'There are only four kinds of people in the world—those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.'

Women more likely than men to report strain of being a caregiver

A Pew Research Center caregiver analysis from 2026 indicates that, though men and women both say caring for aging parents improved their relationships with their parents, women are more likely than men to report that it had a negative impact on their emotional well-being and physical health.

How Alzheimer's caregivers get pulled into their loved one's reality

Caregivers, most often children and spouses, do not just witness a family member's cognitive decline—they also often become drawn into it, navigating a world in which the typical rules of time, order, or logical continuity may not apply.

See the challenges of navigating Alzheimer's caregiving

This 2025 PBS documentary provides a window into the experiences of three families navigating the struggles and beauty of caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer's.

Links between long-term caregiving and chronic stress

This Cleveland Clinic overview suggests that around 60% of people caring for family or loved ones with health conditions will experience burnout. Caregivers prepare meals, help with transportation, administer medications, and perform daily tasks for others, all while managing their own lives. This guide may help readers overcome the guilt or frustration of long-term caregiving to seek alternative options.

'When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.''

- Mister Rogers (1928-2003)

'We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.'

- President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

Dementia caregiver training programs exist—but they aren't common

Comprehensive dementia care programs go beyond offering support to caregivers. They train people on how to modify their homes, communicate with their loved ones with dementia, and cope with the stress of caregiving, among other skills. Yet despite evidence showing their effectiveness and the economic benefit of avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits, these programs are often poorly funded and difficult to find.

Financial caregiving 101

In this podcast episode, a financial expert outlines how to prepare to financially take care of an elderly parent before they get sick or an emergency happens. This includes ensuring their payments are automated, getting access codes for their cell phones and accounts, and more.

A quote by Whitney Houston

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

'It takes a lot of courage to be happy, but I've got courage, so I think I will be happy again.'

- Actress Florence Henderson (1934–2016)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

Ten writers and thinkers on what growing older actually requires of us

The Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran.

Alzheimer's as a family disease: When children become "parents"

Kitty Eisele's 81-year-old dad went missing while on a snowy, four-hour drive from Minneapolis to Iowa City. It was the first emergency that spelled out the danger of her dad's dementia diagnosis—and captures how Alzheimer's impacts entire families, with the influx of responsibility that comes with caregiving.

Millions of aging Americans are facing dementia or cognitive impairment—alone

An estimated 4.3 million people aged 55 or older who have cognitive impairment or dementia live alone in the US. The individuals facing these challenges are more likely to be women, people of color, and to generally be poorer and less educated than other older adults who are also living alone.

'Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage.'

-Frances Perkins (1880-1965), first female member of US Cabinet

'You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.'

- Musician and activist Joan Baez (1941-present)

Meeting someone with common healthcare challenges can be life-changing

The understanding that comes from meeting others who have similar experiences can provide hope that life can get better, the solace of affirmation, and make navigating a new diagnosis or a rare illness, in particular, much easier.

'The bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.'

- Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

A Quote by Sandra Day O'Connor

"Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time."

Helping support others in older age linked to longer life

Analysis of findings from a long-term study of older couples first interviewed in 1987 and then followed for the next five years found that individuals who lend support to friends, neighbors, and relatives live longer. Non-helpers were more than twice as likely to die as helpers during the five-year period. That's even after controlling for factors including age, gender, and physical and mental health.

'At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.'

- Singer Tina Turner (1993–2023)

'A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.'

- Irish Proverb

1975: Betty Ford, remarks at the International Women's Year Conference

"Change, by its very nature, is threatening but it is also often productive."

After a dementia diagnosis, it's important to plan ahead but also savor the moment

The next steps after a diagnosis include taking lifestyle steps to slow disease progression and completing legal paperwork about long-term medical preferences. It's also important to appreciate the moments and days ahead and find humor in them, when possible. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

'May your future be limited only by your dreams.'

- Teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)

A quote by award-winning actor Tom Hanks

"We are still in the position of waking up and having a choice. Do I make the world better today somehow, or do I not bother?"

History’s largest intergenerational wealth transfer is happening in the next few decades

The founder of a multifamily office firm offers lessons on how to preserve wealth for generations from a global perspective, like educating younger family members.

'Adults ask questions as a child does. When you stop wondering, you might as well put your rocker on the front porch and call it a day.'

- Comedian and late night host Johnny Carson (1925–2005)

'Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.'

- Polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk (1914–1995)

A quote by Lucille Ball

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

Burnout is often considered a disorder of caregivers, with teachers, doctors, nurses, and social workers reporting high levels of burnout.

America's financial burden from dementia in 2025 was $781 billion

That figure, calculated by researchers at the University of Southern California, includes medical and long-term care costs, unpaid family and friend caretaking, lost productivity for patients and their families, and the economic loss in quality of life for patients and their families. In 2025, they estimate there were 5.6 million people living with dementia.

An Alzheimer's patient discusses her condition with children

Alzheimer's is a deadly disease that profoundly changes a person's abilities and personality, which makes it difficult to explain to kids. Responding to potentially uncomfortable questions with honesty (and relatable imagery) about the costs and nature of the disease goes a long way in fostering understanding.

'Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.'

- "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000)

'One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world'

- Activist and author Malala Yousafzai (1997-present)

Sheryl Sandberg's top things to avoid saying to someone who is grieving

Sandberg states seemingly innocuous questions like "How are you?" can feel fraught for someone who is grieving—so swapping in "How are you today?" can be a more considerate alternative. She discusses how avoiding mentioning the name of the loved one or offering platitudes like "you will get through this" can miss the mark, and that acknowledgement and telling people they aren't alone can be more affirming.

'To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.'

- Diplomat Kofi Annan (1938-2018)

'If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.'

- Activist Dorothy Height (1912-2010)

'The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.'

- Saint Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

'Don’t try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them.'

- Actress Betty White (1922-2021)

Read what actions helped support grieving individuals during times of anguish

Concrete acts of kindness that buoyed New York Times readers after the deaths of loved ones varied widely. Examples include: friends sending emojis requiring no reply, coming over without asking to clean a grieving individual's bathroom, feeding them, taking them for periodic outdoor walks, and simply sitting with them so they weren't alone. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

- Former President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858–1919)

'Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.'

- Actress Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974)

'I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.'

- American novelist Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

'It might be that some day I shall be drowned by the sea, or die of pneumonia from sleeping out at night, or be robbed and strangled by strangers. These things happen. Even so, I shall be ahead because of trusting the beach, the night and strangers.'

-Janet Reno, the US' first female attorney general (1938-2016)

'Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.'

- Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)

Who has retirement accounts?

Though every worker wants to retire, only some have retirement accounts. Data from the Census Bureau shows those who currently own such accounts are disproportionately white and Asian men in the Baby Boomer generation, suggesting access to these crucial retirement plans is not equal. Dive into the numbers and get a sense of who has retirement accounts here.

Eleanor Roosevelt transformed the role of the first lady of the United States.

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou