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dexxa00
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Are there any financial aid for the caregiver of her elderly parent if she has to quit her job in order to care for the parent? I financially need to stay employed, but want to care for my ailing father. I am worried about his eyesight and hearing is a big issue. Also, he does not like to ask me to go with him to doctor appts like he should. He does not want to bother me. But he forgets exactly what is told to him by the time he gets home. My father has always been there for me and I want to care for him in the fashion he well deserves. I need to know some options in caring for him myself.
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LynnPO
Aug 9, 2010
Dex - this question has been asked over and over in various forms - please review the Money and Legal section of this site for all kinds of threads on this subject. In short, there are few programs that pay care givers. I would NOT recommend giving up your job and thus your long term financial security - especially in this bad economy. Any ground you loose now in seniority, retirement savings, etc - will be too hard to make up and technology moves too fast to try and catch up years later. When I needed to help my mom, my employer did me a HUGE favor - they cut my hours to half time BUT they let me use family and medical leave so that my benefits remained as though I was a full time employee. By law, the leave period is 12 weeks but they let me stretch out the hours (12weeksX40hrs per week = 480 hours ) over several months. Often I worked 2 weeks full time and 2 weeks part time so that I had time to take mom to treatments, doctors and organize things for the 2 weeks that I couldn't see her much due to full time work schedule. If you move your dad in with you - you can deduct him as a dependent on your taxes. See a tax professional to help you calculate just how much you support you can provide before doing this consider ( mortgage/rent, electricity, water, sewer, garbage, food, prescriptions, etc...). If you must quit work look into VA benefits, stipends from your state to care for family at home and, as always, be sure to have his Power of Attorney, medical power of attorney or medical directives and ensure all doctors may disclose his medical conditions to you (HIPPA forms). Best of luck.
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