Most of us envision ourselves living a long life. Ideally we have planned throughout our working years for retirement by creating a financially sound retirement portfolio which will allow us to live our retirement dreams. While plannning, it's important to understand the potential impact that needing long-term care may have on your assets, your family and your future. The financial impact is obvious. In the event that you may require long term care, if a plan hasn't been put in place prior to the need, the costs associated for this care is significant. What may have taken you a lifetime to accumulate so you could retire and maintain your desired lifestyle can be seriously eradicated by just paying for a couple of years of long term care. If the care is provided by family, the emotional and physical toll that it can take on your loved ones can be significant. The care givers in this type of situation can get exhausted emotionally and experience physical wear and tear, (just ask anyone you has found themselves in this position). The consequences don't end there. Your quality of life and ability to maintain your independence within your community are also impacted by not having a plan in place. This is the type of situation that most of us would like to avoid and the only way to do that is with prior planning. Remember long term care insurance provides a steady, predictable stream of income which your family can rely on to provide for you. The greatest benefit that long term care insurance provides is this: your loved ones are able to care ABOUT YOU instead of having to care FOR YOU.
Next we'll discuss the planning process.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Impact of Long Term Care II
What exactly is Long Term Care? It is simply defined as care provided by another party for the benefit of those who are unable to care for themselves. It can include help with the very basic housekeeping chores such as cooking meals, paying bills and shopping. It almost always involves assistance with the most personal aspects of someone's life such as bathing, dressing, eating and transferring from one place to another. This care is usually for an extended period of time and requires supervision for a medical condition that can be managed but not cured. The ideal delivery for this care is in the individual's home for as long as possible so that they can be maintained in their community. It can also be recieved in an assisted living or nursing home facility.
So what exactly is the purpose of Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI)? LTCI provides a predictable, guaranteed stream of income that pays for the care and protects the family from financial hardship allowing them to maintain their way of living. For those individuals that do not have a Long Term Care Insurance policy, their care becomes self-funded and can (and often does) wipe out most of the nest egg that has been put away for college, vacations, retirement and any other dreams the family may have had. The government does not start to pay for an individual's long term care until their personal funds are spent down to a specific amount according to governement guidelines.
Long Term Care Insurance is a pro-active plan to protect and preserve the family from the consequences that providing this type of care brings.
Follow my blog as I dig deeper into these issues and provide solutions.
So what exactly is the purpose of Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI)? LTCI provides a predictable, guaranteed stream of income that pays for the care and protects the family from financial hardship allowing them to maintain their way of living. For those individuals that do not have a Long Term Care Insurance policy, their care becomes self-funded and can (and often does) wipe out most of the nest egg that has been put away for college, vacations, retirement and any other dreams the family may have had. The government does not start to pay for an individual's long term care until their personal funds are spent down to a specific amount according to governement guidelines.
Long Term Care Insurance is a pro-active plan to protect and preserve the family from the consequences that providing this type of care brings.
Follow my blog as I dig deeper into these issues and provide solutions.
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Impact of Long Term Care
The Wall Street Journal states, "..a couple turning 65 has a 75% chance that one of them will need Long Term Care. At this rate an entire family can be affected, placing the children at risk of a negative inheritance."
Over the next several weeks, I'm going to provide information that will hopefully, give you a better understanding about Long Term Care Insurance, who needs it, how it works and your options. If you don't think this is something that is relevant to you, keep this in mind. Every day in the United States alone, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the number of centenarians, people who live to be 100, rose from 2,300 in 1950 to nearly 80,000 in 2010, and will exceed 600,000 by 2050. And according to the Society of Actuaries, a 65-year-old couple now has a 31 percent chance of at least one spouse living past the age of 95. The odds of a person needing Long Term Care in a nursing home increase with age. Some statistics state that 36% of those that are 45 or older will be affected, 49% for those 65 or older and 56% for those 85 or older will need some type of long term care.
We all have a Long Term Care plan, even those that don't pay for long term care insurance. There is a "plan", the problem is that the most of us don't know what that "plan" is until we need the care. When that happens, the impact on the family can be significant.
Follow my blog as we dig deeper into this issue and and I explain the solutions to this growing need.
Over the next several weeks, I'm going to provide information that will hopefully, give you a better understanding about Long Term Care Insurance, who needs it, how it works and your options. If you don't think this is something that is relevant to you, keep this in mind. Every day in the United States alone, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the number of centenarians, people who live to be 100, rose from 2,300 in 1950 to nearly 80,000 in 2010, and will exceed 600,000 by 2050. And according to the Society of Actuaries, a 65-year-old couple now has a 31 percent chance of at least one spouse living past the age of 95. The odds of a person needing Long Term Care in a nursing home increase with age. Some statistics state that 36% of those that are 45 or older will be affected, 49% for those 65 or older and 56% for those 85 or older will need some type of long term care.
We all have a Long Term Care plan, even those that don't pay for long term care insurance. There is a "plan", the problem is that the most of us don't know what that "plan" is until we need the care. When that happens, the impact on the family can be significant.
Follow my blog as we dig deeper into this issue and and I explain the solutions to this growing need.
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