"I HAD TO DO IT"

Americans are living longer, forcing loved ones to make impossible choices about their long-term care

- Reed Abelson and Jordan Rau

Margaret Newcomb, 69, a retired French teacher, is desperately trying to protect her retirement savings by caring for her 82-year-old husband, who has severe dementia, at home in Seattle. She used to fear his disease-induced paranoia, but now he's so frail and confused that he wanders away with no idea of how to find his way home. He gets lost so often that she attaches a tag with her phone number to his shoelace. 

Feylyn Lewis, 36, sacrificed a promising career as a research director in England to return home to Nashville in 2021 after her mother had a debilitating stroke. They ran up $15,000 in medical and credit card debt while Lewis took on the role of caretaker.

Millions of families are facing such daunting life choices-and potential financial ruin-as the escalating costs of in-home care, assisted-living facilities and nursing homes devour the savings and incomes of older Americans and their relatives.

"People are exposed to the possibility of depleting almost all their wealth," says Richard W. Johnson, director of the program on retirement policy at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit think tank.

The prospect of dying broke looms as an imminent threat for the baby boomer generation, which vastly expanded the middle class and looked hopefully toward a comfortable retirement on the backbone of pensions and 401(k)s. Roughly 10,000 boomers will turn 65 every day until 2030. Many expect to live into their 80s and 90s as the price tag for long-term care explodes, outpacing inflation and reaching nearly a half-trillion dollars a year, according to federal researchers.

The challenges will only grow. By 2050, the population of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to increase by more than 50%, to 86 million, according to census estimates. The number of people 85 or older will nearly triple, to 19 million.