The Boomer Generation and older, well into their 70s and 90s now, are quickly becoming elderly and depending on others for medical care, assistive living. While there are plenty of articles pondering where this generation's money is going to go with inheritance, making beneficiaries as well as tax agencies drool in anticipation, the dirty truth is that it's already being sapped out of personal bank accounts by the millions of dollars every month. Copays, fees, services, medical care 24/7 and plenty more each take their cut daily, monthly and annually. Add in the fact that, statistically, mortality is far longer than it was in previous decades (i.e. it's quite possible to live to one's mid-80s and longer), there won't be much left except a handful of outstanding debts against an inherited estate for Boomer children.
Consider for a moment what it takes to pay for assisted living in an elderly home for a senior who is still cognizant but who wants reliable meal service, laundry, physical help when needed and protection. This kind of apartment living in a high quality facility starts at about $9,000 a month. Add in ala carte services, which frequently happen for specific needs, and the cost creeps up to $10,000 a month. Now, let's add in the dementia factor, a common problem in the elderly that hits different ages and backgrounds without discrimination. While it's true that memory care suppport in a similar facility will cost less as people are centrally handled, the cost can easily still reach $7,000-$8,000 a month. How do people even start to pay for this?
If very lucky, the seniors themselves maintained a robust health insurance plan that steps in first with the primary cost coverage, at least partially. Then, if the person was also smart enough to pay for a longterm care policy, that too will kick in after a lot of delay and fighting by the insurer hoping an initial denial will make the applicant go away. After a few appeals, the LTC agent will roll over and finally pay up. Then there is any additional government benefits like Social Security for most people, Veterans Benefits for those who served in the military, and any kind of career pension. Finally, there are personal savings. Many Boomers planned well or just got plain lucky buying multiple policies in addition to having the fortune of a defined pension plan to rely on. However, thousands more for each successful Boomer did not. Most are women, or lower middle income or the poor. These folks spend every dollar they have on critical medicine to just live another day, often in pain, relying heavily on relatives for care, support and even primary shelter. For both groups, however, the cost of their care is rapidly eating up any available funds, leaving nothing behind for their children.
Where does the money go (estimate to be $64-84 billion in the U.S. alone)? It's a consortium of industries making millions of dollars for each year Boomers continue to live. The prime leaders are the pharmaceuticals, insurance companies raking in premiums for extended coverage, medical providers for services and equipment and, of course, care facilities where people live. Even there, hidden markets exist with inflated rates for grooming, cleaning, conveniences and similar, which Boomers pay because the benefits are immediately available.
However, another wave is well at work, and it has nothing to do with being legal. Aggressive groups and individuals are hard at work trying to separate Boomers from their money. That scammer type group includes everyone from hackers to even political groups. They all have a similar tactic, find weak-minded victims and use fear to get them to pay. It comes in a variety of forms: subscriptions, donations, purchases, whatever works to transfer funds from a Boomer's bank account into the thief's wallet. It's not surprising that digital fraud is on an exceptional rise; combine the Internet, influencing, seniors with too much time on their hands, as well as an indefensible creep of dementia in many, and you have low-hanging fruit ripe for the criminal picking. This too quickly reduces what's left for generations to come.
Between the two movements above, the richest generation is likely to leave little behind when the final accounting is finished. And families are in for a very painful surprise, not only seeing no transfer of wealth but even being insulted with left-over medical & care debt that estates have to settle in probate. This quiet but powerful wealth transfer is going to corporations, nation-states and criminals, but it's definitely not going to everyday people. The ramifications of that are definitely going to reshape society for decades to come. How many people, Generation X and younger, are ready for that reality? I'm going to bet few; most are to busy leaving comments on the Internet or trying to catch on the gossip of their latest favorite celebrity. Why is this so easy to see? Simple, how many people regularly visit the elderly? Not many. In fact, our modern society encourages people to avoid the old, especially their care facilities. So, the oldest wait, watching their friends pass one by one, and they are left to services and "caretakers" to be a daily presence instead. That separation makes them ripe for being victims too.
So, in a nutshell, in about five to ten years, the majority of older Boomers will have passed. Generation X will be on the doorstep of retirement, younger generations still won't be able to afford homes and the American Dream, and poverty will increase. People will ask what happened? And generations later can only look in the mirror; you didn't pay attention while seniors were alive, it shouldn't be a surprise then nothing was left waiting once they passed.
