Chris Farrell

OK, so to be really clear here, David, not every older adult develops dementia.

I mean, far from it.

But the evidence is overwhelming that the risk of dementia rises with age.

For instance, there was a recent study.

It's from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

And the scholars estimate that the odds of developing dementia reach 4 percent by age 75 and 20 percent by age 85.

And most of the risk of dementia comes after 85 years of age.

There's this whole cottage industry of researchers, I mean, from all these multiple disciplines, and they found that finances deteriorate among those who are dealing with cognitive decline and eventually dementia.

And the economic cost to their wealth, it often shows up, David, six to eight years before dementia symptoms are obvious or there's a clinical diagnosis.

So this recently published study by four researchers, and it builds on earlier studies to explore the reasons behind the documented fall in wealth among those who eventually developed dementia compared to those who don't.

Absolutely.

They examine several possible explanations for this widening financial gap.

And here's what they rule out.

reduced earnings, higher out-of-pocket medical bills, purposely spending down assets to qualify for Medicaid, and rationally spending more to enjoy life before the symptoms worsen.

And they also say the intriguing possibility of reverse causation, meaning that the shock of poor finances is what leads to cognitive decline,

Isn't that persuasive?

Is not that persuasive.

The evidence is overwhelming that impaired financial decision making in the years before dementia diagnosis is the most plausible reason.

All right.

Absolutely.