Millennials now feeling the sting of long term care

Do millennials think about long term care? Easy, right? “No way!” Well, not so fast.  A recent article on Forbes.com proved that this demographic is actually much more involved in the long term care conversation than you might think. In fact, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute report, one in four family caregivers is a millennial and is therefore impacted by both the physical and financial strains that come with this role. While your 20s and 30s are often thought of as years to develop yourself and advance your career, many caregivers are being forced to turn down promotions and take time off in order to fulfill their familial duties. This ends up putting them seriously behind their peers on the financial front.

Many of these millennial caregivers are voting in favor of employers stepping up and taking on more of the LTC responsibility. A recent study, Younger Adults’ Experiences and Views on Long-term Care (funded by The SCAN Foundation), found that 81% of millennials think employers should offer long-term care insurance plans as a benefit. In that same vein, 62% of millennials surveyed approved of tax breaks for purchasing long-term care insurance and a full 60% of millennials said they’d like to see a government-administered long-term care insurance program, similar to Medicare.1

Another article from ThinkAdvisor noted a year over year increase in the number of millennials who report valuing long term care insurance. According to the article, millennials who rated long term care insurance as “somewhat/very important” climbed from 67% in 2013 to 73% this past year. 2

While long term care is often written off as a problem to solve when you’re doing retirement planning, it is becoming more and more apparent that the issue can affect all ages. Having a plan in place can help ensure that both the caregiver and care receiver are well accommodated and remain financially sound.

 

 

1Forbes, What Millennials Want the Government to do About Long Term Care, June 2018

2ThinkAdvisor, Millennials May Care Deeply About Long-Term Care Benefits, June 2018

 

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