What If the Greatest Financial Risk in Retirement Happens Before You Even Know It?

Everyone worries about saving enough for retirement. But what if the biggest financial threat comes before retirement even starts? Cognitive decline, particularly dementia, poses a hidden risk that many families don’t see coming—until it’s too late.

Recent research reveals a troubling truth: the financial impacts of dementia begin years before diagnosis. Missed payments, declining credit scores, and reduced household net worth can all occur well before any formal medical acknowledgment of cognitive impairment. In fact, the median household net worth drops by more than half in the eight years leading up to a dementia diagnosis.

This isn't just a personal issue. It's a public problem.

My MIT AgeLab team partnered with our good friends at AARP Policy, Research, and Thought Leadership to convene a symposium that brought together families, healthcare professionals, financial advisors, and policymakers to uncover strategies for protecting older adults from these financial losses.

We explored many questions including:

• What causes these early financial losses?

• How can families and advisors spot the warning signs?

• What systemic changes can prevent these risks?

We’ve compiled insights from this work and symposium in a new report authored by AARP's Karen Shakira Kali, AICP and Julie Miller, PhD, MSW , and MIT AgeLab's Luke Yoquinto.

Consider it essential reading for anyone involved in longevity planning—from financial advisors, financial product producers, banks, policymakers to families caring for older loved ones.

The longevity economy is about more than living longer; it's about more than markets; it’s about living better and safer in later life. Let’s lay the foundations to ensure that all of us are prepared for life tomorrow.

Many thanks to AARP, especially friend and AARP Executive Vice President & Chief Public Policy Officer Debra Whitman, my awesome MIT AgeLab team, and all who participated and contributed to the symposium. There is more to come this year.

Please click, read, and share this important report that uncovers a problem that is experienced by countless families alone but is of great public importance.

Please share your thoughts here and reach out to my colleagues at the MIT AgeLab.

Looking for more insights on the #longevityeconomy and #longevityplanning follow MIT AgeLab and me, here on LinkedIn, Dr. Joe Coughlin and subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter LongevityEconomy.