The vast majority of seniors would rather plan for their own funeral than for the last few years of their life—and only a small minority have actually prepared financially for their long-term care, a new survey has revealed.
Specifically, more than 75% of seniors feel greater comfort planning for their funeral than planning for their final years, according to a survey recently conducted by international home care company Home Instead, Inc.
In December 2017, the franchisor of the Home Instead Senior Care network surveyed 505 seniors aged 75 and older and 510 adults between ages 45 and 69. The 510 adults all had a living parent, and all 1,015 of the survey participants were surveyed in either the U.S. or Canada.
Seniors tend to discuss and plan for the future—but not for long-term care, the findings showed.
Approximately 76% of seniors, for instance, believe that talking about and planning for their final years makes them feel more prepared. And while 73% of the surveyed seniors have taken steps toward preparing for this time financially, more than 50% of the seniors who have made plans have yet to move beyond the planning stage and make actual arrangements.
What’s more, just 13% of the seniors surveyed have prepared financially for long-term care.
In general, the seniors who are planning ahead financially haven’t made actual arrangements because they are still in good health, and because they expect their loved ones to eventually make plans for them. That was the case for 54% and 48% of the seniors who have made financial preparations for their final years, the survey found.
While 59% of adults between the ages of 45 and 69 believe that making plans for their final years makes them feel more prepared, just 58% of these adults have talked about their parents’ plans for their final years with them.
Written by Mary Kate Nelson
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