Your retirement may be carefully planned. Then an aging parent begins needing more of your time, attention and support.

When Your Retirement Starts Revolving Around Your Parent

Your retirement may be carefully planned. Then an aging parent begins needing more of your time, attention and support.

The challenge is not simply caregiving. It is figuring out how to protect their independence without gradually giving up your own.

This week, I look at what happens when your retirement starts revolving around your parent.

Who is shaping how you spend your time?

The relationships around us can add meaning, connection and support to our lives. They can also influence how we use our time and the choices we make about what comes next. The free Social Network Audit can help you take a closer look at the relationships surrounding your life and the role they play in how you spend your time. Download the Form →

Have the Conversation Before You Need It

Conversations about an aging parent's future are easier to postpone when everything is going well.

Take two minutes this week and think about what you actually know about your parent's wishes. Where do they want to live if independent living becomes difficult? Who do they expect to help? Have they thought about transportation, healthcare decisions or what happens if their current living arrangement no longer works?

You do not need to solve everything in one conversation.

But knowing what your parent wants before circumstances force a decision can preserve something important for both generations: choice.

Caregiving Time Rarely Arrives on a Schedule

It is difficult to plan for the time an aging parent may eventually need because that time does not arrive neatly.

It might begin with an occasional appointment, phone call or visit. Then transportation, healthcare decisions, housing changes and unexpected problems begin occupying larger pieces of the week.

That is why planning for an aging parent is also a form of time planning.

You may not know how many hours will eventually be required. You can still think ahead about how much flexibility exists in your retirement lifestyle and what you want to protect if those demands increase.

That second one especially reinforces the central premise of this week's article: “The money is not the issue; it is the time.”

Are You Designing the Same Retirement?

You and your partner may share a retirement, but that does not mean you have the same expectations for how you will live it. The Couples Retirement Time Analysis compares your individual perspectives and highlights where you align and where a conversation may be needed. Couples Retirement Time Analysis: $89 Learn More →

Continue Reading

​The Power of Slow Growth​

​You’re Busy. But Are You Actually Moving Forward?​

​The Beauty of Time​

​​​​​

​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 423 Orchard Pass Ave, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081