Considerations before changing your life to become a caregiver:

• Evidence shows caregivers experience considerable health issues as a result of their focus on caring for others
• Think twice about leaving your job to provide care as it will impact your lifetime wealth and future employment prospects.
• Check with your employer to determine what benefits are offered, and how you would replace them, should you curtail your employment.
• Take stock of what you have and your expenses for caregiving.
• Look into public benefits.
• Become knowledgeable about the government programs: Medicare and Medicaid.
• Calculate what it would cost to keep your loved one at home.
• Consider enlisting the services of a Geriatric Care Manager.
• Be aware of possible elder financial abuse and take precautions.
• Discuss your loved one’s legal, financial, and medical  wishes.
• Create a budget for yourself, for your future retirement expenses
• A good starting point: Consider what portion of your income you’ll need to maintain your current lifestyle after retirement — experts typically place it at about 80% of current income as a starting point. Factor in unexpected costs such as health care and inflation.

10 Statistics on Caregivers:

Did you know?

1. The proportion of adult children providing personal care and/or financial assistance to a parent has more than tripled over the past 15 years.
2. Almost 40% of all U.S. workers are more involved with caring for a parent than a child.
3. Studies estimate 2 out of 3 informal caregivers are women, many of whom are middle-aged mothers with children or adult children living in their households
4. Today, the average American woman can expect to spend 18 years caring for an older family member, compared to 17 for her children.
5. In 2014, the 15.7 million family and other unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias provided an estimated 17.9 billion hours of unpaid care.
6. This number represents an average of:
   21.9 hours of care per caregiver per week, or
   1,139 hours of care per caregiver per year
7. 80% of care provided in the community is provided by unpaid caregivers (most often family members), while fewer than 10 percent of older adults receive all of their care from paid caregivers.
8. For women, the total cost impact of caregiving equals $324,044.
   For men, the average total impact equals $283,716.
9. These numbers reflect:
   Wages lost while not working — typically for about five years
   Lower wages after returning to the workforce with rusty skills.
10. When foregone pension and Social Security benefits are counted, the out-of-pocket losses roughly double