The village serves as a protected, self-contained world for its inhabitants. It contains apartments, restaurants, a supermarket, gardens and more. Gates and security fences enclose the center, which provides both freedom and protection for residents who wander.

The goal is to create an environment that simulates normal life as much as possible, with dementia patients free to participate in activities they are capable of while receiving help with activities they can no longer perform. Residents can cook, clean and go grocery shopping, as well as go get their hair done or eat at a restaurant. At the same time, caregivers are on hand to help with activities of daily living as necessary.

Each apartment houses six to eight people, including caretakers who wear street clothes. The design of every department is unique, and each is geared toward a particular lifestyle, such as “cultural,” “artisan” or “Christian.”

A growing population of seniors and an increasing life expectancy means that the U.S. will be facing an unprecedented number of Alzheimer’s patients. This change may result in increased strain on both individual caregivers and the healthcare system as a whole in coming years. The number of people with Alzheimer’s has increased by 68 percent since 2000, and that trend will continue as the Baby Boomer population ages. The development of innovative solutions that promote independence and a fulfilling life is essential to the care of this growing population.

Already, a similar village has opened in Switzerland. In the future, it is possible that more such centers will open across Europe and in the United States, potentially improving the care and well-being of individuals with dementia.

The elder law attorneys at Hook Law Center assist Virginia families with will preparation, trust & estate administration, guardianships and conservatorships, long-term care planning, special needs planning, veterans benefits, and more. To learn more, visit http://www.hooklawcenter.com/ or call 757-399-7506.

Though Baby Boomers do focus on cash flow in retirement, planning beyond that with an estate plan is often not on their radar.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain

Well put, Mr. Twain, and thank you for making this pithy quote one for the ages. It should be on the desk of financial professionals and heeded by baby boomers everywhere. Indeed, it’s one thing to save and invest wisely, but all is for naught without that all-important estate plan.

Michigan Boomer’s of the ‘60s turn 50…

Although ‘boomers’ fall into that Netherland somewhere between 1946 to 1964, the 21-million boomers actually born in the early ‘60s, whom AARP said turned 50 last December, may still roam terra firma with a piece of parchment on which they’ve written their last will and testament.

While this may hint of brontosaurus-like thinking, boomers most certainly are not doomed to extinction just because they’ve fallen into the tar pit of indecision when it comes to making an estate plan—even at age 50, there’s time.

Estate Planning: It’s simply not on their list…

Still, Baby Boomers biggest retirement planning mistake is having a workable financial strategy without an estate plan. That scenario is tantamount to running an eight-cylinder car on four pistons during its lifetime, and failing to deliver you across the retirement threshold in good stead.

Call it short-sighted, or being in denial, but thinking about ‘death’ is simply not on the Baby Boomer’s radar, according to a recent USA Today article. Unwittingly, they may forever remain oblivious that death-by-dying without an estate plan can create untold tax consequences that might be avoided by placing assets into a living trust, for example.

“’If you are looking at Baby Boomers, they are looking at what their cash flow will be in retirement,” says Carol Kroch, managing director, wealth and philanthropic planning at Wilmington Trust in Wilmington, Del. “Can they do the things they want to do? Can they retire? Can they keep the house? They are not focused on death’.”

Don’t leave your heirs with a bundle of tax problems…

But boomers may not have the second chance Mark Twain did when he read about his own ‘death’ in a newspaper paper while on a trip abroad. Perhaps his quote (“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”) playfully serves as a reminder for boomers to develop an estate plan to complement their financial strategies, thereby ensuring continuity of one’s estate.

A ‘will’ is one component of the overall estate plan.

In short, your will lets you choose which heirs should receive your antique car collection, or who will become guardians of your children.

The estate plan protects assets from probate; provides a power of attorney for someone you’ve appointed to step in to make vital health/financial decisions for you; Do you want trusts for your children…grandkids or a favorite charity? These desires need to be discussed in context with your entire estate.

Looking beyond the ‘now.’

As noted in the USA Today article, the focus on developing the estate plan falls on three critical areas that include property and financial assets, children, and medical decisions. In the latter case, the purchase of a long-term-care insurance policy can protect assets from depletion in the case of nursing home care, or extended care in the home.

In the case of second marriages, the plan also can guard against losing assets if that marriage doesn’t work out. Such scenarios often call for a “firewall” of prenuptial, or postnuptial, agreements.

Start the ‘family conversation.’

Owners of a small business may want to pass on the business to their offspring, but make sure it’s something they truly want to do.

The conversation should be an open-ended one, where that vacation home, or family boat, can be passed on to a family member without it being a complete surprise later.

Other must-conversations is the one about choosing the executor of your estate—your daughter may say ‘no’ because she doesn’t feel confident in handling financial matters.

To start the conversation about your estate plan, including your will, powers of attorney and other specific documents, contact us.

The post USA TODAY: ‘Baby Boomers’ biggest retirement planning mistake is not having an estate plan. appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

Employees who have registered for back-up elder care can call a care organization when they face an unexpected interruption in elder care. Within hours, the organization will send a home health care aide to the elderly person’s home. Employers work with agencies who screen and train their caregivers.

A sudden change in a parent’s health, logistical issues from the usual home health aide, or a family caregiver’s competing responsibilities can all lead to a gap in elder care. Without back-up elder care, workers are likely to miss work for days or longer. With back-up care, both the elder’s care and the employee’s work life can continue relatively seamlessly.

Plans vary, but most allow employees to use the service 10-20 times a year. Employees pay for part of the service — usually about $6.00/hour — while the company covers the rest.

This benefit makes fiscal sense for companies, as a growing number of American workers now care for aging parents. That trend will continue in coming years, as the Baby Boomer population reaches retirement age and life expectancy continues to stand at an all-time high.

The elder law attorneys at Hook Law Center assist Virginia families with will preparation, trust & estate administration, guardianships and conservatorships, long-term care planning, special needs planning, veterans benefits, and more. To learn more, visit http://www.hooklawcenter.com/ or call 757-399-7506.

As an elder law attorney seeing the effects, it becomes more alarming every day seeing rising assisted living costs for the elderly here in Michigan and the rest of the United States. As Baby Boomers start to age, the demand for assisted living is going to rise exponentially over the next 10 to 15 years. The National Institutes of Health did a study on what the impact of the Baby Boom generation will have on health care by the time we reach 2030. Their statistics pointed to various important things that far too many people still haven’t taken into consideration.

At the top of the list in their analysis was families finding payment and insurance systems that assures quality care to supersede what’s available now. This was already a major warning on how what we’re doing today isn’t suitable for sustaining this major health care burden in the future.

Regardless, many of those born before 1946 are needing assisted living care as you read this. Those born in the 1920s or 1930s are in their 80s and 90s now, which is the prime age range when assisted living is necessary. Many of those people may need care, yet could live for another decade or more with proper assistance.

Within this concern are their children, or the current Baby Boomers. They have financial concerns of their own and worry about how they’ll afford assisted living for their parents. These concerns become undoubtedly more sobering when you read the statistics on costs.

Assisted Living Costs by the Day

It’s hard to imagine that assisted living is now in the three figures just for a day’s worth of care. LongTermCare.org has current numbers available, and it’s a reminder of how one day of living in an assisted facility costs $205. Over a month’s time, this is well over $6,000, which possibly exceeds even what your aging parent makes in a month from their retirement income.

The statistics above are just for a semi-private room in a nursing home with perhaps not the most inviting environment. An assisted living facility with one bedroom is a little cheaper, though it still comes out to well over $3,000 per month. This possibly exceeds what your parents make, meaning tapping other reserves if they have any.

It’s sometimes more affordable for care directly in the home, despite depending on how much care your parents need. Most home health aides charge within the $20 range per hour, so it’s still not cheap if your parents need assistance most of the day, and every day.

If you’re in a situation where this is the only option, it no doubt has you worried if you have to tap particular resources you wanted to preserve. In some cases, your parents may have financial resources, though they’re possibly locked up with no access.

With proper elder care planning, this doesn’t have to happen. An experienced elder care lawyer knows about hidden financial resources and advanced planning tactics so when the time comes for assisted living, it’s a smooth transition.

Elder Law Planning: How You Can Plan Now for Your Own Future

Hopefully you already planned for your own parents who need assistance now. Not that it’s necessarily too late to take care of things for them currently. However, you also need to think of yourself if you’re a possible Baby Boomer or even younger. All of us may need elder care once we reach our retirement years.

Through estate planning, the crafting of wills, plus income assistance benefits, many options are open for elderly people today. When these matters aren’t worked out in advance, chaos ultimately ensues, including being locked out of potential financial resources.

Here at The Elder Care Firm, we’re a leading elder care law firm that helps everyone plan accordingly so costs of assisted living don’t become the worst possible stress to life.

Contact us now so we can work with you on an elder care legal plan for your situation. You have more financial options than you think. We’ll help plan it this year so your own children won’t have the burden of worrying about your transition when you can’t care for yourself any longer.

The post Assisted Living Costs Keep Rising, Elder Law Planning Can Mitigate the Cost appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.