Long Term Care Insurance – A Little TLC with LTC
Hitting that century mark or even living well into our nineties is hard for some of us to fathom––so much so, that a lot of us are guilty of just ignoring the “what ifs” of making it that far in life. However, we ARE living longer and longer. This is great news but living longer may create some pretty severe financial challenges. It’s a smart idea to put a solid long-term care plan in place, either by saving for it or through insurance planning … the sooner, the better.
One thing to consider is long term care (LTC) insurance, which is designed to pay for medical and non-medical expenses for individuals suffering chronic illness, disability, or simply the ravages of old age. It’s important to know that Medicare does not cover the personal needs (also known as custodial care) side of things (help with dressing, bathing, using the bathroom). Long-term care insurance takes care of both health and personal needs. Therefore, LTC can make sense as a supplemental insurance to cover daily care if you need help as you age.
You may see buying LTC now as an added expense that you just don’t need to incur when you’re young and spry. But, if you consider the average annual cost of elder care, you may rethink the (much) smaller annual premium involved in owning a LTC policy.
- The average annual cost of Nursing Home care – $89,297¹
- The average annual cost of Assisted Living – $48,000²
- The average annual cost of Home Care – $48,000³
These costs are in TODAY’s dollars. With the average stay in a nursing home coming in at around 3 years, the average cost per person is around $241,219. This theoretically could become the greatest financial risk of your life.
Many of us are not taking steps to prepare ourselves for the years that come when our best healthy days are behind us.
It’s unforeseeable what your nursing home and assisted living costs may be…we’d all like to hope that this is something we’ll never face. But, the facts aren’t on our side. Planning for it now, rather than later, is simply a wise thing to do.
As with all insurance and/or investment strategies, long-term care insurance does not make sense for everybody. But, if you are a woman, it’s well worth exploring. Give us a call at (972) 473-4700 to discuss your options.
Annuity product guarantees rely on the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer.
1: Via SeniorLiving.org
2: Via SeniorLiving.org
3: Via Aging.com
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Disclosure: For informational and educational purposes only. The information contained herein may contain information that is subject to change without notice. Any investments or strategies referenced herein do not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any specific person. Product suitability must be independently determined for each individual investor.
Guarantees and benefits are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing insurance company.
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