Caregiving and Retirement Planning

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: Explore how caregiving impacts retirement planning and discover safe money alternatives for financial security. Learn more at SafeMoney.com. Retirees today face a host of financial challenges that previous generations didn’t. The exit of guaranteed pensions from the private sector, coupled with increasing lifespans , has left many older Americans scrambling to make ends meet. Not only that, there is often the need to start providing care for elderly parents or other relatives who have become unable to perform one or more of the activities of daily living (ADLs). Paying to have this type of support professionally can be a financial burden for those who don’t have any insurance to cover them. But providing the care yourself can be equally burdensome in other respects. Nationwide Retirement Institute conducted a comprehensive survey on caregiving and how it affects the lives of the caregivers. The survey researchers looked at those who were in the middle of their careers. These folks are commonly referred to Gen Xers or the sandwich generation. The survey was designed to find out how they fared in retirement when also dealing with the challenge of caregiving for loved ones. What Did Their Responsibilities Look Like? Nationwide researchers noted that some of the respondents anticipate caregiving in their future responsibilities. Meanwhile, others take it on out of necessity. The poll surveyed 1,462 adults. Those surveyed were at least 50 years old and had a minimum of $50,000 in investable assets. These adults were already retired or were planning to retire within the next 10 years. The survey also included a separate sample of 516 people ages 50 and up who were currently or had been caregivers. On average, the caregivers spent 54 hours per week giving assistance to loved ones. Almost two-thirds of caregivers were women. On average, women spent 46 hours per week providing caregiving assistance while men spent 35 hours on average. This could have implications for women in terms of not having enough savings for retirement and having to work longer to make up for income shortfalls. Kristi Rodriguez, VP of thought leadership at Nationwide, noted this in a post-survey interview. How Much Did Caregivers Spend Each Year? According to the survey, caregivers spent an a