Having "The Talk" with your elderly parents

Submitted by Beth Macy on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 14:43.

That will be the subject of our last article in the series, scheduled to run Aug. 24. How do you broach the subject of long-term care, caregiving and end-of-life issues with your parents?

Some recent stats I've run across from MetLife AARP:
47 percent of adult children caregivers are in the workforce and have to balance working with caring for their elderly parents.
70 percent have never once discussed finances with their parents.

As Smith Mountain Lake author and nationally known elder-care speaker Barbara McVicker says: "So you don't know if you have to work five more years to support your parents, of if they have so much money under the mattress that you can all go on a cruise."

Does anyone have a strategy they've used to broach the subject that they can share here?

I'll feature more of Barbara's advice in my Aug. 24 story....
As well as her last-resort advice: "If all else fails, TEARS! You guilt them into it."

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