Planning for Yourself While Caring for Someone with a Disability
Most of us have been on a plane and heard the preflight safety instructions that include some
version of the oxygen mask principle: Secure your own mask before assisting others.
Why do they emphasize this point? Because you cannot effectively help someone else if you
are struggling to breathe.
Millions of Americans may not realize that this situation is analogous to their role as a caregiver.
When you prioritize caring for somebody else, your own health, finances, and planning may
suffer. Over time, these stressors can lead to burnout. Emotionally and financially, you run out
of air; it feels like you are suffocating under the caregiving burden.
Applied to caregiving, the oxygen mask principle is a reminder that getting your own affairs in
order is not selfish but essential. Caring for yourself and planning for your future helps ensure
that you can continue to care for a loved one over the long term.
The Caregiver Crisis in America
With baby boomers entering retirement in record numbers and most wanting to age in place in
their homes, demand for long-term care at home is rapidly rising. Yet the supply of professional
caregivers has not kept pace, leaving many families without reliable support and placing
growing pressure on informal, unpaid family caregivers. This gap has contributed to America's
caregiver crisis.1
Approximately one in four US adults, or 60 million Americans, serve as unpaid family caregivers
for loved ones in the home, an increase of almost 50 percent since 2015.2
These caregivers provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of essential services every year,
often with little or no training, institutional support, or financial assistance. Many are
simultaneously working full time and raising children while managing the daily needs of aging
parents or disabled loved ones.
Caregiving responsibilities can quietly push personal goals aside, including retirement planning,
career advancement, and future financial security. It also takes place, often unheard and
unseen, behind closed doors and largely outside the formal healthcare system. But the value of
unpaid caregiving - estimated at roughly $1.1 trillion annually3 - exceeds all out-of-pocket
healthcare spending in the United States.
Here are some additional figures that put the family caregiver crisis in perspective:
- The average amount of time spent in an informal caregiver role is 24 hours per week,4 but
nearly one-quarter of caregivers provide more than 40 hours of care per week.5
- Caregivers spend an average of 26 percent of their income on caregiving activities.6
- Nearly half of caregivers report having out-of-pocket financial impacts due to caregiving
responsibilities: 28 percent stopped saving; 23 percent took on more debt; 22 percent used
up short-term savings; and 19 percent left bills unpaid or paid them late.7
- Caregivers' average lost wages and benefits over a lifetime are $324,000 for women and
$284,000 for men.8
- One in five caregivers reports poor health; one in four struggles to care for their own health
because of caregiving duties;9 and the same number report feeling socially isolated.10
- Most caregivers (nearly 70 percent) report difficulty balancing professional obligations and
caregiving responsibilities; many are forced to make career sacrifices, including reduced
hours, missed promotions, leaves of absence, early retirement, or exiting the workforce
altogether.11 Those who leave the workforce and come back after caregiving are often paid
less with fewer benefits.
How Caregivers Can Care for Themselves
Caregiving tends to begin modestly, with occasional voluntary tasks that may gradually increase
in frequency, complexity, and emotional weight. Caregiver burnout and financial strain can
likewise progress incrementally and quietly.
But even when caregiver stress is evident, it often goes unacknowledged. Only 13 percent of
caregivers say that anyone has ever asked what support they need.12
Caregivers frequently feel isolated. They say they need more support. The question is: Where
does it come from?
The obvious but overlooked answer may be themselves, with assistance from their trusted
advisors or other professionals.
Caregiver burnout may escalate to a situation where a mental health clinician is needed.13 But
before caregiving reaches a personal crisis level, additional resources and structured planning
can help ease a caregiver's burden and give an oxygen boost that lets them think more clearly.
Balancing Your Role as a Caregiver and a Planner
- Navigating day-to-day caregiving demands. Simplifying and organizing financial and
administrative tasks can reduce decision fatigue and free up time and energy for caregiving.
- Designating successor caregivers. Identifying who would step in if you were temporarily
or permanently unable to provide care helps protect your loved one and reduces uncertainty
during emergencies.
- Establishing powers of attorney for your own finances and healthcare. Naming trusted
decision-makers ensures that your wishes are honored and prevents disruptions if you are
unable to act on your own behalf.
Planning Ahead to Reduce Emotional and Financial Burnout
- Automating finances and simplifying administration. Automating bill payments, savings,
and recurring tasks keeps financial continuity intact when caregiving limits your time and
attention.
- Building an emergency fund for personal needs. Caregivers may be forced to put others'
needs first. An accessible reserve can cover unexpected personal expenses without adding
stress or debt.
- Protecting your own retirement savings and investments. Supporting a loved one today
should not permanently undermine your security tomorrow. Planning can help balance
present caregiving costs with long-term financial stability.
Other resources that caregivers may find useful can be found through the Family Caregiver
Alliance,14 the Caregiver Action Network,15 the Zen Caregiving Project,16 and the Administration
for Community Living.17
You may also want to explore Medicaid and Veterans Affairs programs that pay family
caregivers.18 In addition, caregiving technology and apps can assist caregivers with tasks such
as medication reminders, activity logging, managing appointments, and coordinating a team of
caregivers.19
Do Not Let Caregiving Crowd Out Your Own Planning
Managing someone else's care can lead to you neglecting your own legal and financial
planning. But planning for yourself is part of planning for others. Only after you catch your
breath will you have the energy to help someone else.
As a planning principle, we have our masks at the ready so that we can care for the caregivers
and ensure that everyone involved makes it through the turbulence.
MEREDITH | PC
4325 Windsor Centre Trail
Suite 400
Flower Mound Texas 75028
214-513-1013
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as written advice about a Federal tax matter. Readers should consult with their own professional Counselors to evaluate or pursue tax, accounting, financial, or legal planning strategies.
You have received this newsletter because I believe you will find its content valuable. Please feel free to Contact Me if you have any questions about this or any matters relating to estate planning.
