Everyone has their own unique ways of planning for their retirement— and for many, it may comprise a plan to expand their family, meaning adoption for their retired life.
Adopting a child or an adult is beyond an emotional experience; it is also the most significant life-changing thing one can do. However, putting the reward factor aside, financial considerations are associated with adoption in later life.
Depending on one’s financial stability and adoption choices, it can be a good choice, but the chances of it impacting life savings are also quite significant.
Let’s discuss all the factors one needs to consider regarding balancing retirement life and later life adoption.
Retirement and Later Life Adoption
The first concern for anyone nearing retirement is to get their finances well sorted. The entire process of adoption itself is expensive, and the expenses coupled with supporting their adoptive children must be planned ahead.
Yes, retirement may feel like you have a lot of free time, and worrying about an empty nest is common. But, we strongly feel that one should only consider adoption based on three factors:
- Physical Condition
- Financial Management
- Savings
If you tick all the above, you are a good candidate for adoption. Raising a child is a demanding full-time job. If your health does not allow you to care for a child, we suggest you look into adopting an adult. Get in touch with adoption lawyers to span out your best option. It’s important to understand that you need to find a balance between parenting your adoptive child and managing your own retirement funds.
With an additional set of expenses, many people often seem to think that their savings plan is a possible solution. But, to tell you the truth, it’s probably not the wisest financial decision one can take to support adoption later in life. However, it’s a balance that your attorneys can help you with.
Speak to a professional financial advisor who can help you craft a solid plan while keeping your retirement savings untouched.
Reasons For Choosing to Adopt Later in Life
It’s not necessary for retired people to adopt a newborn; plus, it also doesn’t make much sense. Raising a newborn means staying up at odd hours, disrupting sleep, and attending to their needs 24/7, which is a lot for someone who has recently retired (age-wise). However, it’s not entirely off the table. Before expanding a family, one needs to consider what it takes to support a new member.
The thought of adoption can arise from having free time due to retirement, expanding a family after someone has remarried later in life, or simply because they miss parenting their children, who are now grown adults.
In the following section, we’ve discussed the benefits of placing baby up for adoption.
Advantages of Being an Older Parent
The first benefit of being an older parent is having someone to spend your retired days with. In today’s modern day and age, families no longer feel the urge to live together; children like to live on their own as soon as they finish college. As a result, parents are only bummed with their empty nests when they retire from work.
According to a study from 2007, 73% of adoptive parents were aged between 40-60.
Older parents often have the advantage of acquiring a life full of experience, which helps a lot while raising a child. They can easily use their life skills to ace their parenting skills.
Additionally, there’s an emotional maturity that plays a huge role in being an old age parent. There are more advantages, such as having stable relationships, financial stability, access to resources, and, most importantly, flexibility.
Reassess Financial Plan
People who intend to adopt later in life must seek financial advice for various reasons. The truth about adopting at an old age is that parents are no longer able to physically “do-it-all.” To give you a rough idea, parenting at the age of 70 sounds like a struggle, and the probability of successfully fulfilling a child’s needs at that age is quite low. Furthermore, they also require coverage for their adoptive children. Here are some ways to improve your financial stability before adopting a child.
Personal Health Insurance
One should secure personal health insurance to cover all kinds of medical expenses. People nearing retirement and intending to adopt a child should consider buying private health insurance that includes coverages like glasses or orthodontics for their dependents. The idea is to keep their retirement savings intact.
Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI)
LTCI helps to protect against increasing healthcare costs over time. For adoption candidates in their 50s, there’s a high chance that they will require assistance with long-term care. In addition, having healthcare expenses can be financially stressful, hence opting for LTCE can provide you with the funds needed for homecare without pulling out your savings.
Life Insurance
One needs to assess their health plans to have a clear understanding of whether it’s going to help them in the long run or not. Then, if required, add beneficiaries so the funds are allocated directly to the adoptive child’s future expenses, such as education and home care.
Conclusion
Since average life expectancy is gradually improving for most people, adoption later in life sounds like a practical choice. Remember, there’s no other feeling in the world than having more of your people; plus, the more, the merrier!
If you are confident about your financial stability and overall health, we say you start exploring your adoption process. And we genuinely hope you find your match soon! Good luck
