Plain-English elder care calculators for familiesmaking hard care decisions.
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App info and controls
Privacy+
This site does not require an account, name, email address, username, password, or public profile to use the elder care calculators.
Calculator entries may be saved only in this browser so you can come back later on the same device and update them.
Shared Journeys submissions run through automatic safety and relevance checks, then human review before anything appears publicly.
The site is not designed to sell personal data. PDF downloads are free and do not require an email address.
Use Clear saved data any time to remove saved calculator information and remembered Shared Journeys review status from this browser.
Tools+
Choose one of the three elder care engines, select a level, enter the numbers you know, and click Calculate.
Quick Answer keeps inputs short. Detailed Analysis and Comprehensive Plan reveal more assumptions for users who want a fuller estimate.
Calculation details
Can My Parent Afford Assisted Living? estimates available assets, income, care cost, other expenses, monthly shortfall, care runway, conservative runway, and Medicaid planning urgency.
Home Care vs Assisted Living compares paid home care, family caregiving time, respite, transportation, home modifications, assisted living add-ons, and burnout risk.
Should We Sell The House? compares selling, keeping, renting, and reverse mortgage education estimates while flagging spouse, Medicaid estate recovery, repair, vacancy, and family disagreement concerns.
Results are estimates. They depend on the inputs, assumptions, and missing details shown in the result.
The Download PDF Report button creates a report from the last calculated engine result.
Shared Journeys+
Shared Journeys is an elder care experience library: practical examples that make tradeoffs around care costs, family caregiving, Medicaid planning, housing, and sibling decisions easier to recognize.
The current journeys cover care runway, home care, family caregiving burden, house decisions, Medicaid concerns, and unexpected care changes.
Open Shared JourneysComplete PDF Report+
The calculator results are free to view on this site.
The PDF is a free convenience export for users who want to save, print, or share their elder care calculation. It is an educational report based on the user's entries, not a professional financial, legal, tax, medical, Medicaid, or estate plan.
The PDF report includes the selected calculator, information entered by the user, main care answer, key numbers, care-cost estimate, family burden or home-equity assumptions, risk flags, strengths, weak spots, possible next steps, scenarios when available, assumptions used, and educational disclaimer.
Your results are free. PDF downloads are free and only for saving, printing, or sharing your report.
Click Calculate first so the PDF matches the most recent result shown on the page.
Ads are not included in the PDF report.
Disclaimer+
ElderCareDecision.com is an educational calculator and decision-support tool. It does not provide legal, financial, tax, Medicaid, insurance, medical, estate planning, or professional advice.
Results are estimates based on the information entered and assumptions shown. Care decisions depend on state rules, local care options, health needs, family capacity, taxes, housing, insurance, and personal circumstances.
Read full disclaimerCommon Questions+
Is this financial advice?+
No. ElderCareDecision.com is an educational calculator and decision-support tool. It can help organize assumptions, estimates, and possible next steps, but it does not provide legal, financial, tax, Medicaid, insurance, medical, estate planning, or professional advice.
Do I need an account?+
No. The site does not require an account, username, password, email address, or profile. Calculator entries are saved only in this browser on this device.
Where should I get care-cost numbers?+
Use care quotes, benefit letters, bank statements, and state Medicaid resources where possible. Broad care-cost estimates are a starting point, not a final local quote.
Why do the results show assumptions?+
Elder care planning depends heavily on assumptions like care cost, care inflation, family hours, home equity, Medicaid rules, and local care fees. Showing assumptions makes the result easier to question and update.
Can I export my result?+
Yes. After calculating an engine result, use Download PDF Report to export an ElderCare Report with inputs, key numbers, scenarios, possible next steps, assumptions, and the educational disclaimer. Your results are free; PDF downloads are free and only for saving, printing, or sharing your report.
About
About This Website
Care decisions for an aging parent often land all at once — a fall, a diagnosis, a phone call that changes the week — and right in that moment, families are expected to understand assisted living costs, in-home care rates, and program rules with no real starting point. ElderCareDecision exists to give families that starting point: a real comparison of costs and tradeoffs.
How These Calculators Are Built
Every calculator here is built on a transparent research and review process. Cost comparisons draw from published long-term care cost surveys, Medicaid-adjacent program guidance, and recognized caregiving resources. Where regional cost differences or program rules genuinely vary, that's shown as a range rather than a misleading average.
Before publishing, every calculator goes through multiple rounds of review: calculations verified, assumptions challenged, edge cases tested, and cross-checked with independent tools, including AI-assisted analysis.
Why the Assumptions Are Visible
Care costs depend heavily on location and level of need, so every input driving a result here is visible and adjustable rather than hidden behind a single number.
Educational Information — Not Professional Advice
This tool is built to help families walk into conversations with a geriatric care manager, elder law attorney, or Medicaid caseworker with a clearer sense of the real cost landscape already in hand.
A Commitment to Improvement
Care costs and program rules change. If something here is outdated or wrong, feedback can be sent to hello@answerworth.com.
Don't trust a result simply because it appears on this website. Trust it because you can see how it was calculated, examine the assumptions, and decide for yourself whether the reasoning fits your situation.
Want more detail on how research and review works across the network? Read our Research & Review Process →.