Who's going to be your caregiver when you age?

Your spouse? Perhaps.

There was a survey in the Wall Street Journal a few years back that asked men who would care for them when they aged. Their response: their wives. When they were asked who would take care of their wives: they couldn't respond.

Granted, after a few years, things may have changed (at least we can only hope) and men start to realize they will need to be caregivers for their wives. But what happens to the men and women without spouses?

Single men and women are more common than you may think. A New York Times article, "51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse", points out that we have passed a tipping point of married vs. unmarried women. Aside from the social significance of this (ie. today's modern women don't have to depend on men for support and protection --- as was the mentality only a few decades ago), what about the significance to long term care planning? Those single women (and men) have to designate someone with power of attorney, someone who has authority to make medical decisions, legal decisions, etc, should something happen to them. Of course, everyone should do this anyway and not put the burden solely on the spouse. We're also not suggesting that the women who were single at the time the survey was conducted will stay single… but according to the article, women are not in a rush to get married, at all. They like their freedom. (And for good reason! According to one example in the article, a lady, who was divorced after 34 years of marriage, was able to get a master’s degree. "Her former husband 'didn't want me to do that because I was more educated than he was'.")

Freedom and independence are great. But make sure you have planned for it--and for yourself. Most people have plans for the way they want to live before or after marriage--goals they want to accomplish. Do they same with your long term care.

Plan for it--so you don't have to be dependent on someone you may not have chosen for yourself.