Dementia Care Drains 82-Year-Old Woman's $389,000 Savings, Leaving 24-30 Months of Funds
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 19
Dementia Care Drains 82-Year-Old Woman's $389,000 Savings, Leaving 24-30 Months of Funds
1 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jul 19
Summary
$389,000 has already been spent on Alison George's mother's room and board at two memory-care facilities since 2021, excluding medication, copays, therapy and other care.
The 82-year-old woman, who has late-stage dementia, Alzheimer's and aphasia, now lives in a lower-cost facility where care still runs about $5,500 a month out of pocket against roughly $4,000 in monthly income.
George and her two sisters say the remaining savings will cover only another 24 to 30 months, after years of escalating needs that included a $45,000 home conversion and a prior facility charging about $7,800 a month.
The family had urged both parents to buy long-term-care insurance, but they declined; George's father, who had Lewy body dementia, died in 2023 after also requiring institutional care.
George said the financial strain has turned both parents' illnesses into a monthly budgeting exercise, underscoring how prolonged dementia care can exhaust middle-class retirement resources.