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When I suddenly had to become a fulltime caregiver to my elderly parents, both with health problems and starting to develop dementia (namely Alzheimer’s), I had never even heard of Long-Term Care Insurance. After we burned through their life savings, and then started chipping away at mine, I was advised to apply for financial assistance for them through the government’s Medicaid system–a program for those at the poverty level. It was quite a long process with mounds of paperwork and numerous investigations, but finally my parents were approved.

I was so happy that monetary help would finally be on the way, until I discovered that the financial assistance would only pay to put my parents in a nursing home, not even in Assisted Living, and with very little help to keep them in their own home. Continue reading ‘Long-Term Care Insurance: Eldercare Solution’ »

Like the kids who’ll be the first to benefit from them, the Child Trust Fund has done a lot of growing up in the four and a half years since it was launched. Introduced in January 2005, the accounts are designed to ensure every child has some savings behind them when they turn 18.

All children born in the UK on or after 1 September 2002 receive a government voucher of £250 to kick start their account, with a further £250 paid into the account at age seven. Children from lower income families benefit from a higher amount of £500 at birth and again at age seven. Continue reading ‘Using Your Child Trust Fund – Easy As Learning Your ABC's’ »

Research on the lifestyles of contemporary families has found that today’s older generations are spending the largest amounts of financial resources on adult children. Grown children in many families still stay at home, or are moving back in with the parents because of the lower financial capabilities of the former, and the higher spending power of the latter. Adult children are mainly having trouble setting out on their own due to factors such as the prevalence of high prices of housing and the significant increases in the costs of education, while the relative monetary stability their parents possess enable this cohabitation. Experts also state that this type of lifestyle will become more customary as the baby boomer generation enters mid-life over the coming years.

The cost of education, specifically, contributes to adults having difficulties in moving out and living on their own. Over the past two decades, even the yearly cost of a four-year course in a public college has doubled, while the prices of housing in the same time span have tripled or quadrupled on the average. Overall, the value of the dollar did not even reach double in these two decades, giving rise to the disjoint in resources and capabilities between the two generations. Now, adult children are unable to purchase their first homesteads while their parents, the baby boomers, have much more money to spare.

Continue reading ‘What Are The Unintended Consequences Of Financially Helping Adult Children’ »