Northwestern Mutual study: 83% of boomers, Silent Generation prefer aging at home

Northwestern Mutual's research found that 83% of baby boomers and Silent Generation members would choose their own home over a nursing home, assisted living or a medical facility. In the same study, conducted by The Harris Poll with 4,375 U.S. adults, 73% put in-home care first overall; older cohorts leaned that way more often, with 78% of Generation X, 67% of millennials and 61% of Generation Z. The boomer and Silent Generation share was the highest.

Northwestern Mutual's analysis puts the out-of-pocket cost of an eight-hour-a-day home health aide at $105,120 in 2026, $454,323 by 2056 and $552,232 by 2060. The 2060 figure is more than five times the 2026 one, and the four years between the last two projections carry a 21.6% increase — about 5% a year on those two figures.

Annalee Kruger, founder and CEO of Care Right, an aging-plan consultancy that collaborates with financial advisors on shared clients, told Financial Planning that the cost side is where advisor preparation falls short. "I've noticed consistently with advisors [that] they truly don't understand the actual cost of care, and they also don't always understand how expensive it is to age in place at home," she said. Aging in place can mean 24/7 care, Kruger added; clients can be bed-bound, incontinent or need to be fed, and the build-out — in-home nurses, wheelchair-accessible ramps, remodeled bathtubs — adds up quickly.

The same survey found that respondents who worked with an adviser were about twice as likely to report having a long-term care plan; 61% expected long-term care and 54% had not planned for it. Kruger's answer to that gap was training: after advisors told her they were not prepared to help clients with elder care issues, she built a certificate program for those who want the specialized skills to serve clients age 85 and older.