Long Term Care Insurance

We have offered long term care insurance to clients for more than 20 years and can say that this is a unique area of planning.  It seems that people have either been educated, through life experience, about the emotional and financial toll that the long term health care needs of a loved one demand, or they have been lucky enough to have avoided it so far. 

The first group understands the shortcomings in Medicare and health insurance policies, and the need to plan, the latter group will often put off thinking about it for as long as possible, assuming that it will somehow be covered through their health policy.   

From a retirement planning perspective, it is among the most important planning that you can do.  It will help to provide you and your loved ones a variety of choices and independence during your lifetime.  Even if you never need your long term care policy, you will still use it.  It will give you the security to use your retirement assets, knowing that you will receive a new infusion of assets to pay for long term care, if needed.

Some things to consider:

	The greatest financial threat to your retirement is the cost of paying for someone to assist you if you need help with daily life. The cost currently ranges from about $6,000 to $10,000 per month. In 15 years from now it is expected to roughly double.
	Family members, because of career and children, rarely have the financial and emotional wherewithal to act as primary caregivers for any length of time.
	If you decide to purchase insurance, the choice of which riders you select can have a significant impact on how much value you ultimately receive from your policy.