4 Things You Should Know About Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care is often an area that people prefer not to think about.  The thought that you might need assistance when you get older is an emotional idea to consider.  But what if you aren’t protected and you do need assistance? It could be financially draining to you and your family.  With at least 70% of people over 65 needing long-term care services and support at some point in their lifetime¹, it’s time to take a closer look.

You decide what kind of care you’d like to receive
Most think that long-term care is associated with only nursing homes – not true.  Long-term care insurance can be used with assisted-living facilitates, home health care and adult day care.

You can share your benefits with your spouse
Many long-term care policies offer an optional benefit known as “shared care”, which allows couples to share their benefit.  Here’s how it works:  If you have a spouse that has used all of his or her benefits, your spouse can start using your benefit. This provides added protection and peace of mind, knowing that there is coverage available if you should need care longer than expected.

Risks of waiting
Premiums are based on age and benefits; the older you get the more expensive it becomes.   Not only does waiting cost you more money, your risk of needing long-term care grows.  With the national median cost for assisted living at $42,000 per year², how will pay for your care?

Not all polices are created equal
While most think of traditional long-term care polices, there are also asset-based products that can be used with life insurance.  Both types of policies are flexible and premiums depend on many things including your age, the level of benefits and the length of time you are willing to wait until benefits begin.

Having a financial plan in place is the best way to protect your future if you should need long-term care.  Sit down and have a discussion with your loved ones, so they know that you are not only thinking about yourself, but of them.  I’m happy to help you review your options and develop a long-term plan that provides you comfort.

1. 2014 Medicare & You, National Medicare Handbook, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, September 2013
2. Genworth 2014 Cost of Care Survey, conducted by CareScout(R). 4/2014  CareScout is a Genworth company.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 13th, 2017 at and is filed under Blog, Insurance Planning, Retirement Planning . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.