If you are a member of the sandwich generation, you already know that caring for a growing family as well as aging parents who need increasingly expensive care is financially difficult. Paying for companion care in Escondido or elsewhere, transportation, equipment, and other services not covered under elderly parents’ Medicare or traditional health insurance plans can strain the finances of the adult children of aging parents.

Given this situation, there is always the real concern that after taking money from important retirement and college funds, the next generation will suffer in turn with additional financial pressures of their own. A helpful article* that appeared a while back on the website Businessweek.com offers useful tips to help sandwich generation members reduce the financial strain.

Insurance can provide funding for companion care costs

If they are managed intelligently, elderly parents’ insurance policies can cover a significant portion of their expenses as they age. Even companion care at home is usually included in some (but not all) long-term care insurance policies, and the earlier you buy a policy, the less expensive it is overall. These policies are a great way to make sure that unexpected  needs are already planned for and do not require an emergency withdrawal from other funds. In addition, a great policy could even give aging parents the ability to enjoy companion care in Escondido or elsewhere in their own home rather than move into a nursing home.  However, filing claims under long-term care insurance policies can be time-consuming and tricky, and you may want to work with agencies providing companion care in Escondido or elsewhere that are experienced at assisting with filing claims and working with the insurance companies.

Attend to legal planning long before you think you will need it

Taking care of  legal concerns like wills, conservatorshps, powers of attorney, and advance directives before there is a pressing need to do so saves a significant amount of money in the long run. Make sure that if a question about treatment arises, there is a clear set of criteria in place for a responsible family member to make decisions on behalf of parents who can not.  If an expensive piece of equipment is needed, deciding ahead of time what fund the costs will be paid from will eliminate the possibility of putting your own finances in danger.

Above all, make those decisions well in advance, and do it while the aging parent is clearly able to make their own decisions.  If you wait until after that, your legal challenges and expenses will escalate quickly when your aging parent is no longer mentally competent to make decisions for themselves.

Plan for your OWN future, too

Money experts advise that, even as you try to balance the costs of companion care, treatment, and other needs for elderly parents, it is critical to plan for your own future. If you spend all of your savings making your own parents comfortable during their final years, there will be no retirement fund left for you to draw from down the road, and your children will be forced to incur heavy college tuition debts. Make saving money a priority even when times are difficult, and both you and your children will reap the benefits of your foresight, and consider long-term care insurance for yourself and your spouse as well.

*Original article: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2006/pi20061016_372743.htm

Have you got sandwich on the brain? The Thanksgiving food coma has passed but there’s still turkey and ham to be dealt with…mmm, sandwich…. If that’s the kind of sandwich you’re thinking of, this is not the post for you right now — but it might apply to your life, so please come back. This post deals more with the prep-work needed for a family sandwich.

The Sandwich

If your search for sandwich ideas led you here, please don’t go away frustrated. Check out ideas for making your own sandwich rolls or bread from scratch; creative condiments , and ideas for sandwiches that won’t bore you. If “sandwich” was just your last resort, not your craving, also check out these ideas for making your leftovers into a new meal.

The Sandwich Generation

Please read on if you came for information on the family sandwich. If you have parents, children, and perhaps grandchildren in your life, you have the makings of a family sandwich. People who provide financial or physical (or both) care for their parents and for children or grandchildren are sometimes referred to as the Sandwich Generation.

The Signs

Perhaps right now you are only supporting your own children or grandchildren. Have you prepared for the possibility of being sandwiched?

• Have you reached the realization that your parents are no longer the forces of nature you remember?
• Are there dust bunnies in your parents’ home where you never expected to see any?
• Did your daughter spend Thanksgiving answering to your sister’s name?
• Have you made a plan for what comes next?

Preparing for the Sandwich

Picture the scene: You’re feeling like you could eat a little something and decide on a sandwich. You start at the fridge and pull out everything you need to make the perfect Dagwood. Then you go to the breadbox and…it’s empty. Somebody used the last slice and didn’t replace the loaf (maybe it was you). No bread, no sandwich…what now? Had you planned ahead you could be enjoying your meal right now instead of trying to figure out what to do.

Planning the Other Sandwich

You need to check the inventory of your fridge and pantry before you make a sandwich to eat. You need to check the inventory of your assets, liabilities, and resources before life makes you the middle of the sandwich. Before Mom calls and tells you that Dad fell and she needs help taking care of him, you need to know how to respond. What will be done? Who will do it? You need a plan.

Action Versus Reaction

It’s better to act than to react. Decisions made when life is calm are likely to be better thought out than those made in the middle of a crisis. Sit down with everyone involved and have an open, if difficult, discussion.

Some Things to Consider

• What do your parents want if they become incapacitated by accident or illness?
• Who will make decisions for your parents if they are unable to do so?
• Where will your parents live?
• Who will care for them?
• What kind of support (financial, physical, etc.) will each family member provide?

This is not a comprehensive list by any means. If you may soon find yourself caring for your children and your elderly parents, consider this list a starting point. If you are ready for more information this article covers information from the list and other legal and financial considerations in detail. If you are already in the sandwich, now might be a good time to work out any answers you don’t already have. It’s also a good time to help others in your situation.

What kinds of things do you know now that you wish you’d known starting out? What are you still unsure about?

Blogs by Members of the Sandwich Generation

Sandwiched – Musings and information from someone in the middle
Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna – “A blog about parenting, aging, aging parents, and being part of the Sandwich Generation”
SandwichINK.com – “Information and Encouragement for The Sandwich Generation and Other Multi-Generational Caregivers”

The “sandwich generation” is the generation of people currently faced with caring for both their children and their elderly parents. As baby boomers quickly become more needful of elder care in Leucadia and throughout the country in order to live safely and comfortably, their adult children, who often have children of their own, find themselves stretched very thin between their many caregiving responsibilities. A recent article written by Dr. Alexis Abramson, appearing on the news website The Huffington Post, explores an interesting dynamic of this situation: the effect of elder care on the jobs of caregivers.

The bottom line is that when an employee must balance his or her job with home responsibilities and the increasingly detailed care of an aging parent, productivity and effectiveness suffer. Many families find it difficult to afford elder care due to the expenses of raising children. Some statistics highlight this effect:

* A survey by MetLife found that work lost to caregiving responsibilities adds up to about $34 billion each year.
* In addition, time spent by employers accommodating employees’ needs to provide care cost another $800 million.
* Most adults who provide care to an aging parent spend at least 20 hours each week doing so–the equivalent of a second part-time job.
* Thirteen percent of those adults spend at least 40 hours each week providing care.

Obviously, this high level of caregiving has an impact on business and affects not only a company’s profit margin but, more importantly, the well-being of its employees. Some other statistics cited by Dr. Abramson indicate that a majority of employees providing care describe themselves as having poorer diets and exercise routines than before they began caring for elderly loved ones. Paying for caregiving can be expensive, as well; the estimated average cost of elder care for older adults is $5,500 per year per care recipient. Retirement funds, savings accounts, and other financial planning tools are all  affected by these expenses.

Fortunately, some companies have begun addressing these concerns by including elder care in their benefits packages. By assisting with medical costs and making it possible for workers to afford in-home care programs, they hope to take some of the burden off their employees and allow them to distribute their efforts more effectively. Hopefully, more businesses will follow this example, working with employees who have elderly parents as they seek to provide their aging parents with excellent elder care in Leucadia and elsewhere while fulfilling their responsibilities at work and at home.

Elder Law attorney Jim Sarlis writes about issues affecting the elderly in his blog at THE LAW OFFICE OF JIM D. SARLIS.  Recently he wrote a helpful article with tips on how to start conversations with your parents that you may feel awkward about.  Two examples from the article:

• Do you have enough health insurance?
• Do you think your physician is well-informed about the issues common to older patients?

For the complete article, see: Conversation-starters for aging parents

From the Sunday 4/3/11 edition of the North County Times

By PAMELA YIP – The Dallas Morning News | Posted: Sunday, April 3, 2011 12:00 am

DALLAS —- It’s a duty that many of us will eventually assume —- that of caregiver of an elderly loved one.

Apart from the emotional demands, there’s also a financial cost that caregivers must contend with —- and should prepare for in advance.

“You need to throw out the anchor before the storm hits, because once the storm hits, it’s too late,” said Brian Fant, a Dallas elder-law attorney. “What usually happens is people wait until they absolutely are forced into being a caregiver before they even consider what preparation would be helpful.”

There are 65.7 million caregivers, making up 29 percent of the U.S. adult population, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving. The numbers are expected to grow because of longer life expectancies.

Caregivers, on average, spend more than $5,500 per year in out-of-pocket expenses, said Sandra Timmerman, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Long-distance caregivers shell out more than $8,700 per year for incidentals such as transportation, food and supplies, she said.

As a result, more than half of those surveyed online in November by Caring.com, a caregiving website, are concerned about the impact of caregiving on their savings.

The demands of caregiving can also affect a caregiver’s plan for working and retirement.

“Many times, when the caregiving becomes more intense, the caregivers feel it’s better to go to part-time work or drop out of work altogether,” Timmerman said.

That’s what happened to Marilyn Herrin, who retired from her job in human resources in Virginia four years ago and returned to Texas to care for her mother, Mary, 96, and her brother, Bob, 74.

“I was not ready to retire, with this economy the way it is,” said Herrin, 68. But economics forced her to.

Before retiring, Herrin would usually come to Texas two times a year, but that eventually became three and four times.

“The costs were getting so cumbersome,” she said. “It was horrible. Physically, it was getting draining for me.”

Now, Herrin lives in Mesquite, Texas, on an annuity from a pension and Social Security benefits, and makes regular trips to care for her mother in Dallas and her brother in Garland.

Her mother, who has severe rheumatoid arthritis and macular degeneration, is in rehabilitation to strengthen her legs so she can return home. Her brother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is bipolar.

Experts advise that you think long and hard before retiring to become a caregiver.

“People have to think about it, because it cuts back their own lifetime wealth,” Timmerman said. “They would lose their wages that they’ve been building up and accumulating.”

Workers also lose their employer’s matching contribution to their 401(k), and “some leave before they’re even vested, and they don’t really think about the ramifications,” she said.

Have ‘the talk’

Talk to your parents about their current assets and income, debt and spending, the percentage of their assets that are liquid, and their plans for covering medical and long-term care needs.

Have this conversation while your parents are still healthy and able to handle their own affairs.

Try broaching the topic indirectly by talking about your own finances or those of someone you know.

You want your parents to understand that you’re doing this not out of greed, but out of concern and a desire to be prepared if something were to happen to them. You want to plan with them, so you need to know what financial resources they have that you could tap to meet their needs.

Estate planning

Make sure you have the proper estate planning documents prepared. Particularly important is the financial power of attorney that your parents would sign, giving you the power to handle their financial affairs if they become incapacitated.

“It doesn’t remove the parents’ right to make financial decisions,” Fant said. “It allows their children to come alongside of them and make financial decisions.”

Talk to your parents’ bank and see whether it has a specific form for financial power of attorney.

“Sometimes they will have their own form, but a bank is obligated to recognize the notarized power of attorney,” Fant said.

Know what’s covered

Know what Medicare and Medicaid will and won’t cover when it comes to caregiving.

Generally, Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care. It pays only for a medically necessary skilled nursing facility or home health care, if you meet certain conditions.

Most long-term care assists people with activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing and using the bathroom. Medicare doesn’t pay for this so-called custodial care.

Original article at: Caring for an elderly loved one can take a financial toll

After age 65, the chance your loved one will suffer a slip-and-fall accident rises dramatically. While there are steps you can take to reduce the risk that accidents will happen, it’s a good idea to have a back-up plan as well. The combination of in-home elder care and a quality medical alert device for those times when the caregiver is unavailable means even if your loved one suffers a fall, he or she won’t be alone.

When shopping for a medical alert device, there are some features you should consider. Any device you choose must be simple to use without the risk of accidental activation. For example, large, recessed buttons can be easily found even in the dark, but are unlikely to be pressed by mistake.

Some devices pull double-duty as medication reminders, so if your elderly parent or grandparent has trouble remembering to take his or her pills, this may be an important option.  Another consideration is how emergency personnel will gain access to the premises if they are needed. Some providers offer lock boxes that can safely house a key, accessible only with a pass code given to first responders at the time of the call.

Finally, make sure your relative is comfortable with and able to easily use any device you choose. Try to find a provider that offers personal delivery and set-up of your loved one’s device, so they can ensure a good fit for everyone involved.  There are a number of good providers to choose from, including the one that we have recommended for quite some time now, ResponseLink from Integricare in San Diego.

Over at www.senioradvice.com, there is a good article about planning for Medicaid, a Federal program that is known as “Medi-Cal” in California. The article contains a series of good suggestions about this topic and is well worth reading by any family, whether or not they are currently concerned with issues of planning for Senior Care.  Medi-Cal planning, when done well, takes a very long-term view and should begin as early as possible.

To read the article, go to:  When to Plan for Medi-Cal Coverage?

Had a “senior moment” lately? You know those times when you misplace your wallet or can’t remember where you parked the car? We all have them, but for an elderly loved one trying to maintain his or her independence, those moments can be especially frustrating. Luckily, technology has come to the rescue in the form of a cool tool called the Doro MemoryPlus 335 Wireless Object Locator.

This ingenious little tool consists of an easy-to-use, four-button remote, four wireless sensors, and a storage cradle. Simply attach one of the sensors to your relative’s most frequently misplaced object, and the next time it goes missing, the push of a button will start the attached sensor beeping so it can be easily found. The sensors come in three different configurations for a variety of uses, including a thin wallet-sized beeper, two with key-chain attachments, and one all-purpose lobster-claw clip. Best of all, it’s self-locating. If your loved one forgets to put the remote back in its cradle, the device emits a series of reminder beeps, so this is one remote that will never be lost.

This clever helper is perfect for those times when in-home care staff is unavailable, or when your elderly loved one just wants to feel a little more independent. Easy operation, excellent signal strength, and a variety of sensor styles make it easy to find nearly anything with just the touch of a button.

This year one in three seniors over the age of 65 will have a fall. More than two million will visit the emergency room after falling, and the possibility of a broken hip or a traumatic brain injury is very real. For those with elderly loved ones, it’s a pretty frightening picture, but the good news is that the frequency of slip and fall accidents can easily be reduced. The first line of defense? An attentive in-home caregiver.

Seniors and others suffer falls for a variety of reasons. Your loved one’s in-home caregiver will be on the lookout for common causes of slip-and-fall accidents like cluttered walkways and staircases, throw rugs, and missing hand rails in bathrooms. They can offer advice about proper storage of commonly used items so your family member never has to use a ladder or step-stool to reach a high cupboard. A professional geriatric care manager, working with an in-home caregiver, can also monitor prescriptions that might cause dizziness or drowsiness, which can make your relative more prone to a fall. Finally, an in-home caregiver is able to ovserve day-to-day changes in your loved one’s balance and eyesight and other changes in condition, ensuring quick medical intervention should a serious concern arise.

By working with an in-home caregiver to carefully watch over your family member’s health and surroundings, you can reduce the risk of a dangerous fall, and help your loved one enjoy a good quality of life for many years to come.

As humans, we have a unique ability to both accept our mortality and deny it. For those who care for the elderly, this presents a challenge. How do you ensure that your loved one’s wishes regarding hospice care and other important matters are carried out, when it’s so difficult to begin the conversation?

The last thing you want is for a sudden illness to rob your elderly relative of the opportunity to make his or her own decisions, and the only way to avoid that is to begin discussing options early, preferably while your loved one is still healthy and active. A good way to approach the subject is by examining the difficulties other family members or friends are having. For example, if an older sibling of your relative failed to designate a durable power of attorney before becoming incapacitated, you might talk about the challenges faced by his or her caregivers, and how planning ahead would have been easier for everyone involved.

Keep in mind, though, that decisions about end of life and hospice care can’t be made during a one-time conversation. The discussion will most likely be ongoing, and will cover many more topics than we’ve outlined here. A professional geriatric care manager can help facilitate conversations like this and will know what you need to talk about and how to prepare for the future.  The most important thing is to begin talking about the issues now, before there is an emergency. As hard as it is today, imagine how much more difficult it will be after your loved one becomes ill.