Your answer is why I suggested getting into some of the para-professions. It's NOT unusual for people in their 50's and 60's to get into those fields AND GET JOBS. My dd messed around for about 3 years, before settling on opticianry in college, even so, she was the youngest one in her major--by about 30 years! Most of the other students were in their 50's and 60's and yes, they did fine and got jobs in their new fields. I know you don't want to hear this--I wouldn't have at your stage of life--but the 'caring for older parents' situation isn't going to be for forever. I took care of my mom for about 13 years, had a short year 'off' when my aunt's health took a turn and I becaue responsible for her--but only for about 2 years. Now, DH and I are in our early 60's and relatively responsibility-free as all the older generation is now gone. You want to start preparing now for that time, truly. We're lucky, because with the way our finances are set up, we are able to get buy on SS and DH's pension. Do you have pensions at your place of employment? If not, do you have enough savings that you can live off the interest? keeping the principal in case you need it to fund assisted living/nursing home care down the road? At age 50--YOU have enough time to get a job that will give you at least a small pension by the time you're in your mid-60's. Dsis was just about your age when she started working at the Post Office as a mailman--another example of the fact that there are decent jobs out there for older folks. You just have to find one that allows you to be a bit flexible. One thing that leaps to mind is being a CNA--only takes a short time to become qualified, would help you care for your parents, and the hours are VERY flexible.

This being a fairly long thread, I'll answer a couple of points from ole joyful on behalf of the OP (but if I've gotten anything wrong, pls do correct me - I'm going on memory here, having contributed several times): >>This was term insurance/most are guaranteed renewals ... but usually at a substantially increased annual fee. >> No. This was an offer from the US Government. It is an unlimited term policy, which is unheard of from a private carrier. The premium remains the same in perpetuity, until the policyholder dies or allows the policy to lapse. >>If he could delay purchasing, until a time when people depended on him financially, he could (but - would he have?) invest the value of the premium for a few years until his need developed. >> The annual premium is a MAXIMUM of $365/yr and a minimum of $3.20/yr. I don't think there's an investment on this earth that would turn even the $365 maximum amount in a five- or ten-year period, into enough money to purchase a lifetime of premiums for a $400,000 30-yr Level Term policy on a male who is ratable for occupation and may by that time be ratable medically as well. Being ratable for occupation normally means a premium penalty from 40-150% in annual cost. The federal government is offering to insure this young man for: - The same premium a highly-rated A+ private carrier would charge to a healthy, non-smoking, "low-risk occupation" for $400K face amount - But instead of a 30-yr Level Term that would go up dramatically at age 54**, this policy remains in force and the premium remains the same, forever. ** For those that are not conversant with Level Term, the premium remains the same for the set number of years, but after that jumps so high (because you are now 10, 20, or 30 yrs older) that everybody drops the policy. So you want to have the term policy last until you have no need for it any longer. How high does it go? Well, after the Level Term period expires, it becomes an Annual Renewable Term policy, which is what ole joyful is referring to. For example, on a $250K policy I purchased on a 15-yr Level Term, I was rated standard for health, no rating for occupation. My premium is currently $600/yr. At the end of the 15 yr term, the annual premium jumps to $4,525, the year after that $4,912, then $5,360, etc. etc. Therefore, I will allow the policy to lapse at the end of the Level Term period.

I go to the eye dr. every 4 months, she dilates my eyes maybe every 3rd or 4th time. Then about once a year, I go to the eye hospital for a battery of tests--that includes dilating (4-5 doses of the drops) my eyes for flash photos of the interior of them. This has been going on for about 30 years. Reason I tell you all that, is that I probably have more experience with dilating than most. As we age, it seems, it takes longer and longer for our eyes to return to normal after dilation. A regular dilation generally affects my eyes for most of the rest of the day. When I get the 'super dilation' for the photos, yes, it can be about 24 hours before I feel truly back to normal. I'm glad you didn't get the 'puff of air' pressure test. That's usually used by optometrists (who are NOT medical dr's) and not nearly as accurate as the 'blue light' test used by opthalmologists (who are eye surgeons, and the kind of dr. you want to be seeing at this stage of life. A tip--when you've been dilated, you can actually see BETTER without your glasses than with. My dr. always reminds me that if I want to read, take the glasses off. If you're concerned, though, definitely call your eye dr. this morning and see what he/she has to say. For future reference, there are drops that reverse the dilation, but I know a lot of eye dr.s don't like to use them--I'm not sure why, though. But you might inquire next time, if you don't want to spend so long with your eyes dilated. Just a note to any who might be reading this. Since we're talking about glaucoma testing--be sure, if your dr. gives you a diagnosis of glaucoma, that you have your CORNEAL THICKNESS measured. The test used for glaucoma is ONLY effective if your cornea is of average thickness. If your cornea is thicker than usual, you'll get high readings and may be treated unnecessarily for glaucoma. Unfortunately, there are also people with thin corneas--who can have quite advanced glaucoma but get normal readings with the standard glaucoma testing being used today. So it's important to all of us to know if our corneas are normal, thicker or thinner than usual.

The image and link are for a bare bones POA, given out for free by a non-profit org, intended for low income persons and senior citizens. That's great and a valuable service for those intended groups they wish to help. Reading what a form says is not the same as understanding what the law requires or permits. This form is deficient in more ways than I want to spend time to mention and is probably not suitable for use by anyone other than those with very limited income, assets and liabilities. Edit to add - The reason why some of the earlier posts shown above written by other people seem to be carrying on one-side conversations is that someone removed several of my posts. That's fine, but the danger is that many of the posts that remain contain information and explanations about powers of attorney I believe are incorrect. The removed posts I had written included my views (I'm a CPA with experience with this actually simple and straight forward topic) and explanations why I believed several comments others had made were wrong. The comments I believe wrong remain, my corrections were removed. Anyone for whom this subject may be relevant should be sure to get advice from individuals with the right qualifications to offer such advice.