Make LTC Part of Your Financial Plan
Seven out of ten people over 65 years old can expect to need extended-care services at some point in their life.*
LTC is more than just a policy, it can be pivotal to your financial plan.
Long-term care isn’t flashy or fun, but including it in your financial planning as a potential reality can save you and your loved ones a lot of anguish. None of us are infallible, so making these determinations before a situation demands it can be empowering, even comforting.
When most of us think about our own extended-care needs, the same themes come up repeatedly. Maintaining our independence and dignity as much as possible, protecting assets, and sharing wishes and values with loved ones are supreme. But without sufficient consideration, long-term care needs and expenses can jeopardize everything you’ve worked for.
Collaborating with your financial advisor, our team can help integrate the appropriate long-term care coverage to address your needs and concerns as a piece of your bigger financial plan.
1 out of 10 people age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s disease today — about 5.5 million in all. By the middle part of this century, a new case of Alzheimer’s will develop every 33 seconds.*
Alzheimer’s and other chronic illnesses can create “the great retirement income gap” where expenses associated with care and aging significantly increase while income remains constant. Long-term care policies effectively work to close this gap, especially when coordinated with your existing financial planning efforts.
With age comes wisdom…
Extended-care refers to a variety of medical and non-medical services to assist with daily living needs. This can include everything from driving to the store on your behalf to skilled medical care in a nursing facility.
The national average cost for an assisted living center is $54,000 annually. Nursing home averages are above $108,000 annually.*
Without planning or LTC coverage, your only option might be to self-insure, meaning personal assets, investments, and savings earmarked for other purposes must fund your extended-care needs.
Like other insurance policies, LTC and extended-care policies are complex and have different options, coverage levels, costs, and benefits.
The best way for us to assess your individual needs for extended-care coverage is to coordinate with your financial advisor, selecting or even designing an option that integrates harmoniously with your current planning efforts.
There are two ways to plan for long-term care.
1. Crisis Planning
Being forced to select from limited options in the midst of a crisis situation.
2. Advanced Planning
Deciding between many options that can become part of your plan before a crisis.
We work in tandem with your financial professional to ensure that your LTC coverage functions as a dynamic arm of your overall financial plan and wellbeing in retirement.
Don’t leave long-term care expenses to chance. Start coordinated planning today.
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”
- MADELEINE L’ENGLE
*Sources: acl.gov/ltc ♦ Genworth, 2022 ♦ 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimer’s Association. www.alz.org