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Carroll S Golden
a book bubble about
How Not To Tear Your Family Apart
Parenting & Relationships
Author Insight
It’s a New Year!-Let’s Plan!
Ringing in the New Year is an excellent example of the power of positivity. For many of us, it coincides with some of the darker and chillier days of the year, yet it also represents a reason to focus on the future. As we reflect back, 2021 was, arguably, the worse year in recent memory. Globally, we saw how smart and not-so-smart decisions end up defining our lives and the lives of our family and friends. Many of the great turning points of life are reached through incremental steps and solidified through gaining new knowledge. Importantly, knowledge is often filtered by generational and behavioral finance attitudes. In other words, we need to look at the opportunities to plan for our futures through our own lens. It’s a real struggle for younger generations to understand the positive role that planning for extended and long term care needs can have on multiple generations. However, 2021 highlighted the importance of family support and teamwork team-work when an unplanned health event occurs. Planning helps to avoid any one person shouldering the burden for others.
Book Excerpt
How Not To Tear Your Family Apart
Chapter 17
The Sandwich Generation Issue Solved—Or Is It?
The Jones family achieved a level of harmony while working together as a team, which initially started as a desire to save Jodi, who is caught in the sandwich generation, from becoming overwhelmed.
Who qualifies as a member of the sandwich generation? According to Pew Research, members of the sandwich generation are mostly middle-aged: 71 percent of members are ages forty to fifty-nine, 19 percent are younger than age forty, and 10 percent are age sixty or older. Men and women are equally likely to be members of the sandwich generation.41
Relationships are a key element to an individual’s well-being throughout their life span.42 But whether it is work, education, marriage or the dissolution of a marriage or partnership, military service, or travel, distance exacerbates the challenges of being caught in the sandwich generation. Another popular expression for this upside-down responsibility is role reversal. The child must take on the role of the parent. Psychologically, let alone physically or financially, this is not an easy task.
As we saw with the Jones family, becoming caught in the sandwich generation typically starts with just “helping out.” A chore here or there. Gradually, caregiver responsibilities increase along with care needs. Since it appears that you are handling things, other family members or friends may not even be aware or want to acknowledge the impact it is having on both you and the care recipient. Sharing Jodi’s story as she and her family move through the three simple steps is a way to introduce the topic and suggest a way to formulate a plan.
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