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Here
are just a few of the real-life situations we come across daily.
If you can identify with these people, we can help you.
Alzheimer's
disease will soon send Sam to the nursing home.
His wife is terrified that their life savings will be gone in three
years.
Sam,
age 84, has been having memory problem for the last 2 to 3 years. Dorothy,
his wife of 60 years, learns from their family doctor that her husband is
suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Lately she has been
frightened by his temper outbursts. Sam has always been gentle and these
outbursts are out of character. The doctor tells her that Sam will soon
need nursing home care. They have no long term care insurance. Without
planning to protect assets, Dorothy calculates that most of their life
savings will be gone in three years. She is terrified.
Mary
suffered a stroke. Her
husband Fred is afraid that he will have to sell their house to pay for
her care.
Mary,
age 78, enjoyed good health all her life until she suffered a stroke a
month ago. The rehab facility just told her husband Fred that Mary will
not benefit from additional therapy at this time although she will
continue to need nursing home care. They are changing her level of care
from skilled or rehabilitative, covered by Medicare and her supplement, to
custodial care, which is private pay or Medicaid. They have no long term
care insurance. Fred is afraid he will have to sell their home to pay for
Mary's nursing home stay. Their entire life savings are about $250,000.
They have been living on their Social Security, which is about $2,500 a
month.
Mr.
and Mrs. G.'s only assets are their condo and Mr. G.'s $200,000 IRA.
Mrs. G. is too young to collect Social Security and has no skills
to get a job.
Mr.
G is 60 years old and in a nursing home. He has income of $2,500 plus
distributions from his $200,000 IRA. His wife, Mrs. G, is 58 years old and
has no income. She is living in their condo and driving a leased car. She
cannot make the condo fee payments and is thankful the condo has no
mortgage. She has no skills so she cannot find a job. Mrs. G is worried to
death about how she is going to live.
Henry
is in an assisted living facility getting ready to go into a nursing home.
His daughter needs to make financial decisions for him.
Henry
is in an assisted living facility. His daughter wants to sell his home for
$80,000 because she has just found out he must go into a nursing home. No
one can afford to maintain the house and yard. He has $100,000 in stocks
in his living trust. He has another $50,000 in savings. He has no durable
power of attorney, but he has named a health care surrogate. His daughter
needs to know what she can do to help her father.
Theodore
requires nursing home care because of his Parkinson's.
He and his wife Susan have each given their children and
grandchildren $10,000 each year for the past four years.
Did they do the right thing?
Susan's
husband, Theodore, has Parkinson's and has been living at home. He has
taken a turn for the worse and needs to go into a nursing home
immediately. They had $400,000 dollars invested. In anticipation of
Theodore going to a nursing home, they have been giving their two children
plus three grandchildren $10,000 a year for the last four years. Now they
have $200,000 left, plus their home and a car. They live off the income
from their investments, their Social Security, and Theodore's pension.
With the cost of the nursing home, they will soon be out of money. They
have just found out that giving the children the money was the wrong thing
to do. Susan is beside herself. Theodore has no idea what is going on and
is no help to her.
Mr.
and Mrs. Smith's daughter came for a visit and discovered that her parents
were no longer able to care for themselves.
They refused to move up north near her.
Mr.
and Mrs. Smith's children all live up north. Their oldest daughter came
for a surprise visit. She was distraught to discover that Mom had not
cleaned the house in about a month. The dishes were dirty and stacked all
over the house. Newspapers were piled all over the place. There were no
clean clothes in the closets or dressers. Spoiled food was in the
refrigerator. She could not tell how or what her parents had been eating.
Bills several months old were mixed in with the papers. She cleaned things
up and took both of her parents to the doctor. She discovered that Mom was
in the beginning stages of dementia and Dad refused to believe it. She was
terrified to leave her parents, but they refused to move up north.
Nicky's
beloved grandmother is getting very forgetful and accuses Nicky of
stealing her money. Nicky's
mother and father must decide if grandmother can continue to live by
herself.
Nicky
loved her grandmother very much. Grandma always had wonderful stories to
tell of her growing up years when radio was the entertainment of choice.
Grandma also had some wonderful old-time clothes that Nicky enjoyed
wearing and acting out Grandma's stories.
By
the time Nicky got to high school age, her mother and father were both
busy working all day so it was Nicky's responsibility to go visit Grandma
every day after school. Grandma began to complain that somebody had stolen
her money. Nicky and Grandma would find the money hidden where Grandma had
put it and laugh about Grandma's forgetfulness.
Then
the day came when Grandma called Nicky's mother and told her that Nicky
had stolen her money. Nicky went right over to Grandma's house to help her
find the money and laugh about Grandma's forgetfulness. Grandmother
refused to let Nicky into the house.
Grandmother
called Nicky's house that night and told Nicky's father "I don't want
Nicky to come to my house ever again because she is a thief."
Sally's
father had been happily living with Sally and her family.
Then her father had a stroke and needed to use a wheelchair and
Sally, herself, got sick and could not care for him.
Sally's
mother died at a fairly young age and Sally's father was not able to cope
with being alone. Even though Sally had young children, she invited her
father to come live with them.
During
the early years of this arrangement, Sally's father was healthy and happy.
He was a good cook and enjoyed preparing the family meals. But one
afternoon Sally came home to find her father on the kitchen floor. He
could not get up.
After
a lengthy hospital stay, Sally's father came back to Sally's house in a
wheelchair. Sally had done renovations to the house in order to
accommodate her father's disability.
As
long as Sally was there to assist, her father could function pretty well
in the home setting. But Sally got sick.
Sally's husband took early retirement so he could help Sally take
care of her father. Sally's father wanted Sally to do things for him. He
became upset whenever Sally's husband tried to help. But he could not care
for himself any longer.
Annabel
has no money but lots of treasured possessions.
What will her daughter do now that Annabel must move from the
assisted living facility to a nursing home?
Hello,
my name is Annabel Isadore McKee Jones Goodhugh.
I
have had a long and happy life enjoying (and burying) three husbands along
the way.
My
hobby is collecting antique furniture and paintings. Luckily my last
husband had a large house that he left me to house my collections.
Several
years ago, after a winter of illness, I decided to move to an assisted
living facility. I sold the big house, carefully picked through my
treasures, and only took my most precious possessions with me to my new
apartment.
I
enjoyed my new life, dressing for dinner every night, riding the bus to
the shops down the street, visiting with new friends at the facility.
However, last year I began to have embarrassing physical moments that
prevented me from going out in public. The problems got so bad that I had
to move to the next level of care at the facility.
My
new apartment was half the size of the old one. I had to part with more of
my treasures. I was heart broken. I didn't think things could get worse, but they have.
Mentally I am still a party girl, but my body is not in such fine shape.
The doctors are talking about nursing home care for me. My daughter tells
me that her house is already full. Maybe I can sneak just one crystal vase
along to brighten my life.
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