The Effect of Family Caregiving on Wealth-Caregiver Smile Summit Kerry Hannon is our guest on the Caregiver Smile Summit. Accumulated wealth can dissipate seemingly in a blink of an eye, when women over 50 shoulder the cost of caregiving. A Merrill Lynch/Age Wave report notes that women are 66% of all family caregivers and nearly twice as likely as men to provide care from their 40s through their 60s. On average, caregivers spend $7,000 on caregiving per year; many contribute far more. Sometimes, women find the indirect financial costs of caregiving  — lost hourly wages, reduced Social Security benefits and the missed...

read more