The current financial bailout might be a signal that you need to take more responsibility for your own financial protection and planning of long term care needs.  As I have written over and over again, there is no safety net other than the one you make yourself.  The government will not be bailing you out - unless of course, you’ve already tapped all of your own resources. 

Just the other day I came across a great article on just this topic.

After Financial Bailout, a Long Term Care Bailout? No, Industry Expert Says

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Following the $700-billion-plus economic bailout and stimulus program, “Congr…   Read more…

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying "every man for himself".  That’s going to be the echo of boomers as they travel down the aging highway. The question is; should you be buying long term care insurance?

The best way to plan for long term health care needs is to learn if you actually should invest in some type of risk protection (read: long term care insurance).  But before you consider buying long term care insurance you should get a copy of Insiders Secrets and learn what an ex-agent and ltc specialist has to say about.  Buying long term care insurance can be the best financial decision you make but only if you understand what agents don’t tell you and what companies hope you’ll never find out.

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Who needs long term care insurance? According to a recent article in the New York Times baby-boomers.

Fran Hawthorne, writer and retirement planning specialist writes:

MOST of the nation’s 78 million baby boomers are watching their parents grow old. While investigating caretaking options for their parents, they should also be thinking about their own old age and planning how they will pay for nursing homes or home health aides for themselves, experts say. With life expectancy steadily rising, the odds are that they will eventually need some help with basic functions, like dressing or walking, maybe for decades.

But many boomers are ignoring this prospect.

Why are so many people disregarding the prospect of the financial consequences of long term health care costs?  Could it be that too many people are still suffering from the notion that someone is going to take care of them?  As most readers discover in “Insider Secrets” there is no safety net other than your own bank account.  And as couples age there is a hugh risk of that bank account (or retirement fund) being tapped out.  While you may never have a ltc need the odds of a spouse having one is quite large.

Boomer’s are watching their own parents age and seeing the costs of care but still not wanting to look into the crystal ball.  Perhaps it’s just human nature to say “it won’t happen to me”.  While that is well and good it might just happen to your spouse and through that long term sickness your bank balance could well be pinched into oblivion.

Who needs long term care insurance is like asking who needs health insurance.

While ltc insurance may or may not be for you what is for you is learning about how these policies work, what risks you face and how to minimize those risks is for everyone.

Technorati Tags: long term care, Long Term Care Insurance, Nursing home, who needs long term care insurance

Click here to view podcast with Jonathan D. Pond “America’s Finanancial Planner” and Laura Moore, a long term care insurance specialist from John Hancock Financial Services.

Duration : 0:4:42

» Continue reading “Hancock Long Term Care Insurance”

Technorati Tags: care, Hancock long term care insurance, insurance, long, term

CashBridging allows you to reconstruct the make-up of a LTC insurance policy at an equivalent, or lower, premium cost and with a higher benefit output. Most important is the improvement in the cash benefit side of the equation. The construction process is simple; combine a stand-alone cash benefit policy with a reimbursement or indemnity policy.

Most carriers do not have care coordination limitations on long-term care insurance and a policyholder may have more than one policy. CashBridging puts more cash in the hands of the family, without restrictions on paying anyone, at a lower or equivalent premium than just a traditional long-term care insurance policy.

Having Cash for Care will reduce stress, and the amount of lost income, to the caregiver. This can be a great relief for everyone. We must remember, when we have a caregiving life event occur, to be one team with one goal… maintain peace and harmony throughout trying times for each family member.

Duration : 0:3:59

» Continue reading “CashBridging Long Term Care Insurance”

Technorati Tags: care, caregiving, Cash, family, health, home, insurance, long, ltc, term

My parents are nearly 68 and not in great health. They are both overweight (my mother is morbidly obese) and are under lots of stress. They had money, but lost lots in the bond market. They’ve bought and sold 7 homes in the 8 years they’ve retired and are obviously miserable and just keep moving for something to do.

Now they are leaving their family again (heartbreaking again) and I feel they are both at a high risk for needing care not too far down the road. My mom can’t walk due to arthritis, they both have high BP, borderline diabetic, my dad had TIA attacks (like mini strokes). I think they’re overall unhappiness is their biggest health risk. My mom also drinks. (no Rockwell painting here).

Could they get LT care insurance and how much would it be? These people have broken my heart a million times, are selfish, don’t do anything with their wonderful grandkids and are huge pains in the a ss, but I love them and worry about them. My gram died in a state home-very bad.

I would assume that they would not be eligible for Long Term Care insurance (not sure where tou are located though). Long term care insurance is there for when when you can no longer do the activities of daily living or mental deterioration. Strokes cause mental deterioration and arthritis limits movement, so I would assume that might be cause for a declie of coverage.

That being said every company underwrites insurance different and has slightly different coverage, so the best bet would be to contact a liscensed insurance agent where you live and run that scenario past them.

Technorati Tags: long term care, Long Term Care Insurance, Long Term Health Care Insurance

It is estimated that over 40% of all Americans will spend at least some amount of time in a nursing home or other type of skilled living facility.

The average annual cost for a long term care facility in the United States is a little bit over $40,000 (with some areas of the county averaging as high as $60,000 per year).

Medicare and Medicaid combined will pay less than 5% of all long term care costs. Generally speaking only those who are fairly wealthy or have family that can take care of them (and don’t mind inconveniencing them in this way) do not need long term care health insurance.

Technorati Tags: long term care, Long Term Care Insurance

Our employer is offering unum ltc insurance at a group rate. For a 47 year old, 4 yr coverage @ 4k, monthly premium is $20.30. When I chose the compounded option, monthly premium jumps to $59.10.
I called they company and they said it is compounded at 5% per year.
My other thought was to go with 8k coverage, no inflation for $44.00 per month.
Is there anyone out there who understands this stuff and would please give me any guidance?
Thank you!

Long-term care policies for seniors living in major metropolitan areas with high labor costs can expect to pay $167 per day for nursing home care. This translates into $61,000 per year. If a consumer purchases a policy that pays a fixed $100 per day, with an inflation rate of six percent per year, $100 per day will pay less than one-third of the daily cost in 12 years, and 14% of the cost in 24 years.

The math is easy. At six percent inflation the cost of nursing care will double every 12 years and the daily charge will become $354. In twenty-four years the same nursing charge will have grown to $708 daily. So a consumer who purchases today at age 56 a long-term care with a fixed benefit of $100 per day who requires nursing-home care at age 80 will have to pay more than 85% of the costs out of his or her own pocket.

The answer is to purchase compounded inflation protection that increases the benefit the policy will pay each year. Since health-care costs predictably will continue to inflate, the U.S. House Select Committee on Aging concluded that “without inflation protection, long-term care insurance policies are not a wise purchase.”

Five percent compounded inflation protection. Rather than increasing the daily benefit by five percent of the original benefit, this option increases the benefit by five percent compounded, meaning that each successive year’s benefits are increased by five percent over the previous year. The compounded option at 5% compounded per year will pay approximately $265 per day, after twenty years. This approach is the best option available, but given the historical, as well as anticipated, six percent inflation rate for long-term care costs, this plan does not keep pace with inflation.

Technorati Tags: Home care, Long Term Care Insurance, Unum LTC Insurance

Late 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s?

Most companies will not sell it to anyone under age 50. A good way to go, if you can, is to purchase a policy with a 10 year payment option during the last 10 years before retirement. Have it paid up before retirement while you’re still working and income is higher. It also protects you against future rate increases. Talk to a number of professionals as there are many plans out there with numerous options and be sure to read “Insiders Secrets“.

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I am 59 but diabetic. I think I run an above average chance of needing long-term care in the future. I do not want to exhaust all my savings and home to pay for nursing home care.

Inexpensive is a relative term. You should look into coverage as soon as possible. Underwriting guidelines have been tightening over the last 2 years and your diabetes might prove challenging. Get multiple quotes from a financial planner that specializes in LTCI and, of course, read “Insiders Secrets“.

Technorati Tags: Assisted living, long term care, Long Term Care Insurance, Nursing home

Boomers Need to Protect Finances from Long-Term Care Costs

While scanning the internet today I came across another plea for Boomer’s to check out LTC insurance to protect their life savings.

• Those who have a family history of needing long-term care.
• Those who will have a retirement income that would not easily cover the cost
• of in-home nursing care or care at a facility of choice.

The cost of caring for our aging population and the personal experience of Boomer’s and their parents should sound the alarm bell when it comes to long term care.

Tags: retirement, long-term care, long term care insurance, financial planning

Technorati Tags: Baby Boomer, financial planning, long term care, ltc insurance, Retirement Planning