5 Money Lessons From People Caring for Their Elderly Parents

Shortly after Sarah Coomber moved her parents into a retirement community and started sorting through her childhood home, she discovered the mold.

Seeing those telltale spots was only the beginning of an enormous undertaking that involved hiring contractors to remove sections of walls and flooring and clean the entire house. When Ms. Coomber, who is 56, described the ordeal to a colleague, he reassured her that she was not alone.

“Now I see so many people are going through this, and they always have been,” she said.

Last year, about 11,400 Americans, on average, turned 65 on any given day. That wave of aging is continuing this year, too. Families, particularly those headed by members of Generation X, are confronting what older relatives may need and from whom — whether loved ones or professionals. It is the part of retirement no one wants to consider, yet for many it will touch every facet of life, like finances and health care, and the most fundamental questions of where and how to live.

Retirement in very advanced age is a possibility that longevity experts say could become a reality for more Americans than most people realize. Surya Kolluri, who leads the TIAA Institute, the research arm of the retirement plan provider, warns that many Americans underestimate how long they could live.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/02/business/aging-parents-money-finances-retirement.html