Whether you were the first generation of your family to achieve financial independence or built on your parents’ success, your current circumstances are likely to be reflective of your work and that which your ancestors made during their lives.
In the case of your parents, they’d likely hope to contribute one more time to solidifying you or their grandkids’ financial futures before they pass away. Someone’s legacy can influence future generations and help protect the people they love the most.
Unfortunately, if your parents were working-class, then their resources may not last as far into their retirement as they might hope.
Talking with them now about protecting their legacy and planning for future medical needs could benefit them.
Many retired adults don’t have enough set aside
Nursing homes can cost thousands of dollars per month, even if someone shares a room with another person. Medicare won’t cover those costs or the expenses involved with bringing nursing help into your parents’ home so that they don’t have to live in an assisted living facility.
Only Medicaid will cover those costs, and it generally requires that people spend everything they have before this government health care system starts paying for their care. Medicaid will also make claims against your parents’ estates after they die to recover any benefits that the program paid for them. Even if your parents have retirement accounts, Medicare and their own home, they could wind up indigent or in debt if they need more help as they continue to age.
Medicaid planning now can protect your parents’ legacy, including their home, from claims by Medicaid after they die. Changing the ownership of certain assets, making strategic gifts and putting property into a trust can help your parents plan for a future where they need Medicaid but don’t wish to become entirely impoverished before applying.