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I'm in my late 50s, and have had LTCI for my spouse and I for about 5 years. My financial advisor recommended it, and when I ran the numbers, it seemed as though LTCI would pay for itself if I were to end up in a nursing home for even 6 months. However, every year I question my decision. It's tough to send in that premium check every year for something I may or may not need many years from now, but if I choose to stop now I will feel I've wasted all the $$$ I've already sunk into it.
I think a useful exercise is to calculate how much you would collect under the insurance plan versus how much money you would have if you instead invested the same amount as the premium each year. Then do that for various scenarios - one in which you never need LTC, one in which you end up disabled and in LTC at an early age and one in which you need it only at the end of life. I find that it still is worth it to protect my spouse from going broke if I have to enter LTC. But it still hurts to write that check (~$2600 for the two of us) every year.
we write a check for 8k a year for both of us . we get back a 1600.00 ny state tax credit plus some federal.
we have a nys partnership plan that protects all assets 100% forever after the 3 years insurance is up , protects the stay at home spouses income forever and picks up all our bills with a special version of medicaid .
statistically we will pay in about 1 years stay at a snf in our area by the time we are in the statistical target age .
These are combination life insurance and LTCI. Most people think about LTCI as they get nearer to retirement, at which point most people have no need for life insurance. I certainly wouldn't want to fork over the kind of premiums they are talking about in this article.
you have to fork over so much for a hybrid at a low to no return that just investing the money normally takes a small piece of that average return to have a regular ltc policy .
unless you can't get a regular policy because of health i would not turn to a hybrid
they may also not grow to enough . if they turn out to not be enough you accomplished little . you either avoid medicaid and draining assets or you don't . it is like trying to be a little bit pregnant .
trying to duplicate the amount a regular policy pays with 5% inflation adjusting yearly takes a mountain of money .
I don't get it. We pay for auto insurance every year and may never use it. We have homeowners insurance and may never use it. We have medical coverage and may hardly ever get sick. Why all the hard feelings about LTC coverage. It's the same situation as any other type of insurance. You pay for it and hope to never need it.
I don't get it. We pay for auto insurance every year and may never use it. We have homeowners insurance and may never use it. We have medical coverage and may hardly ever get sick. Why all the hard feelings about LTC coverage. It's the same situation as any other type of insurance. You pay for it and hope to never need it.
Excellent point!
Truth be told (from my experience as a former Social Worker) only 15% of people over 65 spend any time in a LTC facility. And most of the time it's for rehab after a hospital stay. Paid for by Medicare. 50% of people 90 die at home.
But if you believe the insurance company lie that 70% of people over 65 will be in a nurseing home...
So why is it that none of my over 65 year old friends or myself reside in a nursing home? Must be the CA lifestyle
I don't get it. We pay for auto insurance every year and may never use it. We have homeowners insurance and may never use it. We have medical coverage and may hardly ever get sick. Why all the hard feelings about LTC coverage. It's the same situation as any other type of insurance. You pay for it and hope to never need it.
Aren't the hard feelings because you are much more likely to use your auto insurance and your homeowners insurance than LTC insurance? And everyone uses medical insurance, if only infrequently. (and many states/counties make some type of auto insurance mandatory)
And also as mentioned in another post, once you invest a lot of money into LTC insurance, one dislikes dropping the insurance because then the money invested is lost.
I also thought I read or heard that there are some LTC insurance providers which have gone out of business.
And as posted in a post above, statistics showing that most people will not need LTC insurance can be presented.
Truth be told (from my experience as a former Social Worker) only 15% of people over 65 spend any time in a LTC facility. And most of the time it's for rehab after a hospital stay. Paid for by Medicare. 50% of people 90 die at home.
But if you believe the insurance company lie that 70% of people over 65 will be in a nurseing home...
So why is it that none of my over 65 year old friends or myself reside in a nursing home? Must be the CA lifestyle
ask yourself why every insurer had issues trying to find pricing levels for the policies ? the answer is usage is way way more widespread than statiastics showed .
like any medical insurance if you have it you use it rather than putting the burden on family .
it is not just snf usage . it is the in home ,the rehab and assisted living the policies pay for that is used far more than ever expected.
when medicaid cut the snf budget in half in 2000 they started using facilities that were not considered an snf unless you needed one , so once again loads of usage fell off a map .
the stats were also based on a generation ago as boomers are not in the high usage area yet. and generation's ago did not have so many living as long
Spouse and myself are in mid 50's. Both in good health. One spouse has longevity in family history, the other spouse, not so much. Think it is time to start thinking about LTC insurance. So much information (and misinformation) out there. Where should we start? Any tips for a neophyte? Thx
as MJ has asked the state matters. Lots of options in some not so many in others. Many questions to be asked and answered and you gave us nothing that can help us help you. The most important thing though is you are asking and hopefully you will come up with a plan.
Questions we need answered so that we can help are;
1) What are your assets?
a) Own home?
b) Mortgage?
c) Retirement income?
1) Pension?
2) Annuity?
d) What state do you live in?
e) Are the premiums something you will keep up with?
The assets are the biggest question. Is it worth getting LTCi to protect your assets? Is it possible to self insure? As some one here said use the search feature on the forum and look for LTCi or Long Term Care. There are a number of threads including at least one started by me.
For us we decided that we would self insure. How we will accomplish that is with the sale of our primary home. We do not need income from the home and that puts us in a unique position to swing that. We just park the money in a brokerage account and let it sit there until needed. Our income allows us to do more things than most but we are not rich either. The important thing to have is a plan even if it is to do nothing. That is a plan. Discuss it privately with your spouse. Discuss it with friends you can rely on for honesty. Discuss it anonymously here with us. Take the information and work it through your circumstances and you can come up with a reasonable plan.
We simply refuse to consider ever going into a nursing home. My MIL lived in a top-rated one in DC-Metro for over 2 years after her stroke and my FIL for a few months before he died. As nice as it was, it was awful. Not a chance either of us will follow that path.
We have instead purchased a home in Central Mexico with a separate casita (overlooking the pool) if and when we need live-in help. This is an affordable option in MX, not in the US.
It's not for everyone, but it's the road we're taking.
we bought our nys partnership plan not for the 3 years insurance . but the perks after the insurance ends .
modified medicaid picks up the bills with no asset shifting ,look backs ,spending down assets or restricted income on the stay at home spouse . there are no trusts need that cuts a spouse off from assets either .
many , nice , private homes will accept you as a paying customer and later take medicaid .
if medicaid is typically needed the stay at home spouse is reduced to what could be an impoverished income even though you may have preserved assets .
so to us this was a great deal .. we could easily fund the 3 years insurance on our own , but these perks were priceless .
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