A great article written by Jeff Opdyke from the Wall Street Journal was published this weekend.  The article discusses his current situation in regards to how he and his family is going to take care of his grandmother who was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Opdyke is going through many of the tough decisions that people go through when a family member becomes sick.  He is asking himself questions like how are we going to pay for this?  Who will be able to take care of her during all of the treatments?

He realizes that he and his wife would be able to help occasionally but there is no way either of them could balance their jobs as well as take care of his grandmother.  From a financial standpoint he knows that they could help with some of the daily needs but there’s no way they can afford all the in-home care and still offer his children the education and financial security they desire for them.  He also says that “even if we tried, my grandmother wouldn’t think of it.”

I encourage everyone to read the article because he does a great job going through the options that are available (ie. sell the home, reverse mortgage).  He discusses how being prepared is key to making everything work as well as involving the entire family in the decision.  I found it to be a very well written and fair article, which is something that our industry needs from a publication like the Wall Street Journal.

Finding Money to Take Care of Grandma (Wall Street Journal)