If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are a baby boomer.
According to recent research, the baby boomer generation occupies a big portion of the world’s population. In the U.S., it represents nearly 20% of the population.
Recent research has shown that as the generation becomes older, they need to plan for aging, including financial planning and living arrangements.
Kathryn Crespin, a researcher at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, suggests that all baby boomers know five things important for their health:
In the oldest age group, there are more women than men.
Men’s life expectancy has been increasing since 1980, but women still outnumber men in the oldest age groups.
For example, women make up nearly two-thirds of Virginia’s 85-and-older population.
The life expectancy gap between men and women means there are different aging experiences, support needs, and planning considerations.
More women than men develop Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
Aging is a big risk factor for dementia. Because there are more women survive to an older age, the rate of dementia will be higher in the group.
More women than men may have a disability in old age.
When women survive to an older age, they may have to deal with the disability of their body.
For example, more than 50% of Virginian women age 85 or older have ambulatory and/or independent living disabilities.
More women than men live alone in old age.
Longer life expectancy in women means more women will live alone in old age. This is because women tend to outlive their male partners.
In addition, the high divorce rates mean men are more likely to get remarried than women. They often marry women of a younger age.
More women may need long-term care.
Women who live in old age are likely to need professional, paid, long-term care.
The researcher suggests that Medicare only pay for long-term care in certain circumstances for a very short time.
Old people need health insurance to cover the care or have to pay out of pocket. It is important to think about a financial plan before getting old.
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