As Nye Senior Services manager, Karlene Rentschler knows denial can be a sticking point when middle-age people start considering the later stages of their lives.
The post-retirement years.
The move from living independently to counting on others.
Becoming the oldest living limb on the family tree.
Many Baby Boomers are still caring for teenagers on one hand and elderly parents on the other, and “don't necessarily want to hear all this,” said Rentschler. “I don't think our society is quite ready to deal with old age. But it's important to get your ducks in a row and keep your kids informed.”
Rentschler said the staff at Nye Senior Services, which offers independent, assisted and skilled-care living facilities, attempted to help people with their long-range plans through informative sessions at Nye Square.
But no one showed up for the meetings, she said.
Often it takes a serious accident or illness that forces a family member into a new living arrangement to get the retirement ball rolling.
“That's the time when you think, ‘I need a power-of-attorney,'” Rentschler said.
Along with arranging for such representatives, people also should keep written information on the whereabouts of bank accounts and insurance policies, advance directives on future medical needs and treatments, organ donation and/or funeral arrangements, Rentschler said.
Past generations often kept private such information, she said, leaving family members scrambling in emergency situations.
“It's a hard topic, but our generation is more talkative,” she said. “Still, you probably don't want to discuss it during Christmas dinner.”
Another thing to consider is how to pay for long-term health care should the need arise.
In a recent letter, Gov. Dave Heineman urged Nebraska residents between 45 and 65 to plan adequately, beginning with information provided through a federal-state cooperative program called “Own Your Future.”
“Most people do not like to think about aging or the possibility that at some time in the future, we may be unable to perform such routine tasks as bathing and dressing,” Heineman said. “By the time we need long-term care, it is often too late for ourselves, for our families and for our finances.”
A check of two assisted living facilities in the Fremont area revealed rates between approximately $1,800 and $3,700 a month, depending on square footage of the apartment and care needs of the occupant.
Skilled-care (nursing home) rates, which typically rise about 5 percent a year, also depend on the necessary level of care, Rentschler said.
When considering the purchase of long-term health care insurance, she said prospective buyers should study their family's health histories.
“Does your family have heart attacks, diabetes, cancer?” she said. “The ideal is to live long and die quick but that doesn't always happen.”
Rentschler said Heineman's letter and the “Own Your Future” program is designed to relieve pressure on the Medicaid program which pays nursing home costs for those unable to pay themselves.
“The average age is 87 for persons in independent and assisted living,” she said. “Lots of independents are in their 90s.”
Ina Carroll, executive director at Shalimar Gardens Assisted Living Community, is far from that age, but has already given some thought as to how she'll cover living costs when retirement comes.
“I am thinking about it,” said Carroll, “because the earlier I take out long-term insurance, the less expensive it is. I really believe people in my age group should be looking at it. I'm finding the cost goes up from year to year.”
Carroll said some Shalimar residents have invested in such policies.
“I watch them walk in here with long-term insurance,” she said, “and I see the burden it takes off them.”
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