New numbers are painting a sad reality for a growing number of retirees – one advisors will need to face head on in order to arm clients for that battle.
New numbers are painting a sad reality for a growing number of retirees – one advisors will need to face head on in order to arm clients for that battle.
For advisors, living benefit solutions such as long-term care insurance are only going to become more necessary as the population ages and the number of people living with Alzheimer’s increases.
The Alzheimer’s Association reports that 5.2 million people in the U.S. are living with the disease and two-thirds of them are women. Those in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as they are breast cancer.
We talk about the sandwich generation today – parents taking care of their kids and their parents under one roof – but just as big a cohort are those caregivers taking care of people with Alzheimer’s.
“The association says 2.5 times as many women as men provide intensive “on-duty” care 24 hours a day for someone living with the disease,” wrote Gretchen Cepek, general counsel of Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America. “Women constitute 60 percent to 70 percent of all informal caregivers.”
That’s an incredible strain on women, whether suffering from Alzheimer’s or taking care of someone who’s suffering. Add into this equation most women who are informal caregivers or living with Alzheimer’s are also major breadwinners, it’s hard to know the total cost of the disease on the country.
“People affected by Alzheimer’s — both women and men — face a toll beyond the mental decline of a loved one. Alzheimer’s is one of the most expensive conditions in the nation,” wrote Cepek. “The total national cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is $214 billion, not including unpaid caregiving by family and friends valued at $220.2 billion. Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on people with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.”
The experience in Canada is no different. It’s a hugely debilitating disease that will continue to affect women – and men – for a long time to come.
For advisors, living benefit solutions such as long-term care insurance are only going to become more necessary as the population ages and the number of people living with Alzheimer’s increases.
The Alzheimer’s Association reports that 5.2 million people in the U.S. are living with the disease and two-thirds of them are women. Those in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as they are breast cancer.
We talk about the sandwich generation today – parents taking care of their kids and their parents under one roof – but just as big a cohort are those caregivers taking care of people with Alzheimer’s.
“The association says 2.5 times as many women as men provide intensive “on-duty” care 24 hours a day for someone living with the disease,” wrote Gretchen Cepek, general counsel of Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America. “Women constitute 60 percent to 70 percent of all informal caregivers.”
That’s an incredible strain on women, whether suffering from Alzheimer’s or taking care of someone who’s suffering. Add into this equation most women who are informal caregivers or living with Alzheimer’s are also major breadwinners, it’s hard to know the total cost of the disease on the country.
“People affected by Alzheimer’s — both women and men — face a toll beyond the mental decline of a loved one. Alzheimer’s is one of the most expensive conditions in the nation,” wrote Cepek. “The total national cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is $214 billion, not including unpaid caregiving by family and friends valued at $220.2 billion. Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on people with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.”
The experience in Canada is no different. It’s a hugely debilitating disease that will continue to affect women – and men – for a long time to come.
