The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double by 2060 — reaching 95 million people. And as they age, many seniors are finding out the cost of care is more than they expected.A recent piece published by The Washington Post finds that many aging Americans are draining inheritances they had hoped to leave behind, throwing a wrench into the idea of a “Great Wealth Transfer” in the coming decades, wherein older generations are expected to leave behind trillions of dollars to heirs.“Marketplace Morning Report “ host Kimberly Adams spoke to one of the authors of the piece, Federica Cocco, a data reporter on the business desk at The Washington Post. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.Kimberly Adams: I feel like your article's finding might surprise a lot of folks, given how much we've heard about this massive wealth transfer that's supposed to be coming from Baby Boomers to younger generations. So, what made you and your team dig into this?Federica Cocco: Well, I remember reading an article about this Great Wealth Transfer, and at the same time, the Washington Post was working on an investigation on memory care, and that's when I found out that in some assisted living facilities, people were paying between $6,000 to $12,000 a month, and it made me skeptical about whether this great wealth transfer was going to happen exactly as described.Adams: And what does happen to folks in their final years, especially when it comes to their money?Cocco: Well, there's one headline number, which is that on average, every American in the last 10 years of their life spends $19,000 out of pocket on care. However, that number hides a few things. One is that that burden is much heavier for people who are poor. For the poorest 20% of the population, 40% of them actually end up with zero money after the cost of care. And the second thing that this number hides is that this study does not actually record what people spend on room and board.Adams: You and your team have loads of examples in the story of people dealing with this issue. Can you walk me through one example that really demonstrated to you how these situations play out in real life?Cocco: You know, one that really struck me is the case of Conrad Miles because he did everything right. You know, he saved $200,000 for his retirement years, and his daughter said his savings were gone in a heartbeat. And when he died, he only had $30,000 left, and that would have only covered less than three months of care in his assisted living facility.Adams: And I have to imagine many of these people saved and prepared for retirement, thinking that they were going to be able to leave something behind.Cocco: Yeah, exactly. And in fact, the case of Conrad Miles is one in point. He had saved for that. He had prepared both for his care and to leave something for his children, and he apologized to them. That was the heart-wrenching part for me. But yeah, of course, every parent wants to leave something behind for their child, and a number of policies in the system are making it very hard for those on middle and lower incomes.Adams: A lot of people see inheritances as a way for families to build wealth across generations. If so much more of that money is going towards elder care instead, what does that mean long term?Cocco: Well, what we're seeing is the research that looks at the great transfer of wealth and inheritance is that this is occurring really for those at the top, so it's only richer people that are really qualifying for that inheritance. And what you might get is, you know, even more inequality.