 🙂
JFC this comments section is dire. Does anyone here actually like their parents?
No shit, many of us are still raising our own kids and the younger millennials have gotten screwed.
My in-laws moved in with us 2 years ago, had to spend a boatload of money building an addition. My mom died earlier this year and if SS gets reduced my dad will have to sell his house and move in too.
I’m thankful that we have a very solid income but its stressful having to help out boomers while trying to raise and support your own children.
America needs a better social welfare system. People need access to health care, homes, and food. The ‚fuck you, I got mine‘ mentality is destroying us as a culture and killing us as a people.
Boomsday is coming. im already there with one parent. It will strain everything in your life. if your home, marriage or work isn’t secure you will probably loose it.
I’m hoping my mom does like her mom did. Dad died at 69 just like grandpa, grandma died at 89 after 20 years of living her own life independently. She caught pneumonia and wouldn’t let them intubate her at the ER, 3 hours later she was gone. She left just enough behind to pay for dealing with her affairs. I helped my aunt and uncle get into her online accounts, so I got a good look at her financial picture. I’ve wondered since then if the fact that she was down to the last $5K in the bank factored into her decision to not let them intubate her.
Yes we are. A large number of us don’t have a relationship with our parents. That’s that sorted.