A growing trend toward childless boomers approaching retirement is leading to a rising question of where—and how—these individuals prefer to retire.
By and large, they are opting for co-housing or a shared housing situation, a recent New York Times article finds, in order to provide for caregiving needs often handled by adult children.
“The trend means that ‘there are going to be far fewer of the traditional caregivers,’ Donald Redfoot, a co-author of the study and a senior policy adviser with the AARP Public Policy Institute in Washington told the New York times. “‘It raises the question: Then who?'”
For some, extended family are filling the role that children might typically play. But for others, living with, or in proximity to friends is providing another common solution that sometimes spans management of finances and estate plans.
“According to Dave Littell, a retirement income program director at the American College of Financial Services, in Bryn Mawr, Pa., children usually provide about 70 percent of long-term care. But they’re not always the best people to make decisions about their parents, the Times writes. “A 2012 study of 975 parents and 152 adult children conducted by Fidelity Investments found that only 3 percent of parents agreed that their children would take care of them if they became ill. The study also found that only 10 percent of children believed conversations about health and eldercare were very detailed.”
The article delves into several co-housing arrangements that retirees have pursued as alternative solutions, finding success.
Read the New York Times article.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
