Yes, this is my own article. Been writing and publishing for years. There is no obligation to sign up, read it for free. If you like, or not, comment here instead of there so you don't have to sign on if you don't wish.
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Yes, this is my own article. Been writing and publishing for years. There is no obligation to sign up, read it for free. If you like, or not, comment here instead of there so you don't have to sign on if you don't wish.
Just so you're aware.
Sigh. That platform is so blockheaded. On the one hand they want you to spread your writing so they get more folks to visit. On the other hand they do this dumbnut stuff to block third party links. It's like figure out what you want: live under a rock or connect! You can't have both.
Here's the article that was in the link:
Paying for Getting Old
By WinterYeti | The Intersect of Crypto Musings & Consumer Impacts | 19 hours ago
Ask yourself a question? Who is going to take care of you when you are so old you need personal care materials like adult diapers, help getting out of bed, monitoring in case you fall and can't get up, and assistance to get to medical appointments? This isn't a joke question; it's a real challenge that is being faced by more and more people everyday as the biggest generation in the 20th century is fast approaching extreme age: Baby Boomers. In addition, their default caretakers, Generation X, isn't that far behind themselves, by only two or three decades at best.
Now, do a search online; find out how much basic assisted living costs today, and then add in chronic condition medical care like prescriptions and regular doctor visits, and throw in the cost of Medicare or elderly health insurance. You're going to get a figure well over $10,000 a month. Yup, that's right, over $10,000 a month. Now compare that to your own cost of living right now and what it takes to pay your mortgage or rent, car fuel, food and cable bill. I'm going to bet your cost of living is 80 to 60% of that elderly figure. This is the dilemma facing people getting old now.
Family Caretakers are Breaking
The fall back for elderly care has been for decades family members and relatives. The younger of spouses cares for the older, children care for their parents, a relative takes care of an older uncle or aunt. However, even that simple safety net is fraying as people can't afford to pay for both themselves and their parent, the disruption of time trying to work fulltime as well as manage an elderly relative's medical and life needs, and the mental burden of being a fulltime caretaker. There is no thanks, no reward, no benefit or gold badge at the end of it. When the elderly relative does pass, there's even more headaches with legal matters, authorities, probate, taxes and estate settling. Oh, and then throw in the meddling of relatives who were nowhere to be found during care but suddenly make it known they are family when it comes time for inheritance. It's almost a blessing when all the elderly person's assets are gone to pay for their care, leaving nothing for the greedy bastards after the fact. How do I know how common this is? I worked in a probate law firm for years and watched how families treat each other after a patriarch or matriarch's death.
The Social Security Myth
Throughout the 20th century, particularly after the 1930s, Social Security in the US and similar in European countries has been the social promise to take care of the elderly. However, this safety net combined with advancements in modern medicine, have contributed significantly to a far larger number of older people today needing care in their later years. Lets be honest, unless one was middle class or better, getting old prior to 1930 wasn't a good thing. Most people didn't make it past 60 due to health, poverty, inability to work any longer or war. Today, being 60 is being dubbed your second peak in life as a last grasp before really being considered a senior citizen. However, social financial safety nets aren't working anymore. The cost of living has outpaced resources for getting old, combined with the wiping out of pensions, reductions in social benefits, and rising costs of health care. That means people have to have either have saved other money somehow before getting old, or they have to have someone who pays the difference.
Women Get Hit Harder
Women prodominantly live longer than men. This is not an empty statement; statistically, and sometimes for obvious reasons, women are better at survival than men. It also means they get left behind much longer without spouses or partners. Some live alone, others partner with each other and live together as roommates, and others move in with family, becoming that old relative living in the backroom or detached adult unit. Whatever the case, elderly women face the debacle of elderly care cost far more than men, but who is making the financial decisions? More of than not, men, either in decisions made by insurance policy or by younger relatives.
Fat Targets Ready for Plucking
All of the above makes the elderly ripe for being victims of crime as well. Fading financial acuity, cognitive decline, being left behind by technology and social separation from family and friends who passed away earlier leaves old people extremely vulnerable to over-helpful strangers and scammers. And today's thieves don't show up at night with ski masks; they are well-dressed lawyers, dirty bank managers, professional care providers, home assistance who weren't hired but assert their service, overly snoopy neighbors and desperate relatives looking for easy money. Even businesses are notorious for bleeding money from the elderly. My parent-in-laws had a friendly fellow who would show up once a week to fix whatever they needed fixing. They paid him hundreds of dollars a week for home repairs they couldn't remember when asked. When my wife took over the accounts and questioned what he did for the checks he received, the "helper" disappeared, never to be seen again. My grandfather's bank account was robbed of 1 million Euros by his caretaker and the local bank manager working in collusion before his body was even cold. The money movement happened first thing as the bank opened, and the caretaker didn't tell the family he was passed until noonish. All that was recovered was my grandfather's wedding rings in the end. A lawyer knowing full well my parent-in-laws were showing early dementia asserted they hired him to redo their estate plan. It took another lawyer to get rid of him. The scammer had no website or professional status but he was a licensed attorney since the 1970s; he simply drifted from one senior target to the next by referral. This kind of crime and grifting erodes precious money from savings over time, and the compounding effect hits when seniors feel it the most - when they can't pay that last bill anymore because they have less money than they thought in the bank.
Don't Expect Miracles Anytime Soon, Instead Take Action
Unfortunately, society has little patience for solving the elderly care problem. Too many big corporations in pharma, professional care and the health industry are making killing profits on the current model. As long as someone keeps paying the bills, they will keep lobbying to protect things as they are. Yet, the fragility of modern elderly care is becoming extremely apparent. When hard winters or summers occur now, the body count rises from the poor elderly who died in their homes and where only discovered after being missing. Many are also rationing food and medicine to stretch things and their limited dollars by cutting pills, eating less, doing without. Eventually, the rising cost outpaces them and they fall to what's left: food banks, non-profits and churches. Any suggestion to do different is labeled communism, socialism or liberal craziness that should be blocked out right. Notice the ones doing the biggest screaming of resistance are the most visibly rich.
What can you do? There is a lot possible in little ways. Care for a relative you know. Volunteer and help the elderly in your neighborhood. Donate to elderly care non-profits. Help with tax filing preparation. Report funny business noticed with an elderly person's spending and the sudden appearance of people they have never been seen with before if you work in finance or a bank. Check in on an elderly neighbor regularly so they're not alone. Mow lawns and help with landscaping needs. Scream bloody murder at your representatives to do their elected job instead of what a lobbyist wants. Show up and vote. No, you're not going to change the whole system in a day. But when you x 1 million do the same, you make a difference for the elderly and maybe, just maybe, the cost of getting old might go down.
Resources:
How to find help when it goes beyond family care: https://www.uchealth.org/today/aging-parents-what-to-do-when-parents-need-more-care-than-you-can-provide/
Elderly meal planning: https://wtop.com/virginia/2025/07/virginia-college-student-works-to-help-seniors-eat-healthier-through-meal-plan-service-elderly-eats/
Community helps elderly pay off fine: https://www.wowt.com/2025/04/29/community-raises-money-help-elderly-omaha-man-pay-off-summary-judgement-yard-care-bill/
Help elderly understand technology: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62gx83ng35o
Mental health assistance: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/depression-in-elderly
Spotting elder abuse: https://www.apa.org/topics/aging-older-adults/elder-abuse
Resources
https://www.american.edu/cas/news/true-cost-care-aging.cfm
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/elder-index-aging-costs-seniors-basic-
I'll try off the phone when I'm back at my desk. Then I can just cycle tor circuits until I get an exit node cloudflare didn't add to their blacklist yet.
Why are they running in "under attack" mode is interesting.
Yo nunca dejare que alguien extraño cuide a mí madre, me cuesta dejársela a mis hermanas, tiene 94 años dependemos una de la otra, tengo que mudarme y dejarla con ellas, eso me causa emociones tristes ya que nunca nos hemos separado, ya estoy envejecida y poseo más enfermedades que ella, no tuve hijos así que corro el riesgo de sufrir todo lo que dice su artículo que ella. Ojalá que la empatía no se extinga en los que todavía queda amor
Estoy en esa plataforma la ventaja de leerla allí es que te pagá.
This is the sort of thing that happens where you leave care of the elderly to for profit businesses-
https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/nz-news/360913500/retirement-village-became-ghost-town?
Libertarian survival of the fittest bravado may sound good when you are young and strong but wait until you are old, disabled or unemployed or otherwise disadvantaged and you may develop a different perspective.
Most retired people today rely considerably upon the state to provide for their care- in most western countries the state provides free public health but the US does not appear to do this.
US failure to provide public health leads to huge inequality and inefficiency.
Interested to know how Libertarians plan to care for themselves in retirement- suspect many will rely heavily upon the state for pensions and some healthcare.
Here in New Zealand everyone over 65 is entitled to a basic state pension of about NZ$500/week. It is not means tested. If you own your own home that's enough for a comfortable basic existence and the public health system also offers basic care free.
Recently people caring full time for older or disabled family members won a court case where they win entitlement to being paid at least the minimum wage (~$1000/week) although the current right leaning government appears likely to fight ever paying this.
If you do not have state provision of health and pensions you will almost inevitably have huge inequality in the well being of retired citizens.
Here in New Zealand we are lucky to have universal basic entitlement with zero means testing.
I suspect most Libertarians would take the government provided pension here in NZ - demonstrating the hypocrisy of Libertarians generally.
In general government provision of health and welfare is more efficient that private dog eat dog systems.
Thanks for sharing your writing here
ty for reading!
My wife's aunt is currently going through something like this. It's looking more and more like she's a victim of elder abuse, getting exploited by one of her own daughters.
I'm sorry to hear that. It's even more complicated if your aunt is still in charge of herself, believe it or not. Seniors often get confused and upset by disturbing news, they want to avoid family conflict, and they tend to trust those that visit the most. If you are not a legal conservator, the best you can do is be family and visit regularly and be involved. The more eyes on, the more you force questionable behavior to come to light. And, if you have to, report criminal behavior. Law enforcement does have amazing powers at blocking activity further.