Aging Costs Are Eating Into Family Wealth

For many American families, the financial consequences of aging extend far beyond medical bills. The rising cost of long-term care can consume decades of savings, reduce inheritances and leave relatives to provide essential support without pay. A 2026 Roosevelt Institute brief argues that this burden is not simply a private hardship but a powerful driver of economic inequality.

“The result is a system that drains the resources of low-income and middle-class families, eroding their ability to build or transfer wealth across generations,” the report said. “In this way, long-term care is both a symptom and a cause of the nation’s deepening wealth divide. It is a force shaping who gets to grow old with security and who bears the financial cost of care.”

Savings Offer Less Protection Than Families May Expect
The risk reaches well into the middle class. Even households with substantial lifetime earnings can see their assets disappear when care needs continue for several years. “Even among upper-middle-class couples with lifetime earnings over $4.75 million, nearly half will spend down their assets paying for long-term care and eventually enroll in Medicaid if they require long-term care for five years or more,” the report said. It added that more than 80% of Americans would ultimately have to spend down their assets and depend on Medicaid if they needed long-term care for at least five years.

The Hidden Price of Unpaid Care
When families cannot afford professional care—or try to preserve what savings remain—the work often falls to relatives. That arrangement may keep an older adult at home, but it can also transfer the financial burden to the next generation through missed work, stalled careers and reduced retirement contributions.

“Unpaid family care is not without its own intergenerational costs,” the report said. “Unpaid caregivers provided an estimated $600 billion in economic value in 2021, often at the expense of their own career growth and retirement savings.”

Taken together, the findings challenge the idea that long-term care is a predictable expense families can simply plan around. The costs can overwhelm even strong household finances, while the reliance on unpaid relatives reduces the wealth and security of those who step in to help. Without broader support, the price of aging does not end with one person; it reverberates across generations.

Source: Roosevelt Institute, “How Long-Term Care Costs Drain the Middle Class and Deepen Intergenerational Wealth Inequality,” April 2026.