Retiring From Work Earlier Than Planned

Care management for an elderly parent can be a full-time job—literally. If it ends up replacing a client's normal job, that's a serious loss of income.

Caregivers to adults over age 70 with normal cognitive functioning provide 66 hours of care per month, on average, while caregivers for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia spends an average of 171 hours caregiving each month, according to the Age Wave/Merrill Lynch study.

“If my client retires from work even five years ahead of schedule, then that's lost income and lost retirement savings,” said Chancey. “They may also suddenly have no health care for themselves because they're not on a corporate health-care plan anymore, which is an additional cost.”