Good News – Bad News: Are You Ready?

The good news is that we’re all living longer than ever before. Congrats!
The bad news is that most of us are doing a lousy job of planning for it.

No doubt that planning for living a long life is a necessity. Ask anyone (more importantly, ask yourself) what their greatest concern is about growing old and you’ll hear two answers in some form or fashion consistently stated:

1. The fear of outliving their assets, and
2. Not wanting to be a burden on family and friends.

 Let's look at some statistics that bear this out:

• Those over 65 have a 2-in-3 chance of becoming physically or cognitively impaired in their lifetime.
• 42% of people receiving long-term care services are under age 65.
• About 46 million Americans – or 22% of the population – are now providing unpaid care to an adult relative or friend. (Do you know someone who’s there or has been there?)
• 75% of people 65 and older will eventually need long-term care.
• For every one person receiving long-term care in a nursing home, there are four people receiving home health care.
• The national average cost of care for just one year in a nursing home is over $76,000. That figure is projected to rise to almost $300,000 in the next 35 years.
• Baby boomers started turning 65 in 2011. Our older population is expected to double – from 35 million to 71 million – between now and 2030. 

Let’s dispel one possible myth: Long-term care helps pay for the cost of a nursing home. Not true. Most people prefer to stay in their homes as long as they can and want to maintain their independence. Nearly 75% of all long-term care claims paid by insurance companies are for home health care – including payment for non-professional care from families and neighbors!

Let’s face it, planning for long-term health care is a family issue. The question is seldom who will take care of you – your family will – but rather what will providing that care do to the family and your finances. (By the way, “family” is defined as your children, which typically falls upon the daughter.) Long-term care rarely brings families together; it tends tears them apart.

Long-term care planning is essential to any asset and income portfolio. Ask yourself what you have allocated from your retirement portfolio to pay for long term care. The typical answer is, “nothing.” In reality, the answer is EVERYTHING from the retirement portfolio because absent a plan for your long term care, what else would pay for it? 

For more information about Long Term Care planning, or for any of your life and health insurance needs, please contact me at 404-444-9383 or send me an email at bgmaguire@charter.net.