Creative funding strategies — combining resources to make it work
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. Every family situation is different, and you should consult with appropriate professionals about your specific circumstances.
At some point, you realize that the standard solutions don't quite fit your parent's situation. Assisted living costs too much. In-home care is too expensive for regular use. Medicaid eligibility is just barely out of reach, or your parent doesn't want to go that route. You're caught in that uncomfortable middle ground where your parent needs more help than they can afford, but doesn't qualify for the programs that would help. That's when families often get creative, and that's where some of the best solutions come from.
I want to be clear about something upfront: this isn't about scraping by or finding shady workarounds. It's about understanding the full picture of options and being willing to mix and match in ways that actually work for your family. Some of these strategies are formal. Some are more informal. All of them require planning, honesty, and some willingness to think outside the typical care model. But for many families, they make the difference between a viable solution and a financial disaster.
The families who do this well aren't necessarily the ones with the most money. They're the ones who got creative about how to structure their resources, who weren't wedded to a single care model, and who were willing to ask hard questions about what would actually work. That might look different for every family. The point is thinking beyond the standard options to find something that fits your specific situation.
Understanding the Basics
Before you get creative, you need to understand what you're working with. This means being really clear about your parent's needs, your parent's resources, your family's resources, and what's available in your community. You can't get creative intelligently if you're working with incomplete information.
Start with the care needs. What does your parent actually need help with, and how much? Maybe she needs help three mornings a week getting ready and doesn't need help the rest of the time. Maybe he needs someone checking on him daily but doesn't need hands-on care most days. Maybe your parent needs help managing medications but could otherwise live fairly independently. The more specific you are about actual needs, the easier it is to find cost-effective solutions. General need for "help" is expensive. Specific needs are usually more addressable.
Next, understand your parent's resources. Assets, income, insurance, and eligibility for programs. Get actual numbers. Know what Medicare covers and doesn't. Know what Medicare advantage plans or supplement plans they have. Know whether they have long-term care insurance, and if so, what it covers. Know their Social Security amount and when they're getting it. Know what they have in savings and investments. Know whether they own property. Know what pensions or other income they might have. This isn't a one-time question. It should be revisited annually because circumstances change. But you need to know the baseline.
Understand your family's resources. What can children contribute? Is it money, time, both, or neither? Are there grandchildren who might be part of the solution? Do you have access to family property, loans, or other resources that might be available? Again, be specific. It's easier to think creatively about solutions when you know what you're actually working with.
Finally, understand what's available in your community. Call your Area Agency on Aging. Ask what programs exist. Ask what your parent might qualify for. Ask about subsidized services, sliding scale services, free services. Ask about adult day programs. Ask about meal delivery. Ask about transportation. Ask about home modification assistance. Ask about caregiver support. Many of these programs are vastly underused because people don't know they exist. Taking an afternoon to research your community's resources often reveals options nobody in your family knew about.
Your Parent's Specific Situation
Once you understand the basics, you can start thinking about your parent's specific situation and what might actually work. This is where it gets more creative, because the answer depends entirely on your parent, your family, and what's available.
Consider whether your parent is willing or able to do a partial income adjustment. Some older adults have retirement accounts or investments they haven't touched because they want to preserve them. But if those assets exist and your parent is willing to use them to improve their quality of life or reduce burden on family, they might be available. A conversation with a financial advisor or accountant can help determine whether this makes sense from a tax perspective. Sometimes accessing assets in a particular way has less tax impact than another way. It's worth understanding.
Think about whether your parent's home could be leveraged. A reverse mortgage allows people over sixty-two to borrow against home equity. There are costs and some complexities involved, but for some families it provides the funds needed for care while allowing your parent to stay in their home. A home equity line of credit or loan is another option for people who still have a mortgage or equity they can borrow against. Selling the home is another option, though it comes with emotional complexity for many people. Sometimes renting out part of the home to a housemate or renter creates income that helps cover care costs.
Consider combinations of care that might be more affordable than one expensive option. Maybe your parent lives with an adult child and pays rent and some household expenses, and that covers part of the care. Maybe they live semi-independently in an accessory dwelling unit on your property, with family checking in regularly. Maybe they use subsidized services for specific things like meals and transportation, and family provides other help. Maybe they do adult day programs most days, which gives them supervision and activities, and family provides evening care. None of these are the "standard" care solutions, but many families find them more sustainable than the standard options.
Ask questions about your parent's preferences and flexibility. Would they be willing to have a housemate to bring in income and companionship? Would they be willing to move to be near an adult child, or to a cheaper area? Would they be willing to downsize housing to reduce costs? Would they be open to more structured care services if it meant more independence in daily life? Many older adults have strong preferences about how they want to live that, when respected, actually make solutions easier and less expensive.
Document what you learn. Write down your parent's actual care needs, assets, income, and preferences. Write down what your family can provide and what constraints you have. Write down what programs exist in your community that might be available. This written information becomes the foundation for creative problem-solving. It's much easier to think through combinations and strategies when it's all written down and you can see the pieces clearly.
Taking Next Steps
Once you understand the picture, you can start making specific decisions. This is where decisions need to be made, professionals might need to be consulted, and timelines matter.
Identify the gap between what your parent can afford and what care costs. Is it a thousand a month? Two thousand? Five thousand? The gap size matters because it determines what solutions are realistic. You might be able to cover a thousand-dollar gap with family contributions. A five-thousand-dollar gap is different. Understanding the exact gap lets you think about which strategies might work.
Evaluate which combination of resources and strategies might work for your situation. Maybe your parent's Social Security plus adult day programs plus family help covers it. Maybe it's your parent's savings, plus help from an adult child, plus a subsidized in-home care program. Maybe it's restructuring housing, which creates income that covers costs. Maybe it's accepting that your parent will need to move to a more affordable area. The specific combination depends on your situation. The point is being systematic about exploring what might actually work.
Consult with professionals where needed. If a reverse mortgage or home sale might be involved, talk to a financial advisor or estate planning attorney. If Medicaid might be relevant, talk to a Medicaid planner. If access to community programs is unclear, talk to someone at your Area Agency on Aging. These conversations cost money, but they usually save far more than they cost because they help you avoid mistakes.
Make a timeline. Some changes take time to arrange. Moving housing might take months. Accessing certain programs might require applications with waiting periods. If you're exploring several options, you need to know which ones need to start now and which ones can wait. A timeline helps you manage the process.
Communicate clearly with your parent, siblings, and anyone else involved. This is important because creative solutions often require buy-in from multiple people. Your parent needs to agree to the solution, or at minimum understand it. Your siblings need to know what's happening and what your parent's needs and resources actually are. Confusion about this leads to conflict later.
Be willing to adjust as you learn. Your first idea about what might work might not turn out to be feasible. That's normal. You explore, you learn what the constraints actually are, and you adjust. The goal is finding something sustainable, not finding the first solution that sounds like it might work.
The families who work through this most successfully tend to do several things consistently. They get real data about costs and resources instead of guessing. They involve their parent in the decision-making process rather than making decisions about them. They're willing to consider options that might be unconventional. They consult with professionals when appropriate rather than trying to figure it all out alone. They communicate clearly with everyone involved. And they build in flexibility because situations change and solutions that work great at first might need adjustment later.
This doesn't require having money or resources you don't have. It requires being systematic, being willing to ask questions, and being flexible about the shape of the solution. For many families, the difference between a solution that works and one that doesn't is this kind of creative thinking applied to the actual situation you're in.
How To Help Your Elders is an educational resource. We do not provide medical, legal, or financial advice. The information in this article is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. If you are concerned about a loved one's cognitive health or safety, consult with their healthcare provider or contact your local Area Agency on Aging for guidance and support.