<prompt> Human: Im 25, and I am 110 positive I will not have children. I understand that this means I will probably need to hire a full-time caregiver move into an assisted living home for the last years of my life, and given current and future medical advances, I might well live into my 90s or 100s. How should I customize my retirement planning to accommodate this reality, if at all? I realize that everyone SHOULD plan to fund their own long-term care in retirement, but many people assume theyll get some care material assistance from their kids, or they dont want to face the reality that they could live to be super-old and need full-time care for decades. I dont want to find myself alone and broke at 90 with no one to turn to.Whats your advice, beyond just save as much as possible?  <response>: Honestly, you are overestimating the benefits of having children. And also overestimating the chance of needing long-term care. 1. Ive worked in some retirement homes, and most people were only rarely visited by their children. If they were lucky, a kid would visit once a week, on Sunday. Less lucky: only on holidays and birthday. Some people never had visitors. Sad, yes. My mother and her siblings did take good care of their mother, but even that meant maybe one visit per three days or so. These days, only few older people move in with their kids and are taken care of by them 247. 2. Statistics about needing long-term care are here Some people will need round-the-clock professionalpaid long term care in nursing homes. Many need nothing at all, or much less. Which is then also cheaper.In the end, I think a person prepares in the best possible way by assuming he or she will have to pay for the care himherself. So get good health insurance, and perhaps long-term care insurance not necessary where I live, but probably necessary in the US. Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Try to be a good friend so that maybe you get some help when you need it.Not having child-related expenses will mean you and I, by the way can quite easily save up for other possible expenses. 