Amy Goyer

I paid for all the food.

I paid for their clothing.

And it added up as their needs increased.

And after more than about a decade of this very intensive caregiving, my mom passed away in 2013.

My sister passed away the following year, and I had to empty her house and manage her estate and ended up... Oh, that's so much, Amy.

And still caring for dad at the same time.

And the upshot is by the time he passed away, I had...

so much credit card debt that I was using to try and catch up with things.

And I kept thinking, I can handle this.

I'll dig out.

And I ended up in bankruptcy.

And I can tell you that's one of the most difficult, humiliating, terrible experiences.

But I talk about it openly because I know I'm not the only one.

And I know many, many caregivers are struggling financially, and nobody talks about money.

You try to look at any benefits they may be eligible for.

I eventually got my dad enrolled in veterans benefits, which was a huge help.

See if your loved ones have long-term care insurance that might help pay for some things.

Find out if, you know, for some people they may qualify for help just paying their heating and cooling bill, their energy bills.

You can contact your area agency on aging and ask about any type of help with benefits and case management and care management.

They will connect you with who can help you with those kinds of applications.