Can You Really Afford Long-Term Care Insurance?
June 26, 2010
The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance recently released a report on the costs of long-term care insurance, and the results were surprising. Most people mistakenly believe that long-term care insurance is going to be expensive and difficult; but in fact, according to the report, “over one-fourth [of buyers under the age of 61] paid less than $999-per-year.” And in fact, “fewer than one in 10 (9.3%) pay $3,500 or more.”
This is great news! This means that long-term care insurance could cost you less than $100 per month! The trick is that you have to think about it early. “Age at the time of application plays an important role in determining the cost for long-term care insurance the Association study reports. While 41.5 percent of buyers under age 61 pay between $500 and $1,499-per-year, only 20.8 percent of buyers who are ages 61-to-75 pay within this range.”
This is not to imply that if you’re over the age of 75 you’re out of luck. You’re not likely to get the same great rates as someone in their 50’s, but you still may not have to pay an arm and a leg for long-term care insurance. According to the report, of applicants aged 76 and older only 28.2% end up paying an annual premium of $4,000 a year or higher. Actually, almost half of applicants in this age range still end up paying less than $2,500 a year. This may not be the attractive $500/year you could have gotten in your 50’s, but it also isn’t the thousands of dollars a month most people seem to be afraid long-term care insurance is going to cost them. In fact, it’s only a little over $200/month.
If you’ve been thinking about long-term care insurance, don’t wait any longer. This is one situation where time is not on your side; the quicker you act the better it will be.
Protecting Your Parents, Protecting Yourself
May 10, 2010
Do you need long-term care insurance? You may think you’re too young to think about that quite yet, but what about your parents? If you’re reading this blog it’s likely that your parents are at an age where they soon may need some sort of care, whether that will be in-home care, nursing care, or even need to stay in a nursing facility; if your parents haven’t planned ahead for this eventuality, the burden for their care—either financial or physical or both—may fall on you.
It is for this very reason that a new trend in long-term care insurance seems to be emerging. According to this article by Stacy Schultz, there is an upswing in the purchase of long-term care insurance by the Boomer Generation—except the insurance isn’t for the Boomers themselves, it’s for their parents. “Many of them have just had a relative go through being in a nursing home, and they see the devastation and the stress it causes,” quotes the article. “They’re concerned about mom and dad, and if their parents don’t have a lot of means they want to buy insurance for them.”
If you are considering buying long-term care insurance, either for yourself or your parents, you have a number of options, especially compared to even just a few years ago. Forbes.com recently published an article outlining the improvements in long-term insurance, and what your options are if you’re buying it today.
Take an hour or two this month to talk to your parents (or your kids) and advisors about what the coming years have in store. You may not need long-term care insurance, but you will certainly need a plan, and it’s never a bad idea to know your options, especially when it comes to protecting your future. In the lives of many Boomers, protecting their own future also means protecting their parents’ futures.
Where Can Seniors Find “Home Sweet Home”?
May 3, 2010
Where you live is a defining aspect of your character throughout your life. Your “hometown” often plays a large part in the formation of your character; as adults we decorate our homes to reflect our interests, hobbies and loves; and the neighborhoods in which we choose to raise our children (city, farm, suburb) tell us a lot about our underlying values and where we feel safe and secure.
The idea that where you live is an important part of who you are doesn’t diminish as you get older—in fact, the longer you’ve lived in a place the more it seems to become a part of who you are, and vice-versa—so it’s no wonder that seniors are as choosy about where they live as any of the rest of us. What follows are some of the options for senior living arrangements. What you and your loved one will choose will depend on health, finances, community support, and of course—your family.
Most seniors would prefer to stay in the home they’ve known and loved. A senior or retirement community may look perfectly nice to a son or daughter; but mom or dad may see the retirement community as a first step toward losing their independence and being forgotten. Many senior citizens can stay in their homes for quite some time so long as they have the support of family and community and perhaps the help of an in-home caregiver.
Another option for housing is a senior or retirement community. These are often independent communities which provide age-segregated living opportunities for seniors who are still active. They usually provide social activities, regular transportation around town, and some personal care or nursing services. These communities can be the perfect solution for a still active senior who is unable to drive anymore, but be very cautious when choosing a community; with no regulation or governing body the non-social services they provide can be suspect.
A nursing home is the most drastic option for senior living, and is usually reserved for chronically ill people who need medical care and regulation in addition to help with the most basic of daily tasks. The decision to use a nursing home is a difficult and emotional one, and should not be put off to the last minute. Not only because nursing homes are expensive, and require as much advance financial planning as possible, but also because finding the right nursing facility for your loved one can take time.
Whatever housing option you are looking for, don’t be afraid to ask for professional help or advice. A Geriatric Care Manager, Elder Care Support Services, or an Estate Planning or Elder Law Attorney can help your family make and implement this tough decision.
A “Graying Trend” In Caregiving
April 28, 2010
What will you be doing when you’re 73? If you think you will have earned the right to have someone take care of you, think again; you may end up serving as a caregiver for someone else. A recent article in the New York Times describes a new trend in caregiving: the elderly are being cared for increasingly by the elderly. According to the article, “Professional caregivers — almost all of them women — are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American work force, and also one of the grayest.”
As odd as it may sound, the arrangement of 55-75 year olds caring for 85-100 year olds often works out beautifully. Older caregivers may not be able to do much heavy lifting, but what they are able to do is connect with their charges. Many older caregivers have already spent months or years caring for their parents or spouse, so they have an understanding of the fear, frustration and stress the families are going through. In addition, because older caregivers often share similar culture and experiences, the relationship can end up turning into a friendship, as with the case of Grace Jackson and Mary-Lou O’Neill:
“Grace Jackson, who is 101, said she never wanted a helper at home and resented Mary-Lou O’Neill, 73, when she arrived four years ago at Ms. Jackson’s daughters’ insistence. But as their relationship has grown, ‘It’s developed into a friendship,’ Ms. Jackson said, adding that friends who had younger aides were often offended by their manners or language.”
The down side to this “graying trend” in caregiving is that most of these elderly women—in spite of how they excel and make the best of their situation—become caregivers because they have to, they can’t afford to retire completely, even at the age of 70 or 75. The time to think about your own future is now. Talk to your advisors about planning for your own retirement; because although you may have everything it takes to be a wonderful caregiver in your senior years, the fact is that you may not want to.
How to Choose the Right Nursing Home
A recent article in the New York Times calls choosing a nursing home for your loved one “one of the hardest [decisions] you will ever make;” and yet it is a decision that almost all of us will have to think about eventually (whether for a grandparent, parent, spouse, or for ourselves.) It is a decision that is made infinitely more difficult if you are forced to make it under pressure.
But choosing a nursing home doesn’t have to be the difficult and unpleasant decision we think it will be, not if you know what to look for, and have the time to really review all your options. Walecia Konrad, author of the article mentioned above, breaks the process down into four steps, and gives valuable advice on how to approach each individual step:
- Doing the research
- Visiting the homes
- Asking the right questions
- Consulting the experts
The home you eventually choose will be a very personal decision based on a number of factors; location, the preferences of your loved one and your family, health, and of course finances; but having all the right information—and confidence in your ability to evaluate that information—is a key part of making this very personal and very emotional decision.
Will You Be Able To Afford Old Age?
April 8, 2010
Are you ready for the financial implications that come with growing older? As the average American lifespan grows longer the cost of aging becomes more and more prohibitive.
A recent segment on NBC’s The Today Show takes a close look at long-term care and the price individuals and couples are required to pay as age related illnesses make it more and more difficult for senior citizens to live at home without care.
The show tells the story of “Roberta” and her husband, a couple married for 44 years, who felt there was no choice but to divorce after Roberta’s husband was diagnosed with dementia and the subsequent nursing home bills quickly depleted their assets. After paying no less than $75,000 in care costs, Roberta was advised by her attorney that one of the only ways to conserve her remaining assets for her own support would be to divorce her husband, allowing him to qualify for Medicaid coverage. As an Elder Law firm, we frankly wonder whether that was the only option for Roberta. In California, at least, there may have been other options that might avoided the tragedy of divorce.
With growing numbers of senior citizens being diagnosed with debilitating elderly illnesses, and the cost of nursing care on the rise, more and more couples are finding that without some kind of long term care insurance, or a Long Term Care Estate Plan, they simply can’t afford the cost of aging. Medicaid (called “Medi-Cal” in California) can help, but planning is the key to avoiding the tragedy of Roberta and her husband.
Plan ahead for your own old age by talking to your advisors about Medi-Cal, your options for long-term care insurance, and whether your existing estate plan should be re-designed. Most have been designed with death in mind, rather than with extended long term care needs in mind. Our firm has specially designed a Long Term Care Estate Plan for couples in just the situation above, and we have been able to help couples avoid the dreaded option of divorce. See the following links, one for healthy couples and one for a couple with an incapacitated spouse.
Talking About Elder Care
December 22, 2009
Do you know who will take care of you when you are too elderly to take care of yourself? According to the statistics your caregiver is likely to be a woman, and most likely to be your daughter or daughter-in-law. What this means is that unless you have a plan for your future long term care, the financial burden of caring for you will fall to her and her family.
“Financial burden” refers not just to the expense of paying for food and medical costs, but to loss of income incurred over years of care-giving. “Women take time away from their careers to care for family members,” writes George I. Connolly, “and… lose an average of $659,130 over a lifetime in reduced salary and retirement benefits.”
Many people think that government programs will pick up what they can’t pay for themselves, but relying on government programs can leave your family footing just as much of the bill as they would without them. You may want to consider other alternatives as well, such as investing in long-term-care insurance and setting up a Long Term Care Estate Plan. If you aren’t sure about your options, or how to start planning for the future, call our office for help.
If you are a daughter of aging parents, now is the time to talk to your parents about the future. Studies show that you are the one who is likely to shoulder the responsibility of caring for them as they age. Doing so will affect your family, your career, your finances, and even your health.
The subject of aging and elder care is a difficult one, but not one to be left to the last minute. Talk to your family about your wishes and plans for the future, then bring your Elder Law attorney into the discussion. Once you have an idea of your wishes, an expert can help you feel better about your options, and put you on the right path for keeping your family healthy, happy, and financially secure in the years to come.
Geriatric Care Managers Provide Help for Families and Caregivers
October 14, 2009
Caring for elderly relatives is always a team effort. Sometimes the team consists of the entire family, sometimes the team is a man and wife, and sometimes the team consists solely of the elderly person and their primary caregiver; but no matter how you look at it, elder care is a complex, difficult, and expensive job, and one made 10 times easier if you have a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert on your team.
There are many knowledgeable elder care experts out there: doctors, lawyers, social workers; but few of them can straddle ALL of the elder care issues (medical, legal, residential, financial) to help you look at the big picture. A geriatric care manager is someone who can do just that—look at any given situation from all angles and advise your elder care team on the big picture. This article in the New York Times describes geriatric care managers as assessors, counselors, mediators… and sometimes someone to play “bad cop” in a tough situation.
Of course, because most insurance companies won’t yet pay for the services of a geriatric care manager, hiring one is going to be an extra expense; but it is the business of a GCM to know the ins and outs of the elder care system, and the money they save your family by helping you research experts and options, and avoiding bad situations can more than make up for the expense.
A geriatric care manager cannot replace a doctor or a lawyer on your elder care team, but they can help all of the team players work together effectively toward a common goal: ensuring that your loved one is well taken care of in the best situation possible.
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