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Who will care for you in old age?

The cost of kids vs residential care.


It used to be that children were a retirement strategy. You'd gently pass away in your mortgage-free bed surrounded by loved ones. Old folks' homes were for lonely deviants who failed at family formation.

Let's compare ...

Costs (US):

  • Children: 17 years, $310,605
  • Nursing homes: 18.4 months (average length of stay), $166,000 (private room at median national monthly rate).

Will nursing homes get more expensive faster?

It's hard to pit the 'now' cost of children against the 'later' cost of nursing homes.

Since your '20s is assumed to be the best time to have children, you'll be aiming for them to take care of you after 60 years, in your '80s.

In the 60 years between 1973 and 2023 the cost of nursing homes and adult day services rose by 1.75 times the general rate of inflation. If this repeats, the present cost of a future nursing home stay would be ~$290,000; almost a tie.

Nursing homes risk mismanagement and closure ...

... but family is not a sure-fire strategy either. 

There's about even odds that a loved one will respond to your call for help and even then, only if you make it worth their while.

So finance-wise it depends whether you prefer spending a lot of money over a long period of time now, or spending a lot of money intensively later.

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Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

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