Actually ,I meant to say “minimum wage in my city for just 40 hours a week” because paying for 168 hours is just not possible - even those working through agencies paid for by Medicaid in my state are only paid for about 12 or 13 hours a day if they live-in.
I don’t want to be the curmudgeon who ruins a good story, but I’ve encountered these arrangements when they become criminal charges of exploitation of the elderly.
When somebody gets authority over an older person’s financial situation, they are at risk of being held criminally responsible if they are accused of wasting the money.
It doesn’t even have to be malicious. Of course, there are cases where the caregiver who has the credit cards spends lavishly on themselves. But there are also situations where family members, who are not happy that their inheritance is being squandered, take issue with some “stranger“ spending “their“ money. It may not even matter if it’s to make the elderly person happy in their final years.
My advice for somebody who is considering some sort of arrangement like this would be to get a written agreement with the elderly person’s closest living relative. You would want to make sure that you have authorization from the next of kin to avoid accusations of stealing, and I would imagine that you would want to keep pretty detailed receipts to avoid accusations that you are using the money for improper purposes.
Then again, at that point you may end up with the tax liability that was mentioned above, and it may just become too formal and arrangement. It’s sad to say, but protecting yourself may make this type of caregiver situation more trouble than it’s worth.
Here in Minnesota, there is a program running that matches some elderly folks with the extra space with college students who need to be close to school but can’t afford rent or student housing. They are expected to do some shopping and heavy lifting and be company for the seniors. It allows seniors to stay in their homes and the students to live near their college or university. Sometimes the relationship runs longer than that just because these paired up people often learn to enjoy each other’s company enough that they don’t want to part.