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If you are hesitating about purchasing LTC insurance....I'm pretty sure that if you die without actually using it for LTC, your heirs will get a refund. I could be wrong about that.
Does anyone actually know?
Insurance is pooled risk. They don't refund premiums. If your house doesn't burn down, your home insurer doesn't refund your premiums either.
That's an insurance seller website and they didn't give the specific HHS source for that statistic. I went to the latest available HHS report but couldn't find that stat. The report is 107 pages long, though, so I could have missed it.
I did find a Morningstar article that included the 40% stat but their source link led to a dead end. Morningstar's length-of-stay stats were shorter than the insurance site. It also cautions against heeding stats put out by insurance providers.
The most relevant sourced statistic I could find was a Congressional Budget Office report. On page 29, it shows that in the 65+ age group now alive, approx. 2.7% are in nursing homes and 1.1% are in long term care.
It further breaks that group down into age groups and summarizes it as follows:
It defines "institutions" as
With those kind of actual current figures, it's hard to see how someone would get to a prediction that 40% of us 65+ folks will enter a nursing home or LTC, unless they're super short stays. Many people who have surgical procedures, especially orthopedic ones, do short-term Medicare paid rehab stays in LTC's. Perhaps those short stays help account for the 40%, if correct, of seniors projected to enter them?
Thanks for questioning that 40% figure from the other article and looking around. When I saw that 40% figure it just didn't seem right, although it scared the hell out of me. If it turned out to be true, we have a horrible chance (just 60%) of avoiding the bleakest of all possible futures. Whoa! This is serious stuff!
Just FYI….There are hybrid LTC/Life Insurance policies that will pay a death benefit to a beneficiary if the LTC policy isn't used. But of course that's NOT heirs getting "a refund." Those policies also charge a higher premium and cost more than regular LTC policies.
Still haven't gotten a policy but when I was looking into it, those were the only policies I considered.
Quote:
Quote: Originally Posted by Stagemomma View Post
If you are hesitating about purchasing LTC insurance....I'm pretty sure that if you die without actually using it for LTC, your heirs will get a refund. I could be wrong about that.
Does anyone actually know?
Quote:
Insurance is pooled risk. They don't refund premiums. If your house doesn't burn down, your home insurer doesn't refund your premiums either.
This is so true. And then there is the inheritance, if any, and everyone's differing opinion on who deserves what and who contributed more to parent and which/whether grandkids should be included in the will. It's sad how many families implode over unequal contributions to end-of-life care and inheritance disputes.
This phrase caught my eye. I don't believe that I know anyone, either relative, friend or acquaintance, who included grandchildren in their will. But, perhaps, you are referring to situations where it was grandchildren who did the actual caregiving.
This phrase caught my eye. I don't believe that I know anyone, either relative, friend or acquaintance, who included grandchildren in their will. But, perhaps, you are referring to situations where it was grandchildren who did the actual caregiving.
Just because you're not familiar with that situation in your personal experience doesn't mean it doesn't occur. I know of several instances where grandchildren were included in a will, and no, they were not involved in the actual caregiving.
A personal making a will has great latitude in naming benecifiaries, who can be friends not related by blood, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, charitable organizations, churches, and so forth.
Thanks for questioning that 40% figure from the other article and looking around. When I saw that 40% figure it just didn't seem right, although it scared the hell out of me. If it turned out to be true, we have a horrible chance (just 60%) of avoiding the bleakest of all possible futures. Whoa! This is serious stuff!
It's pretty silly IMO to use 65+ as the important age for long term care statistics. Eighty would be better - and more appropriate. The average age in my father's independent living place is about 84-85 now. And - when we looked at the new ALF down the road from us - it said that its (all new) residents were about 90 or so give or take. My late FIL was - in his early 80's - at the younger end of the age spectrum in his SNF. So you really have to take a guess about your life expectancy. The older you live to be - the better the chances you will wind up being frail and unable to care for yourself 100% independently.
I think the wildcard for many - perhaps most - people - is dementia. There are some forms that can strike early and sometimes violently. I have had 2 neighbors - both men - die of diseases like this in their late 50's - early 60's. Note that both were cared for at home by their wives and home health care aides because the better SNFs here didn't accept male residents under 65. OTOH - your basic run of the mill Alzheimer's can take years/decades before a person who has it winds up in bad enough shape to need care outside a home environment. But - eventually - almost all people with Alzheimer's wind up needing some type of custodial care. Even if they have spouses/close family dedicated to taking care of them:
There seems to be at least some genetic component to Alzheimer's (there are 2 flavors - early onset - rare - and late onset - much more common - https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/p...ics-fact-sheet). So - in guessing about what may happen to you - it's a good idea to look at one's family medical history. One might even look into the possibility of genetic testing for the disease. Robyn
Just because you're not familiar with that situation in your personal experience doesn't mean it doesn't occur. I know of several instances where grandchildren were included in a will, and no, they were not involved in the actual caregiving.
A personal making a will has great latitude in naming benecifiaries, who can be friends not related by blood, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, charitable organizations, churches, and so forth.
So do I. At a minimum - grandchildren often get their parent's share if the parent predeceases them. If someone has a relatively large amount of money - and is thinking of doing something like this - consulting with an attorney is absolutely essential. Because there's something called the "generation skipping transfer tax" (which is a pretty onerous tax):
This phrase caught my eye. I don't believe that I know anyone, either relative, friend or acquaintance, who included grandchildren in their will. But, perhaps, you are referring to situations where it was grandchildren who did the actual caregiving.
My 83 year young mother has defined a equal distribution of any monetary assets remaining upon her death to her seven grandchildren. The youngest grandchild is a minor, but only for 3 more years. After I pay for her final arrangements and obligations, I will disburse the money to the grandkids.
My deceased father did it right. Gifted me and my brothers our shares of his farm while he was healthy and sound. He and my mother agreed on this before he did it. Everything else went to my mother upon his death. Probate was short and easy.
I told the kids to view this as a loving gesture and not a financial windfall. Grandma comes from a long line of 92-102 year old grannies--they might receive $5 by the time she leaves us.
I live in a community marketed (but not restricted to) people over 55. 76 homes. Built in 2006, sold out by 2007. Of the 76, about 3 of the homes were bought by people under 55 (including me). I was amazed that people in their mid to late 80's were buying homes at that age. I'm sure that many of them were able to pay cash after downsizing from much larger homes, so there may not have been mortgages, but still a leap of faith to think you would have enough (good) years left to stay there and make it worthwhile to have bought.
Through the next nine years, some homes were resold (people not happy here, a couple deaths, etc.), so there were probably over a dozen new homeowners in the mix.
Of the close to 100 residents, what is encouraging is that there were only four who went to assisted living. So, if you'll allow me to round off to the not-quite 100, less than 5%! That's pretty good. To be honest, I never dreamed that some of these people would still be alive nine years later---but they are. Still even driving! And these people weren't especially health-conscious---but somehow they remained alive and functional enough to age in place. Of course people who sell insurance would have us believe that it's close to impossible to do this, but maybe it's not.
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