Companies like hers are trying to make it easier to patch together those kinds of daily services. Renovations to the home are also worth considering, including adding or converting space to house family members or paid help. Generally you need family members or advocates to oversee home care. But if that's the will of the elder, then we'll do it. Not everybody has to move.
Some people can stay home.
There's no way to overstate the power of home ownership to unlock options in old age, says Retsinas, the housing expert. Even with the economy and the stock market the way they are, home equity is still the cornerstone of wealth for most Americans. Tax accountant Richard Hellmold '75, in private practice in Natick, Massachusetts, describes several ways to make the most of that asset as a family. That entails selling the house at market value to a family member who takes out his or her own mortgage and assumes maintenance and tax obligations. That frees up cash for the parents, who pay market rent to the relative, who gets his or her own long-term investment.