About Sandwich Generation Sherpas: Boomer Parent Edition

We're sharing ways to shorten the learning curve caring for boomer parents. 

When adult children first begin helping their aging Boomer parents, they suddenly need to become experts in:

• Medicare/Medicaid systems
• Estate planning and elder law
• Medical conditions and medication management
• Senior housing options
• Long-term care insurance
• Cognitive decline recognition and management
• End-of-life planning
• Financial management for seniors

This learning happens rapidly, often during crisis situations, creating tremendous pressure to "get it right" for people they love deeply.

Unlike career skills or parenting knowledge that gets used for decades, this expertise:

• Is intensely needed for a relatively short period (often 2-10 years)
• Becomes unnecessary after parents pass away
• Rarely transfers to other life situations
• May be outdated by the time they need it for themselves

Many describe this as "getting a PhD in eldercare that expires the moment you graduate." They become experts in navigating complex systems only to find that knowledge no longer needed once their parents are gone.