Caregiving for older parents and other aging family members among mass affluent military families is soaring, which is boosting costs and mental health challenges among those groups.
The share of middle-class military families — those with actively serving commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers — who care for an aging parent or relative jumped to 64% in 2022 from only 13% a decade earlier, according to a survey released last month by veteran and servicemember-focused wealth management firm
Financial advisors working with military members and veterans should ensure their families prepare for the higher expenses and the mental strain that comes with supporting aging family members, according to experts. In many cases, there are resources that can help, they said.
Military families "have a service mentality," said John Osarczuk, who's a 10-year U.S. Air Force veteran and First Command's national director of advisor operations overseeing the firm's more than 500 independent brokers.
The significant share providing medical care, housing and other needs to older relatives reflects "a combination of the way they think about taking care of their responsibilities in society, as well as the means and the capability to do it," Osarczuk said in an interview. "If you're in the military, there's a high likelihood that you might experience this."
For the First Command Financial Behaviors Index poll, Sentient Decision Science spoke with about 530 U.S. adults aged 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000. The findings have a margin of error of 4.3%. Fort Worth, Texas-based First Command is the No. 34 firm on
Average monthly costs relating to the middle-class military families' aging relatives climbed 46% in the last decade to $1,894 in 2022, with home-care services, nursing facilities and medical expenses the greatest drivers, according to the poll. At least 59% say the caretaking costs are higher than they expected, with 55% calling them a "severe financial concern" for their families.
Since 2000, the national median age has increased by 3.4 years to 38.8 years old, with the biggest hike yet in 2021 of 0.3 years,
Advisors can play a vital role in planning for caregiving for older family members, whether it's
The First Command survey conducted in 2022 also follows other research on the link between military service and caregiving, including two studies in the previous two years by nonprofit advocacy groups
Blue Star Families spoke with more than 3,775 military caregivers looking after family members of all ages in 2020 as part of a report entitled "
"Military service introduces unique challenges to the work of caregiving," according to the report. "These caregivers are asked to manage the workload of caregiving while dealing with relocations, deployments and family separations, financial insecurity and additional barriers to employment, and their own health and mental health concerns."
For caregiving military families, it's "critical to build community," according to Geri Lynn Maples, Blue Star's chapter director for Dayton and Southwestern Ohio. Those connections enable families to locate available resources and avoid "the feeling of isolation" that often makes caregiving so difficult, she said in an email, noting that she is a caregiver to
"My veteran has lost both his parents within the past six years (one as a result of COVID)," Maples said. "This has negatively impacted his mental health treatment progress. Within the caregiver community, many military caregivers are dual caregivers. Hence, providing care for their wounded veteran and a parent. As one can imagine, this can lead to added financial stressors and increase the need for mental health resources."
In terms of the potential sources of such aid, Maples' suggestions included the
Advisors should be sure to remind military clients of the potential services available to them and guide their clients through drawing down the assets of their aging parent or relative for the expenses before paying out of their own pockets, according to Angie O'Leary, the
"There are lots of resources to help," O'Leary said in an interview. "Some families pride themselves on being able to take care of their parents in a very holistic and private way. That creates family drama and family issues."
First Command's Osarczuk recently learned the challenges of caregiving firsthand as he and his wife cared for her mother, a career military veteran's widow who died at 79 years old in October from congestive heart failure and complications from several bouts of cancer.
Caring for her was "a difficult situation, but we had years of planning under our belt to plan for that eventuality," Osarczuk said, pointing out that the preparation in advance made the mental aspects a bit easier. He cited research from the company last year suggesting there are
"The demands of military life put such a burden on you that staying up with some of these topics is really difficult," Osarczuk said. "That's why we think it's really important to have an expert in your life."
