Do you know someone who is living with Dementia? Or, do you think one day you may be a caregiver for someone who has Dementia—perhaps a parent, sibling or close friend? Or, do you believe your children may need to be a caregiver for you one day? We've created our Dementia and Caregiver Educational Series to help provide you with tools you'll need to face these challenges.
According to a Columbia University study in 2022, 10% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older have dementia, while another 22% have mild cognitive impairment; and, if one reaches age 90, that rate goes up to 35%. During my CFP® education courses in the 1990’s, I don’t recall a lot of emphasis on dealing with clients who are living with dementia or being caregivers themselves. I wish there had been because we, at Meira Wealth, are now experiencing a rapidly increasing need to learn about this disease as it is impacting our clients and their families at an alarming rate. Personally, I have a family member who has recently been diagnosed with dementia, so I am living with the life changing impacts of caregiving challenges—and we are all searching for knowledge to be helpful for the caregivers.
Our search has taken us to Dr. TamCummings, Ph.D. thanks to a current client’s recommendation. Tam founded her company in 2009 with the mission to “Inspire, Educate and Empower DementiaCaregivers”. Now her professional gerontology practice is recognized as one of the nation’s leading educators of dementia caregivers. We have asked her to lead a series of five live webinar programs for our clients and friends, so that we can all learn about the underlying causes of dementia and how the progression of the disease can impact all involved. She states… “My approach involves providing you with the tools you need to understand dementia and to emerge from the caregiving journey feeling you did your best in confronting 'the long goodbye.'”
We hope that you can join us, whether you are currently a caregiver, have a friend or family member who is, are diagnosed yourself or just want to learn!
To end, an update on what the younger generation of CFP®’s are learning: a specific topic area on eldercare and special-needs planning is now included in the Certified Financial PlannerTM curriculum, so Jorge, Debbie, and Rubina have benefited from their educational requirements! Now we will all learn together.