The Toll of Caregiving: Surprising New Data
Plus, when to start Social Security is not so simple
Ric Edelman: It's Thursday, August 1st. On today's show, some shocking new statistics regarding caregiving. There are two new studies that have recently been released regarding caregiving. One of them came from AARP and S&P Global. Another one from the National Alliance for Caregiving. The numbers are astonishing.
84% of those who are providing care to somebody say that caregiving had a moderate or high impact on their stress, 84%. Two thirds said they were having difficulty balancing work and their caregiving responsibilities. They talked about having to go into work early or stay late. 32% have taken the leave of absence from work. 27% reduced hours or moved from full time to part time work and 16% turned down a promotion. And 75% of those who said that they're planning to quit their jobs within the next year said that caregiving was a reason and half of them said it was the primary reason.
And then there's the financial impact. On average, caregivers are spending more than $7,200 a year on their caregiving duties. This is money that is coming straight out of their pocket. There's no tax deduction for it. And I just put it to you. Would you be able to afford $600 a month in providing care to a family member on top of your existing expenses? $600 each and every month. We know that there was a study from the Federal Reserve a couple of years ago that said the average American household would not be able to pay $400 of an unexpected bill without going into debt. That was a one time $400 bill. Now imagine a $600 recurring expense every month. That's more than most people's car payments. That's even more than some people's mortgages. And when I say it's $600 a month, I mean, yeah, a month. The average caregiver spends that money for four and a half years. We are talking thousands, tens of thousands of dollars while simultaneously they're reducing their income because they shift to part time work or they turn down promotions or what have you. These numbers are sobering, and I'm afraid that I haven't told you the worst of it yet.
5.4 million caregivers are children under the age of 18. 70% of them are caring for a parent or a grandparent. 30% are caring for a sibling. We're talking about middle school kids, high school kids. They help with feeding, dressing, cooking, and cleaning for family members who have cancer, debilitating diseases, dementia, or who were in serious accidents or victims of violence or were injured in war. Many of these school kids are missing school. They feel isolated. They suffer ongoing sadness, anxiety, and they worry about the future. Imagine, they're juggling their homework with the need to give injections. These teenagers are often sharing their bedrooms with their parents or their siblings to help the patients get to the bathroom during the night. Just imagine the burden on these children. We clearly have a major crisis in this country when it comes to caregiving, and the statistics are showing that the situation is growing and getting worse.
Coming up next on the show, a question that I got from one of our listeners.
-----
Ric Edelman: Welcome back. The Truth About Your Future continues. Here's a question I got from Tim of Florida.
“I wanted to get your opinion on when to take Social Security. With the Social Security crisis, would it be better to take now what I can get and invest that money?”
Tim, it's such a simple, easy question. You'd be astonished and annoyed at how complex the answer is. I've done multi-hour seminars on this simple question. When should I start to take social security? I wish I could give you the full answer here, but it is mired in the muck of your age, your marital status, your spouse's age, if you have a spouse, your total income from other sources, your life expectancy, meaning what's your health. How about your children, your children's ages? Do you have children from a prior marriage? Do you have any disabled children? And if so, what are their ages? The list goes on and on and on. It's the factors that go into determining, when should you begin to take Social Security?
And I'll simply tell you this, that if you take social security at 62, which is the earliest age you can, you will receive an astonishing amount less than if you wait until you're 70. Like 76% less, which is why we generally tell people do not take social security at 62, wait until you're 70. Then there's this other thing called file and suspend. You start at 62. And when you get to your so-called full retirement age, FRA, which is around age 66 nowadays. You then suspend your checks, for three years, and that will boost your checks by 24%, 8% a year. File and suspend? Have you ever even heard of that? This demonstrates the complexity of this. And then it gets even more complicated because we all know there's a Social Security crisis coming. And if Congress doesn't act by 2032 or thereabouts, all Social Security checks are going to get cut by 25%.
So should you take the check now at 62 while it's at the higher amount? So that when that haircut comes in eight years from Congress, you won't lose out? Or should you wait? And if so, when do you wait till? Do you wait to age 66 full retirement age? Do you wait to 70? It's ridiculously complicated. I wish I could give you a specific answer, but I'm not your financial advisor. I don't have details on your personal financial circumstances and therefore I can't answer your question to the degree that you wish I would. What I can only say to you is this, go to a financial advisor who is an expert in Social Security. Many financial advisors are because Social Security is a really big deal. It's a very fundamental element of the advice that advisors provide their clients. You're asking the right question and you need to get an advisor to give you the right answer for you. I hope that's enough, my friend, because that's all I got for you.
You can send me your question as well, just send it to AskRic@TheTruthAYF.com. The link is in the show notes.
-----
Ric Edelman: On tomorrow's show, related to this, if you think dementia might be in your future, well, your problems will start long before you're ever diagnosed. I'll explain tomorrow. Plus, I'll share with you the latest trends and opportunities in estate planning. At my Wealth Management Convergence event this past March, I brought onto the stage Chris Morgan, Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager of The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company. Listen to this tomorrow for the latest developments in estate planning, including fade out of the lifetime exemption limit, the RMD age increase, special rules for surviving spouses, and the impact of the Corporate Transparency Act. I'm going to give you ideas tomorrow that you can easily implement right now.
-----
Ric Edelman: I’m glad you’re with me here on The Truth About Your Future. If you like what you're hearing, be sure to follow and subscribe to the show, wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube – and remember leave a review on Apple podcasts. I read them all! Never miss an episode of The Truth About Your Future. Follow and subscribe on your favorite podcast app.
-----
Subscribe to podcast updates: https://form.jotform.com/223614751580152
Ask Ric: https://www.thetayf.com/pages/ask-ric
-----
Links from today’s show:
Wealth Management Convergence (March 2024): https://www.thetayf.com/pages/convergence
Working while caregiving: It's complicated (AARP and S&P Global article): https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/special-reports/working-while-caregiving
National Alliance for Caregiving: https://www.caregiving.org/news/
Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households (Federal Reserve study): https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2022-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2021-dealing-with-unexpected-expenses.htm
-----
Follow Ric on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicEdelman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ric_edelman/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricedelman/
X: https://twitter.com/ricedelman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RicEdelman
-----
Brought to you by:
Invesco QQQ: https://www.invesco.com/qqq-etf/en/home.html
State Street Global Advisors: https://www.ssga.com/us/en/intermediary/etfs/capabilities/spdr-core-equity-etfs/spy-sp-500/cornerstones
Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/
Disclosure page: https://www.thetayf.com/pages/sponsorship-disclosure-fee
-----