There was a time when it was pretty easy for American retirees to live relatively comfortably in Israel. That was in the day of the $trong dollar and weak lira later shekel. Today the American dollar doesn't buy much. Social Security needs to be supplemented either by additional pensions, investments or the profits from the sale of an American home.

Today real estate values in the states are low. The economy is the "pits." Retirement age keeps climbing, because not enough money is going into the pot.

Israel has always had a healthy birthrate, but the 1970's in the states was the pits. That's when I had most of my kids. I remember walking around Manhattan with a toddler on the visit, knowing that another child was growing in my womb and noticing all the women of my age with flat stomachs. My fellow baby boomers weren't interested in babies, so today there aren't enough high earning thirty-somethings adding to Social Security. In addition, Social Security is still being paid to all the eighty and ninety-somethings still alive and needing lots of medical care.

My kids are helping me and my siblings care for my parents. That's a positive advantage of being "sandwich generation." It's usually described in the negative, trying to choose between conflicting pressures and commitments. I'm very lucky in that I have wonderful kids.

The dollar is weak, but with a strong family, G-d willing we'll help my parents have a good life here in Israel.