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Recently, my friend and fellow AARP expert Amy Goyer confided to me that she had filed for bankruptcy. The last time we were together, pre-COVID, she had shared how damaging caregiving had been to her finances.
Since the bankruptcy has become final (a process that took two years), she said she felt incredibly relieved and made her story public in a recent article for AARP. I think this was courageous. Culturally, we are conditioned to keep our finances private and not to talk about money woes. There is a fear of judgment and a sense of vulnerability to disclose that we are struggling. With so many family caregivers in the U.S. hurting financially, I believe we can’t afford not to talk about it.
