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I had a Genworth representative come to the house when we turned 50. I looked at the coverage and the premiums (and the shrinking number of companies underwriting the plans) and decided to pass on the coverage in favor of insurance.
It seemed to me that one of the financial reasons for LTCi was to pass on a legacy to the heirs rather than "spending down" the asset base. Since that is not a concern to me, we decided to pass.
I would suggest there is more reason than that for it. How many years of LTC can you self fund and will your money still be there when you need it for LTC? How will you pay for Assisted Living or Memory Care which can be for a very long time and drain you. We spent a couple of hours today touring and discussing with the marketing staff of a new very nice high end CCRC. It is a pay as you go facility which favors you having monthly cash flow. Other models have a buy in and your LTCi could be redundant. From discussions with others it seems that one of the motivations for Boomers and those just a tad older is to be able to lock things down in their mid to late 70's and have a smooth financial 80ish way to go.
This is how we feel. We are not afraid to go for a nice bike ride instead of going to the mall and spending the extra money that we happen to have that week.
I window shopping but spending money for a cup of coffee and dessert. People watching is free.
You'll need a boatload of moola if you want to own several homes and cars, travel every year, go out to dinner a lot, plus whatever outside interests you have that cost money.
If you are not materialistic, aren't into traveling, are content where you are and don't feel as though you're sacrificing your 'happiness' by not having a lot of money to spend, then you won't need as much as those who required those things to find their happiness.
No one can tell you the dollar amount you need.
I travel a few times a year but I've found my cost to be the same as if I'm at home. Right now the money I would have spent at home is spending overseas. It pays to plan well like when I travel I like to stay at the Hilton because I get free buffet breakfast and free dinner, thanks to being a GOLD member. I only need to spend money for lunch. Free hotel rooms through award fees from credit card. Almost free airfare from frequent miles award. What can I say, I like free stuff. I live to maximize my free stuff.
LTC plans are NOT recommended for anyone with assets over $3-5M as they can self insure. They are primarily sold to people with an asset base of $500k-$3M. A good number of my older relatives had them and started purchasing them around age 60. Up until 10 years ago, they were fairly inexpensive as the insurance companies generally underestimated how much exposure they had in underwriting those policies.
I'm in this category, but I tend to over insure on most everything. This dummy(me) wants to sleep well at night and so is her husband.
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