Who will pay for their care?

According to CNNMoney.com, 43% of American Workers age 25 and older have less than $10,000 in savings. This is up from 39% in 2009. The survey found that 54% of those with some form of savings have less than $25,000 in savings.

Obviously, savings in this amount will not, in and of itself, cover the wages lost through retirement. But, even if thanks to Social Security and pension earnings, the Baby Boomers survive retirement, how will they pay for assisted living or nursing home care?

To put this in context, the current average cost of nursing home care is $8,000 per month. In today's dollars, 54% of workers have saved enough to cover about 3 months of care. 43% of workers have saved enough to cover just over one month of nursing home care. In other words, even if we require individuals to deplete 100% of their own personal resources, this will be only a drop in the bucket toward the over-all cost of care.

This leads inevitably to the only two options--generate more revenue through taxes or ration care. In March, 2005, then Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, in testimony before the House, is quoted as saying: "I fear we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation in its retirement years than our economy has the capacity to deliver." If that was true in 2005, it is all the more certain in 2010.

This leaves rationing of care as the only realistic option. For those who have not saved enough--over half US workers, who will decide the amount of care they will receive? Who decides who lives or dies? Unless you are willing to leave this decision to govermental agencies and political action committees, it is time for the dialogue to begin.