1960: The Hidden Cost of Aging in America with Senator Andy Kim

Summary

Podcast Summary: So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Episode 1960: The Hidden Cost of Aging in America with Senator Andy Kim
Date: March 23, 2026
Host: Farnoosh Torabi
Guest: Senator Andy Kim
Guest Co-host: Michael Schreiber (from The Montclair Pod)

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles the “long-term care crisis” in the United States, focusing on the often-overlooked financial, emotional, and systemic costs of caring for an aging population. Senator Andy Kim (New Jersey) shares his personal journey helping his father navigate Alzheimer’s and the resulting financial turmoil. The conversation weaves together stories from Senator Kim, policy proposals, the real impact on families, and the essential need for a national strategy on elder care, all while providing actionable advice for listeners.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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1. Personal Stories: The Reality of Elder Care

• Senator Kim’s Experience
  • Caring for his father with Alzheimer’s has forced him into the “sandwich generation,” responsible for both young children and aging parents.
  • Kim reveals the almost immediate financial difficulties his family experienced, even before a formal diagnosis, starting with a severe fall (05:23).
  • "I remember having to pack him up out of his home... just being able to try to figure it all out right out of the gate was really, really difficult." (05:40, Andy Kim)
  • He describes the heartbreaking choice between saving for his own children’s education and his father’s care.
• Neighbors' Stories
  • Kim shares his neighbor’s struggle, having to sell their “forever home” to fund dementia care for her husband (07:31).
  • “She just started crying because… my husband has dementia now and we can’t afford this.” (07:48, Andy Kim)

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2. The True Cost of Care

• Staggering Numbers
  • "The average cost for a private room at an elder care center in New Jersey is about $14,000... over $14,000 a month.” (03:12, 08:06, Andy Kim)
  • Many mistake Medicare as a safety net for these circumstances. In reality, it covers little of long-term care, leaving families blindsided.
• Medicaid Limits
  • Kim points out the limitations of Medicaid: over 700,000 Americans sit on home care waitlists; families often must bankrupt themselves to qualify (09:21, 12:49).

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3. Policy Discussion: Searching for Solutions

• Senator Kim on the need for a national strategy and bipartisan action:
  • After sharing his story on the Senate floor, Kim found common cause on both sides of the aisle.
  • “Alzheimer's doesn't care if you're a Democrat or Republican.” (09:06, Andy Kim)
  • He’s collaborating with peers like Sen. Susan Collins on boosting medical research and pushing for policy innovation.
  • Early intervention and detection are framed as both humane and cost-effective:

    “By the time someone like my father is exhibiting symptoms, they could very well have been progressing along Alzheimer's for 10 to 20 years.” (14:17, Andy Kim)

  • Kim warns that, left unchecked, “nearly a quarter of every dollar spent on Medicare is going to go to try to address some needs from somebody who has Alzheimer's.” (13:44)
• The current lack of a coordinated national strategy is called out as a critical failing.
• Home care is highlighted as a “no brainer” (22:10) for both dignity and cost savings.

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4. Long-term Care Insurance: Industry Failures

• The long-term care insurance market is shrinking rapidly, making coverage less affordable and accessible (16:01).
• “The market for long term care insurance has really… shrunk dramatically and the number of providers… have dwindled significantly.” (15:59, Andy Kim)
• Rising costs mean even those with policies struggle to collect adequate benefits.

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5. Barriers to Care and Additional Systemic Issues

• Workforce Shortage
  • Kim notes the severe lack of caregivers: “It’s not a lucrative job... It's really physical and demanding and emotional. So we're at a real deficit when it comes to having the workforce that we need.” (25:49, Andy Kim)
• Cultural and Linguistic Barriers
  • Kim describes the difficulty of finding Korean-speaking caregivers for his father, reflecting broader challenges for immigrant families (25:23).
• Tax Credits
  • New Jersey offers a state tax credit for caregivers, serving as a model for potential federal policies (23:59).

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6. Important Lessons & Advice for Listeners

• Communication and Planning
  • Kim urges families to have tough conversations early about finances, caregiving roles, and legal matters. Not knowing things like insurance coverage or power of attorney details can make a crisis far worse (26:36–28:19).
  • “Even just an initial conversation… It's so much better to do ahead of time rather than when you're so emotional and you're in the throes of it… it just made things so much worse.” (28:45, Andy Kim)
• Seek Professional Guidance
  • Michael Schreiber recommends consulting an elder care attorney to avoid painful surprises (29:25).

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7. Money in Politics and Representation

• Kim addresses the public’s distrust about whether lawmakers really understand ordinary families’ struggles, especially given the wealth in Congress (30:03).
  • “84% of people in New Jersey believe that their elected officials are corrupt. And they're not entirely wrong.” (30:14, Andy Kim)
• He decries:
  • Elected officials trading stocks tied to Congressional actions
  • Lack of meaningful accessibility or engagement with constituents by many in Congress (31:42)
• Kim shares his own values:
  • “I don’t take corporate PAC money, I don’t trade individual stocks. I am fighting to get big money out of politics.” (32:08)
  • “I should never think about how to use this job to benefit me personally, how to profit off of it… that’s not what the people deserve.” (33:01)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You need to be like a billionaire to be able to care for all this.” (08:18, Andy Kim)
• “I wish we... had some foresight, because just a little bit of planning ahead of time for us to have conversations with my parents... would've made things easier.” (27:01–27:11, Andy Kim)
• “We’re already paying for this one way or another. People having to basically bankrupt themselves to be eligible for Medicaid.” (12:49, Andy Kim)
• “There’s no reason for people to have to experience that alone… but it doesn’t have to be this hard.” (20:40, Andy Kim)
• “84% of people in New Jersey believe that their elected officials are corrupt. And they’re not entirely wrong.” (30:14, Andy Kim)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 02:37 — Andy Kim’s neighbor’s story: Selling her home due to dementia care costs
• 05:21 — Kim’s personal caregiving journey begins, immediate financial impacts
• 06:56 — Discussion of the safety net (or lack thereof): Medicaid vs. Medicare
• 09:33 — Senator Kim’s policy goals and sharing his family’s story in the Senate
• 13:42 — The looming Medicare budget crisis from Alzheimer's care
• 15:05 — The crisis in long-term care insurance
• 20:15 — Emotional costs and the challenge of recognizing signs of decline
• 22:06 — Policy wish list: Home care and changes to Medicare/Medicaid
• 23:59 — Caregiver tax credits in New Jersey
• 26:36 — Essential advice: Start the family conversations early
• 29:25 — The value of consulting an elder care attorney
• 30:03 — Money, corruption, and representation in politics

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Actionable Takeaways for Listeners

• Don’t wait: Have honest family discussions about elder care, finances, and legal documents as soon as possible.
• Know what’s covered: Understand the limits of Medicare, Medicaid, and any insurance beforehand.
• Seek help: Consider elder care attorneys and connect with advocacy groups for guidance.
• Advocate and stay informed: Support policies (like tax credits, improved home care options) and push for a national elder care strategy.

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Tone and Style

Throughout, the tone is candid, empathetic, and urgent—grounded in personal experience and bolstered by a clear-eyed look at policy and economics. Senator Kim is open about the pain and guilt, as well as the practical hurdles, and Farnoosh Tarabi and Michael Schreiber maintain a conversational, approachable style focused on real-world solutions.

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For Further Learning

• Farnoosh suggests the book My Mother’s Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving by Beth Pinsker for practical tips on supporting aging family members.

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This summary is designed to provide a comprehensive and accessible roadmap through a vital conversation for anyone facing, or anticipating, the challenges of elder caregiving in America.

Transcript

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So Money episode 1960 the Long Term

Care Crisis the Hidden Cost of Aging in America with Senator Andy Kim.

You're listening to so Money with award winning money guru Farnoosh Tarabi. Each day get a 30 minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers and from Farnoosh yourself. Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons. Sor you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to so Money,

[Senator Andy Kim]

a Neighbor of mine back home, you know, she, I saw her, she had a for sale sign in front of her home a couple years ago.

And I went up to her and I said, what's going on? Like, I see a for sale sign. She just started crying because she was like, you know, this was our, supposed to be our forever home.

But, you know, my husband has dementia now and we can't afford this.

And I feel really terrible because I

didn't understand at the time fully, but

I do now, I do understand now just how devastating and crippling this can be. I mean, the average cost for a

private room at an elder care center in New Jersey is about 14,000. Over 14,000amonth.

You know, I mean, that is outrageous. I mean, who can afford this?

[Farnoosh Tarabi]

Welcome to so Money, everybody. I'm Farnoosh Tarabi. What would you do if caring for a parent meant putting your own financial future and your kids on hold?

That's not a hypothetical.

It's the reality facing millions of Americans right now, including Senator Andy Kim. He's a father of two, a son navigating his own father's Alzheimer's diagnosis, and

now one of the leading voices in Washington pushing for change.

Our episode today is a deeply personal and urgent conversation about the true cost of caregiving in this country. The financial, emotional, and systemic costs. This interview is also a special crossover with the Montclair Pod, my local news podcast, where I co host alongside journalist Michael Schreiber. You're gonna hear him as well in this conversation. Together, we sat down with the senator to talk not just about policy, but what happens when aging, illness and money

collide inside your own family.

Now, before serving in the Senate, Andy Kim worked in national security diplomacy, and today he represents nearly 10 million New Jersey residents. But in this conversation, what stands out most isn't his title, it's his personal story. He opens up about his father's battle with Alzheimer's, the impossible trade offs of being in the sandwich generation, and how quickly a family's financial plan can unravel in the face of long term care costs. We also talk about why so many families are blindsided, what Medicare does and doesn't cover, why long term care insurance is falling short, what changes may be coming. Here is Senator Andy Kim. Senator Andy Kim, welcome to SO Money.

[Senator Andy Kim]

Thanks for having me on.

[Farnoosh Tarabi]

Before we get into policy, let's start with your own personal experience. When your father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, how quickly did the financial realities of caregiving hit you and your family?

[Senator Andy Kim]

Well, it actually started before even the

diagnosis, I mean, you know, this, this originally started because my father had had a big fall and, and, and was no longer able to walk. And that's also when we realized that there was all this cognitive decline that he's been experiencing. So just right out of the gate,

you know, I, I remember having to pack him up out of his, his home, you know, you know, be able

to figure out I couldn't necessarily have

him move in with me at the

time because we had stairs and other issues. So just being able to try to figure that all out right out of the gate was really, really difficult.

And then just when we realized just

the continual medical needs, it was just, we realized that we're at a place where this is going to be catastrophic for us. That this is something that, you know, required me to be able to, you know, stop some of the savings for my own retirement and other things that we realize are now just going to have a huge problem, especially as I'm a father of an 8 year old and a 10 year old as well. So I'm part of that sandwich generation that's getting squeezed. And I find that, you know, my

responsibilities as a father of two boys

and my responsibility as a son of my dad, sometimes they feel at, in competition with one another and I feel, you know, really challenged when I have to, you know, be able to, you know, skimp on. You know, I've had to, you know, cut off, for instance, save it for my kids college funds as I'm trying to deal with my father. And that makes me feel like I'm just not delivering for my kids. You know, those are some of the problems that we're now seeing, just compounding and it's just getting worse and worse.

[Michael Schreiber]

I don't think people realize just how expensive elder care can be. It can be tens of thousands of dollars a month depending on the level of care that they need. And I guess, you know, we don't really have a safety net apart from Medicaid, which covers some of this stuff and Medicare. Medicare, I suppose in different ways. But can you talk a little bit about what can be done from a policy level to help people that are in this situation?

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, look, you know, this is something where I remember, you know, a neighbor

of mine back home, you know, she, I saw her, she had a For Sale sign in front of her home

a couple years ago and I went up to her and I said, what's going on? Like, I see a For Sale sign. She just started crying because she was like, you know, this was Our supposed to be our forever home.

But, you know, my husband has dementia now and we can't afford this.

And I feel really terrible because I

didn't understand at the time fully, but

I do now, I do understand now just how devastating and crippling this can be. I mean, the average cost for a

private room at an elder care center in New Jersey is about 14,000. Over 14,000amonth.

You know, I mean, that is outrageous. I mean, who can afford this?

You know, you need to be like

a billionaire to be able to care for all this. And everyone that I talked to that's gone through this situation of dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia, Parkinson's, I think everyone kind of goes through this, this episode of thinking, I thought Medicare covered this, you know, and it's just like everyone always kind of thinks, oh, this will be something that we can do through Medicare. No, you really can't, you know, for

a lot of it. And that's where the costs really start to add up here.

This is something I am trying to address.

I raised this in a big speech that I gave last year in front of my colleagues in the Senate. I talked openly, publicly for the first time about my father's problems and challenges when it comes to Alzheimer's.

But I use it as an opportunity, hopefully, to challenge us to try to come up with a fix to this. Because Alzheimer's doesn't care if you're a Democrat or Republican. You know, these, these challenges of long term care at home care. You know, even if you're trying to

have care at home and need a

caregiver, there's a three year wait. You know, 700,000Americans are on a wait

list right now to try to be able to get support at home through Medicaid. You know, huge problems that we're facing.

So this is something that I'm really making a big part of my life's

work, you know, here in the Senate, to try to address these needs and try to come up with a fix for this type of catastrophic financial situation

that so many face. I mean, 7 million people have Alzheimer's right now. We expect in 20, 25 years that

that number could go up to about 13 to 14 million Americans.

So, you know, this is a huge problem. And I'm trying to come up with fixes to hopefully be able to address it through Medicare and make this much more accessible to many, many Americans that need this help.

[Michael Schreiber]

Are you finding that there's an appetite for that level of spending? I mean, we have baby boomers coming of age into this, that, that are going to need this kind of help in numbers probably you've never seen before. It's going to cost billions and billions of dollars. Right. So how are you finding the reception to this?

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, well, first of all, I think I found a very strong positive reaction

from my colleagues to me sharing my story about my father.

And I think that's where it always needs to center, is recognizing this is about real people here and that every single one of us has some story of care needs within our families. And at a time of just hyper partisanship of deep division, I truly believe that these moments of these very human moments of vulnerability and concern about our loved ones, like what is more pervasively human than you know, these experiences we have of raising kids in a family

and watching our loved ones get sick

and need care, like those are things

that I hope everyone can connect to

in some way or another. So that has been really meaningful at a time of great division to have so many colleagues on both sides of

the aisle come up to me after that speech and ask me what can we do to help? What can we work on together?

And so I'm exploring that for me, I'm working with Republican Senator Susan Collins and others on trying to supercharge medical

research, for instance, at a time some

of that's been brought into question in

terms of how much we've spent.

You know, the tragic story is in some ways that my father actually was a medical researcher who tried to cure cancer and Alzheimer's and then now no

longer remembers that that's what he did with his life because Alzheimer's has erased from his memory his life's work of trying to cure Alzheimer's.

[Michael Schreiber]

So I was a geneticist, right?

[Senator Andy Kim]

That's right.

He was a geneticist at a lab in South Jersey at the Corio Institute for Medical Research.

That's what brought us to New Jersey when I was, you know, three or four years old.

And so, you know, like, you know, this is important when it comes to the long term care, the at home care. Look, it is challenging, but I think the main thing I want people to take away is we're already paying for this one way or another. People having to basically bankrupt themselves to

be able to be eligible for Medicaid. And now we're seeing the resources has

come out through that and by that point they are often much more, you know, progressed in their illness and their

challenges and have a lot more needs

at that time, you know, finding ways to perhaps be able to help people do at home Care, especially if that's what's preferred by the patient, by the person. You know, those can often be less expensive, can be things that, you know, we can actually support while not having

so much of it come back to us.

You know, all these other challenges that we're seeing, you know, they are things that we're paying for as a society and we're getting to could be at a point in the, in the future where, you know, a couple years down the road, like I said, I often think of this, you know, Gretzky skate to where the puck is going in 10, 20 years from now. You know, we're at a point where

nearly a quarter of every dollar spent

on Medicare is going to go to

try to address some needs from somebody who has Alzheimer's.

You know, we're already at a point where this is crippling, you know, so much of our healthcare. So I think it's important that we address it.

Otherwise it's going to be something that is going to come around and bite us no matter what. So let's try to do it in a strategic way. Let's try to address like early interventions for instance. You know, I was as I dove

into this more realize that, you know, by the time someone like my father is exhibiting symptoms, they could very well

have been progressing along Alzheimer's for 10 to 20 years.

You know, so our ability to do

early detection, try to find, you know, potential therapies and treatments earlier, you know,

these are the types of things that

can help us be able to manage this.

But the problem is we don't have a national strategy on address Alzheimer's. We have national at a time when we have so many other challenges. This is such a big problem that affects so many. We're not going to be able to

have the impact that we need if we're just reacting to things day to day. We need a real goal, a real objective, a real focused strategy. And that's what I'm trying to bring to our country is give a national strategy on how we work together to be able to address Alzheimer's.

[Farnoosh Tarabi]

You know, Senator Kim, one of the issues that's comes up a lot on my show is long term care. Insurance for many years was considered sort of a wonderful resource if you can afford it in the later stages of life to come to your rescue essentially if you needed it to support you financially as you age. But increasingly people are finding that a, it's the premiums keep going up and sometimes the insurance companies are not coming through with it, becoming less and less accessible. What are you finding as far as that and how we can make long term care insurance, that industry, more affordable? Because for many years that was sort of the alternative to, you know, affording this. And I don't know if that's even a possibility anymore for people.

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, I mean like the market for

long term care insurance has really, you know, shrunk dramatically and the number of providers of that insurance have dwindled significantly.

It's something that we're looking at in

terms of just all the different tools that we have at our disposal.

But I think part of the problem is that the costs have gone up so significantly as we've seen in so many other aspects of healthcare.

Right, but this is one of the aspects of healthcare that's, you know, risen in terms of costs the most dramatically.

As a result, it really has limited

the impact that long term care insurance can do. Yes, the premiums have gone up because the costs have gone up, but also in terms of what you get back from it, you know, it's been difficult.

So that is something that we're looking

at and trying to figure out, you

know, what are all the different tools

that we can use.

There's no silver bullet to this, but

we're trying to line up, you know, hopefully the series of options and tools that people can engage in.

And also it's about just getting people to be thinking further ahead. Say this as someone like the fact that my father has Alzheimer's makes me probably have a higher predisposition to having

this when I get older. So I am thinking about this personally too in terms of what I was saying of early detection and other things that we need to be thinking about.

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[Senator Andy Kim]

So I think for me, when I

look back on him, I feel bad sometimes. I was like, oh, maybe I should have saw that this was coming. And I was telling you I was cleaning up my father's apartment after a lot of this decline was happening and

I found this kind of diary of

his, a notebook of his where he

would take notes and you could just read like day after day you could

just see his handwriting disintegrating. Like, you know, you could see that it just was really turning into scribbles. And I look back on that with a lot of heartbreak. Like I should have known, you know, maybe if I had, you know, just kind of woken myself up to the reality of what was happening and moved past my busy days that I maybe we could have, you know, done something earlier.

But you know, that's what everyone always feels, right?

The point is, regardless of when you find out, you know, what tools do you have, how do you have the help you need? Because when we got that diagnosis and the doctor told us, you know, this was going to be help for us for a couple of years. There wasn't really a lot of other follow up to help us think through what next. You know, no one really helping, you know, shepherd and guide us through that, both financially as well as medically. You know, and those are the types of things I think a lot of Americans could use help on. There's no reason for people to have to experience that alone. And of course it's going to be difficult as you all were expressing in your own ways, but it doesn't have to be this hard. Something that I hear from everybody.

[Michael Schreiber]

Yeah, you don't get to choose. It's, it's, you know, what you were saying about thinking about yourself. So many people think that they're for whatever reason going to get to choose how, how things end up for them because we all idealize it. Oh, you know, but there's one thing I've learned, it's that you don't get to choose these things. If you could, I guess, wave a magic wand and make any specific changes to Medicare or Medicaid, is there something that is glaring for you in terms of these federal programs that could be updated?

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, well, look, like I said, I really do think that the at home

care for instance is, is really a, like a no brainer to find a way to be able to, because you

know, it's something that most people want

if they have the ability to age at home and be able to do that. And it's so much, you know, it's so much cheaper as well than having someone have to go to, you know, some type of, you know, some type of home. And I think that that's something that I'd love to be able to see.

But you know, we're trying to push forward and we really tried to create

a national dialogue about this.

So I don't necessarily want to prejudge

and say that I found the solution

because many people have been deep in

the trenches on this far longer than I have. And I, you know, I just spoke today to, you know, a broader caregiving summit, you know, people who are been working on this and hopefully we can

try to come up with real fixes.

You know, I think a real fix to Medicare is going to be hopefully the option that can have the widest reach because of just how applicable it is across all of our seniors

rather

than necessarily thinking about this just through Medicaid, which is the primary tool. I mean Medicaid just every single state does it different. There's so many different eligibility requirements and other issues.

Yes, there are Things that we can

tighten up and fix there. But to have the kind of scale and scope that I hope we have, you know, we are really looking at what it is we can do to lift up Medicare to be able to do this in a way that hopefully can reach as many people as possible that need help.

[Michael Schreiber]

In New Jersey, there's a caregiver tax rebate or tax credit, I suppose. Can you explain a little bit how that works? I didn't realize that.

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, well, look, you know, what we have right now is just a lot

of issues, especially with families that are providing caregiving and just the challenges that they're facing, you know, so for instance, the, you know, so many of our family caregivers, you know, this is affecting

their ability to work.

You know, this is affecting their ability to be able to, you know, provide and make their own salaries and it's affecting their careers.

So we're just trying to find a

lot of different tools to be able to provide some support and for ease, whether that's at the state level through different tax credits that are out there

and at the federal level, that's again,

something that we're trying to push forward on what can be able to help them be able to do this in a way that isn't going to again, cripple them financially while still be able to provide, you know, their loved one with the kind of care that they want.

So, you know, those are the types of things and I think, you know, New Jersey has been, you know, forward

leaning on, you know, these different types of tools that are there to be able to help people. I'm so, I'm proud of that.

You know, there are things that we're

doing in New Jersey I wish we were seeing, you know, all over the country.

But it's still always room for us to grow because, especially because New Jersey,

we got a high cost of living, you know, a lot of challenges. So as I was saying, you know, for me to try to find a memory care unit in New Jersey, especially

for my father, where, you know, his,

you know, he's losing his faculty of speaking English as he's kind of, as his mind is deteriorating and he's reverting back to Korean only, you know, like there are specific needs that I need to find in a caregiver and challenges

is that like we're really struggling when

it comes to workforce. You know, it's not a lucrative job

to be a caregiver.

So to be able to find someone.

And it's hard work too.

You know, it's really physical and demanding and emotional.

So we're at a real deficit when

it comes to having the workforce that we need.

And so just a lot of different

things like that are just squeezing so many families in New Jersey and around the country. But because of the high costs in New Jersey in particular, it just makes everything all the more difficult for our

[Farnoosh Tarabi]

listeners who are sandwiched and they're supporting their children and their aging parents. What is one thing that you want to share with them? An important lesson, perhaps a conversation they should be having with their families right now to as best they can get ahead of things?

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, look, when I look back on

it, I wished we as a family had had a conversation about, you know,

just who's in a position to look after, you know.

You know, my sister and I had to do a lot of scrambling to try to figure out, you know, who can be there for different, different elements, financial or in person and, and whatnot.

You know, I wish we, you know,

had some foresight because, you know, she's

got a little baby, I got two boys.

Like, it's just a lot for us and, you know, just a little bit of planning ahead of time for us

to have conversations with my, my parents. Like, for instance, it was incredibly difficult

just to understand my, my dad's like,

financial status and like, you know, just like, be able to figure it, like,

once he started declining, like, to be

able to figure out how I can get, you know, power of attorney or this or that to be able to help navigate. I, I wish we had done some

of that ahead of time. I wish we had done something just in the case that something were to happen that we have, you know, we have some of these documents ready to go that can be activated.

Doing all this scrambling, literally just trying to figure this out was difficult. You know, navigating understanding what is covered

through Medicare and current insurance that your parents have and what isn't.

That's important because when I was, you know, in the thick of it and tried to figure out, you know, I

told you, not just the cognitive decline but the physical decline of my father,

he had to go to subacute rehabilitation. And we found out that Medicare Advantage wasn't going to actually give him the

fullness of the recovery that he needed.

So, you know, while he's in the subacute you rehab place, I had to navigate switching him to traditional Medicare. I wish I knew that stuff, right? Like, I wish I knew these things. So, like, it's not a whole lot, but just some of that initial talk, even Just. Just knowing the support that you're willing to do.

You know, how much can my I chip in, how much can my sister chip in, things like that.

It's so much better to do ahead of time, even if it's a little

bit of it, just an initial conversations, rather than when you're so emotional and you're in the throes of it and you've gotten very little sleep and you're feeling the pressure because they're about to kick your dad out of a rehab place in a couple days, and you have to figure out, you know, where to get them to. You know, like, those are the types of things where I felt like it just made things so much worse. It's the worst it can be communication, right, Mike?

I feel like, you know, just kind of having that communication, you know, knowing

full well that, you know, just better

prepare you, because it just didn't have

to be the shock that it was, you know, for my family.

[Michael Schreiber]

A good elder care attorney can help just to walk you through all the. The things that you didn't know, you didn't know. You know, one final question. When you were talking before about the compassion your colleagues in the Senate had for you, I couldn't help but think, like, a lot of them maybe couldn't relate just because there's so much wealth in the Senate. And I know that's an important part of your work is money in politics, corruption and things like that. Can you talk a little bit about that and how that may or may not relate to this specifically, but some of the work you're doing in that area.

[Senator Andy Kim]

Yeah, I mean, just writ large. You know, there's so much distrust in politics right now.

You know, in our home state, you know, 84% of people in New Jersey believe that their elected officials are corrupt.

And they're not entirely wrong.

I mean, there's so many problems out

there when it comes to corruption or just special interests or lobbying and just the amount of money it takes to run for office. You know, you can see why people

feel like politics is just so detached, right.

That you wonder, this idea, like, do

the people in Congress even feel it?

You know, like during the shutdown, the idea that members of Congress and the

president continue to get paid while all these federal workers don't, like that's just disgusting, you know, to me. Or the idea that members of Congress can trade stocks, including in companies that have business before their committees, like, what.

In what world does that make any sense when we're making decisions and passing bills that have Huge impacts on the

financial gains or losses of industries and companies.

And this idea that just like politicians

are playing with other people's chips, you know, they don't really feel it themselves. So, you know, I understand that and

I'm not going to, you know, I'm

not going to call out any particular of my colleagues, but just writ large,

I think the American people want people

representing them that understand what they're going through and be able to engage and

empathize and even if they are wealthy, to make sure that they are going

out and meeting people, doing town halls, engaging.

But so often like members of Congress

in particular are seen as very inaccessible.

Like I'm one of the very few

members of Congress that does regular in person town halls, you know, opportunities for anyone to come.

And I do that in particular to try to fight back against just so

much of this distrust that is out there where people again, just don't feel like, you know, that, you know, that. Well, I guess the way I'll say it is that a lot of people just feel like politics is just some exclusive club for the well off and the well connected.

So I feel very strongly about pushing. You know, I don't take corporate PAC

money, I don't trade individual stocks. I am fighting to be able to get big money out of politics. I think the Citizens United decision was a disaster for our politics by allowing so many, you know, billionaires and corporations that dominate our airwaves. And you know, I think just every American hopefully can just agree, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum. You know, we just need to get this big money out of our politics that is complicating things. We don't even know what to trust and believe anymore because of all the TV ads and everything that's out there. And so that's what I'm trying to push for. You know, I'm a public school kid, a son of immigrants that somehow has found my way to being, you know, United States Senator who represented my home state of 9.5 million people. Like that's a deeply humbling experience. Like I get to work a job whose job description is in the Constitution of the United States. Like, how incredible is that? I should never think about how to use this job to benefit me personally, how to profit off of it, you know, that I should never be thinking about this for anything other than, you know, what I can do for the people. And that's what the people deserve. But unfortunately that's not what they've always gotten.

[Farnoosh Tarabi]

Senator Kim, thank you so much. Thanks so much to Senator Andy Kim for joining us. And by the way, a great book I've recently read on this topic is called My Mother's A Guide to Financial Caregiving by Beth Pinsker. She's a certified Financial planner, longtime financial journalist. She was on the podcast actually recently talking about what she she discovered in the process of supporting her aging mother financially and emotionally. All of it. And she's written a very comprehensive book for everybody with expert advice on end of life planning, budgeting, legal documents, and navigating those difficult conversations. I'll put the link to our conversation with Beth in our show notes as well as for her book My Mother's Money. I'll see you back here on Wednesday.

And I hope your day is so Money

[Senator Andy Kim]

Foreign.

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[Farnoosh Tarabi]

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