Part of our guide: Long-Term Care Insurance: Costs, Options and Planning →
When clients don’t plan for long-term care, they still have a plan. It’s their family. Most adult children will step up, but the cost to their time, careers, finances, and relationships is rarely discussed until it’s too late.
Key takeaways
- Without a plan, parents often end up spending their savings and relying on their children for care.
- Family caregiving strains time, geography, and money, and can damage relationships.
- Most adult children don’t want to be caregivers but do it anyway, often at real cost to their own careers and families.
Every client has a long-term care plan. For most, it’s their children — whether the children have agreed to it or not.
When family becomes the plan
Parents without a plan often end up sacrificing income, assets, and promises made to heirs to pay for care. When the money runs short or they want to stay home, the work falls to family. Most adult children say they don’t want to be caregivers, yet when it happens, they almost always do it, even when the relationship is difficult.
Three pressures on family caregivers
- Time: adult children are already balancing jobs, their own kids, and commitments. Care needs usually grow over time.
- Geography: siblings in different cities can’t share the load evenly, and one often carries most of it.
- Money: someone has to pay, and caregivers often cut hours or leave work.
The hidden cost to relationships
Long caregiving can strain marriages, create resentment between siblings, and change the relationship with the parent receiving care. Caregivers also lose time for their own children, careers, and communities. Many clients have seen this firsthand, which is why sharing stories is so effective.
Raising it with clients
Ask clients: if you needed care, who would provide it, and what would it cost them? Framing long-term care insurance as protecting their children often resonates more than protecting their own assets. For clients without children, the challenge is different; see LTC planning for couples with no children.
Frequently asked questions
Why shouldn’t family be a long-term care plan?
Family caregiving can cost adult children time, income, and career opportunities, and strain relationships, especially as care needs grow.
Do most adult children care for their parents?
Most do when needed, even though many say they wouldn’t want to. That’s why planning ahead protects them.
How can long-term care insurance help families?
It pays for professional care, so family members can support a parent without becoming full-time caregivers.
Reviewed by Tim Fuller on 2026-09-25
Tim Fuller
President, SRS Inc.
Tim leads SRS Inc., a full-service IMO (Independent Marketing Organization) and BGA (Brokerage General Agency), connecting independent financial professionals with life, annuity, disability income, and long-term care solutions from 60+ carrier partners.
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