The financial and emotional toll of providing and paying for long-term care is wreaking havoc on the lives of millions of Americans.

Around the world, wealthy countries are struggling to afford long-term care for rapidly aging populations. Most spend more than the United States through government funding or insurance that individuals are legally required to obtain.

Thousands of readers reacted to the articles in the “Dying Broke” series about the financial burden of long-term care in the United States. They offered their assessments for the government and market failures that have drained the lifetime savings of so many American families. And some offered possible solutions.

Adult children from around the country talk about the challenges of caring for aging parents.

Assisted living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently. But the costs are so high many cannot afford them

The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for most of the millions of older Americans who might need home health aides, assisted living, or other types of assistance with daily living.

There is precious little assistance from the government for families who need a home health aide, unless they are poor. The people working in these jobs are often woefully underpaid and unprepared to help a frail, older person with dementia bathe and use the bathroom, or to defuse an angry outburst.

Buying long-term care insurance is a more complex decision than for other types of insurance because it’s very difficult to accurately predict your finances or health decades into the future.

Are you confused about what an assisted living facility is, and how it differs from a nursing home? And what you can expect to pay? Here’s a guide to this type of housing for older people.

There are severe shortages of home health aides in many parts of the country. Hiring them is costly. And most middle-class people will have to pay for home care themselves if it’s needed for the long haul.