As many families are preparing to celebrate Mother’s Day, you might be thinking about the different ways you will want to care for loved ones as they age or situations change.
Recent studies show that more than half of those caring for adults over the age of 50 are helping manage their finances. Growing and changing populations like older Americans, military families, and various other family dynamics are creating unique financial circumstances. We recognize the new and changing face of the caregiver, especially related to financial matters, and we’ve created resources to help.
Many family members are assuming new roles of financial caregivers, perhaps for an older relative, returning military personnel, or even sandwiched between responsibilities of a parent and caretaker. Making the transition to becoming a loved one’s financial caregiver can be difficult, especially for people with limited time or experience in being a financial steward.
Some recent studies have revealed new facts about the changing demographics and roles in the family:
- 45 million people in this country already are age 65 or older and 10,000 more turn 65 each day
- 34 percent of caregivers for an adult over 50 years old provide financial care for their mothers
- 47 percent of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child
- 15 percent of middle-aged adults are providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child
To help with these difficult transitions, we have created the national Managing Someone Else’s Money Guides to help you do your best when called on to be a financial caregiver. For parents and caregivers of children, we have resources to help you guide them through key stages where they can build up a solid foundation for financial well-being. We also have additional consumer tools and resources specifically designed for financial decisions and issues facing older Americans, students, servicemembers, and economically vulnerable consumers.