Aging, health and money may not be easy topics to bring up, and students may not know what they should be talking about with parents; however, talking about these issues is inevitable as parents age.
The oldest of the baby boomers turned 60 last year and are expected to live longer than previous generations. Experts say students and families should be talking about future expectations involving health care and money matters as baby boomers get older.
Delaying these conversations can lead to family disputes and confusion later on.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were 78.2 million baby boomers in 2005 that made up roughly 26 percent of the total population. By 2029, all of the baby boomers – those born in the post-World War II period from 1946 to 1964 – will be at least 65.
Former investment adviser and University finance instructor Jeanne Wagenknecht said students should talk about financial matters with their parents, but she warned it can be an uncomfortable topic for some families.
“There’s a lot of similarity between sex and money,” she said. “In both of those topics, there’s people that have a very deep need for privacy.”
University finance professor Larry Dann said some parents might see it as prying and said students should bring the topic up “gently.”
Wagenknecht said students can ask parents about financial accomplishments to begin the conversation.
Both recommended talking about retirement plans, overall financial health, plans for children if a parent passes away and estate planning, which includes a basic will.
Wagenknecht said that a basic will determines how assets will be distributed to heirs and allows family members to be on the same page.
“It should include everything from big, important assets like land, and little, seemingly unimportant assets,” she said. Wagenknecht added that the will can include items of sentimental value.
She said talking about money is especially important in blended families with divorced parents because distributing assets after a death can be even more complicated.
Wagenknecht said students may also want to talk about long-term care insurance with parents.
“The baby boomer generation will be one of the first generations that need long-term care insurance,” she said.
Life expectancy in the U.S. continues a long-term upward trend, but increased longevity is accompanied by increased prevalence of chronic conditions and pain and disability, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
The insurance helps provide money to cover care for people who live longer and generally helps pay for the costs of care when that person cannot perform basic daily tasks.
“There’s everything from really high-end care coverage to less expensive and lower quality care coverage, but the idea is that for the baby boomer generation, there’ll be so many of us that need care,” Wagenknecht said. “There will be a huge demand for that care, so it’s good to plan now.”
Wagenknecht said students should also talk to parents about future memorial services.
“That can get really complicated, and that’s not something we particularly want to talk about, but for a lot of us, the time to be talking about it is now,” she said.
Dann said that such conversations are natural after retirement but should be ongoing. He added that they help determine expectations and family wishes.
“These conversations can potentially head off a lot of resentments that might develop,” he said.
Jerry Cohen, state director of AARP Oregon, said students should get a sense of what their parents’ values are.
“You want to ask, ‘As you begin to run into challenges physically and maybe mentally, how do you want to be treated?’” he said.
Cohen said that students should know medical expectations.
“Something bad can happen at any time,” he said. “Any of us, at any age, can suffer from some type of condition. It’s so important to be prepared.”
Dann said a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Program (POLST) form that lists medical treatment preference during life-sustaining treatment should be posted in an accessible area in the home.
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