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Many San Diego boomers have aging parents who require costly nursing home or in-home care while continuing to pay adult child's college tuition.

Sandwich Generation: A New Trend

Many Americans in their forties, fifties and sixties are caught in the "sandwich generation," a financial and emotional squeeze. The boomers who are struggling to cope simultaneously with the costs of caring for aging parents while help your children pay for college or launch careers, while funding your own retirement, you're in the sandwich generation too. Many boomers think of the sandwich generation as the families caring for their elderly loved ones and young children.

This demographic trend may be considered new to our boomer generation but many of us at the age of forty, fifty and sixty have been supporting their aging relatives while paying for a son or daughter's college tuition. My good friend in San Diego has been doing that for years! Her father went through his retirement savings quickly, due to a divorce. His ex-wife was awarded a large sum of money. My good friend was required to help out her father with his assisted living expenses. At the same time, she was paying for her son's college tuition.

As our elders live longer, an increasing number of retirees or near-retirees have aging parents who require costly nursing home or in-home care. Like my friend in San Diego, many of these same people have children who are still in college or who may return home once or twice after college or between jobs in an effort to get on their feet. Thus, the sandwich generation was named.

The website Senior Living at About.com states that a number of boomers have aging parents and dependent adult children. According to the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, at the beginning of the 20th century between 4% and 7% of people in their sixties had at least one parent still living. Today, that figure is nearly 50%. And people in their sixties who end up caring for an aging parent often feel they are getting a preview of what they may experience emotionally, physically and financially as they age-and at a time when they are confronting their own mortality more keenly than ever before.

In 1990, only 25% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 lived with their parents. By 2000, the number had grown to 52%-and it's still rising, putting more older adults into the sandwich generation--caring for aging parents and adult children. More help for boomers with aging parents.

How to Cope with Sandwich Generation Issues Tips

If you're a boomer at the age of sixty plus and feeling the financial squeeze of the sandwich generation, there are still a few things you can do to lower your stress level and increase your peace of mind. You can work a little longer and urge your adult children to explore every option for college financial aid.

Baby boomers between the ages of forty or fifty, you have more time to plan and make preparations before getting caught in the sandwich generation. Here are a few steps you can take that may help you manage the needs of your aging parents and adult children:

    * Preserve Your Assets-Don't raid your retirement savings to pay for your childrens' college education or your parents' long-term care.

    * Plan Ahead-Be sure to consider the possibility that one or more of your kids may need to come back home for awhile, raising your monthly costs or maybe delaying your plan to move to a smaller home.

    * Assess the Situation-As early as possible, talk with your parents about their assets, how they want to live as they age, what kind of health care and lifesaving measures they do or don't want, and who should make legal and medical decisions for them if they are no longer able to handle their own affairs.

    * Get Insurance-Look into the viability of long-term care insurance for your parents and yourself.

    * Put Yourself First-Because you're both a conscientious parent and a dutiful child, you may be tempted to put your own needs after those of your aging parents and adult children.

The only person who can save for your retirement is you.

Finally, don't forget that being part of the sandwich generation and caring for others can be hard on your physical and emotional health as well as your financial well-being. To learn how you can take care of yourself while caring for others, see Caregiver Support and Caregiver Resources.

Source: Senior Living at About.com