By 2030, one in five US residents will be age 65+, and 70 percent of them are expected to need caregiving and long-term care (LTC) during their lifetimes. With Medicaid financing some LTC for low-income individuals and private LTC insurance paying less than 3% of total LTC, the rest of these costs are borne by individuals. Nevertheless, there is limited research on how individuals prepare for future caregiving. To better understand how prepared US adults are to become caregivers, we conducted a survey of both caregivers and non-caregiving adults to understand how individuals plan or anticipate providing care for elders. We find that adults who anticipate becoming caregivers understand some elements of what caregiving will require of them, but they also underestimate many of the negative impacts caregiving can have, from financial to health-related, and spend little time planning or preparing for caregiving.