Edward Jones: 81% of financial caregivers for adults 65+ would sacrifice own financial security

Eighty-one percent of financial caregivers for adults 65 and older say they are willing to reduce their own financial security to support the person in their care, according to an Edward Jones study conducted with Age Wave and The Harris Poll. Retirement projections assume a client's assets stay inside the client's household. This is a measure of stated willingness, not of money already spent, but it names an expense that many plans never carry and that rarely arrives on a schedule.

The same group contradicts itself. Eighty-seven percent of those caregivers say they do not want to become a caregiving burden on their own families, an outcome the report's authors call a "generosity paradox." The Harris Poll surveyed 3,223 U.S. adults who provide financial care to people 65 and older or to adults 18 to 64 with disabilities, between May 13 and June 9; a separate Canadian sample was also collected.

Nine in 10 financial caregivers spend their own money on the person they care for, even though only 57% describe themselves as financial contributors. Among the 84% who are not fully reimbursed, out-of-pocket spending averages $8,737 a year, and Edward Jones puts the total across that group at $235 billion annually. The spread between the 90% who spend and the 57% who claim the label suggests some clients are funding care without treating it as a line item — which is the version that never shows up in a cash-flow review unless someone asks.

Household spending is higher when the recipient is short of money. Caregivers whose recipients lack sufficient resources spend an average of $12,863 a year; where the recipient is well funded, the average is $7,640. Where a recipient has been defrauded, the figure averages $10,583, and one in five caregivers said the person in their care had been a victim of financial fraud in the past five years. That last number argues for settling who holds authority over a parent's accounts before it is needed, while the paperwork can still be signed and accepted.

Time is the second cost. Caregivers give an average of 109 hours a month, about 3.6 hours a day; nearly three-quarters also hold jobs, and 46% support children at the same time. Of the 49% who report personal financial sacrifices, 24% took unpaid leave, 22% passed up a career opportunity or promotion and 19% stopped working entirely. The survey found younger caregivers hit harder.

Only a third of caregivers said the role was planned and discussed in advance, and just 22% felt extremely prepared when it began. "Caregiving often becomes a financial responsibility before families have fully discussed what support may be needed or who will provide it," said Ken Cella, principal and head of external affairs at Edward Jones.

At the desk, that becomes a question added to the annual review: is anyone in this household paying for an older relative's care, and if so, how much and out of which account? From there the work is ordinary planning. The outflow belongs in the client's own retirement projection rather than beside it, and how it gets funded — current income, savings, or a lower contribution rate — is a decision the client should make on purpose. The 49% who report sacrifices indicate roughly half of these households have already given something up. The 22% who felt prepared indicates most did it without a plan.