Real-life Mustachianism in old age?

[judgypants139]

I'd love to know if anyone has thoughts, especially real-life examples, of dealing with the potential elevated costs of old age under various assumptions, especially in the US where the social safety net is not terribly robust.

Here's where the question comes from: My #1 goal is not to be a financial burden on my children as I age. I want them to be able to be building their own nest egg, not spending on my (or my wife's) needs. I certainly understand the math behind the 4% withdrawal rate rule, but what about the extremely elevated costs that often come in the last years of life? I'm thinking home health care aides, prescription drug costs, nursing home expenses, and other costs that can rapidly escalate. How do these fit in a Mustachian view of retirement?

[mozar]

My understanding is that you will be expected to spend down all your assets first then you can access govt assistance.
My grandfather saved a million dollars over his career. Then he retired at 65 and did the 4% rule until he died at 80. He and my grandmother went on lots of cruises.
After My grandmother withdrew about 20k a year from investments and about 20k a year in social security. She had fulltime live in care, I think it was 30k a year maybe the last 4 years of her life. Despite all that my mom still had to give up her career because she was flying to Florida once a month to take her to medical appointments. My grandmother kept breaking bones because she refused to wear shoes in the house. She also refused to do physical therapy which made her wheel chair bound.

My grandmother died at 89 of kidney failure. Each of her 4 kids got 250k plus the proceeds of the house a couple years ago.
When you get sick (and you will), do your kids a favor and move close to them. You might think that you will be less of a burden far away but the opposite is true. And don't be a stubborn jerk about it if you need to leave your house for safety reasons.

[JHoward]

Don't skimp on optometrist/ophthalmologist visits. Both my grandmothers are living independently/driving because they got their eyes checked every year (and whenever something seemed "off" in their vision) and caught and treated macular degeneration, cataracts and [another thing whose name I forgot] before they progressed so far that my grandmother(s) went blind.

Along with that generally do what you need to take care of yourself so you don't wind up in a nursing home prematurely but eye health is the thing I have 2nd hand experience with that you haven't necessarily gotten a million lectures about already.