I’m Going To Wait Before I Buy LTC Insurance

As most adviser and expert would say, when it comes to long-term care insurance, “Do not wait too long”. Waiting too long can have many negative effects on your application and your future as well. Your long-term care insurance premiums are much cheaper when you buy it while you’re young and healthy, there is lesser chance of being declined because as you age, your health declines as well, so if you wait too long, you might have develop a condition that will disqualify you from getting long-term care insurance. And if it is already too late for you to get one, how are you going to manage your finances once the need for care arises? A long-term care event can deplete even an ample amount of savings. As a result, you might not be able to get the quality care you need and want if you no longer have the funds to cover your long-term care expenses. Shop for long-term care insurance quotes from different companies so you have the options to compare and choose the best policy.

The Long Term Care Guy Blog

Why should a person buy LTC insurance at age 50, when they may not need care (typically) until age 80?  Why pay premiums all those years?  Who wants to spend money for 30 years of premiums.

Seems like a logical viewpoint, why start paying premiums now when it could be 30 years before you might need care.  As long as you stay healthy it’s a valid viewpoint.  If only you could guarantee that!

If you were 24 years old, with a Camaro or other expensive to insure car, and knew that the car insurance would be much less after your 25th birthday, would you wait?  It will only be a few months……..

HEALTH CAN CHANGE

Did you know that 40% of the people receiving LTC services in this country are between 18 and 64?  Many people go to the doctor every year for a check up and stay in good health, until the checkup where the doctor tells you…

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What We Don’t Know About Long Term Care – Is A Lot

Photo credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/d/disabled.asp

The most common reason why people ignore the significance of long-term care planning is denial, majority of Americans think that they will not need any long-term care services. Another reason is the increasing cost of long-term care insurance premiums, not realizing that they might be incurring large out-of pocket expenses for ltc services. Most of the times, those who seek long-term care think about the cost of care only when the need arises and at this point, it is already too late to purchase a long-term care insurance because it is either you will be declined, or the cost of premium will be too high.

If we think of relying on spouses or children or other family members to provide care for us, think again, would you want to be a burden to your loved ones? You will leave them stressed and devastated not only physically but also emotionally and financially because caregiving is an enormous task. In addition, you will be leaving them broke because the cost of long-term care services are too high that it can drain even an ample amount of savings.

Relying on medicaid and medicare is not wise because medicare does not necessarily cover long-term care, while with medicaid, you have to spend down all your assets to become eligible. It doesn’t even assure that we will get quality care when we need it and where we need it.

The Long Term Care Guy Blog

Americans over 40 — in other words, us — are dangerously unaware of our likely need for long-term care when we age and woefully ignorant about the costs, according to a new poll of adults in midlife and beyond.

 
The telephone survey of 1,019 boomers over age 40 was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and financed by the non-profit SCAN Foundation, which supports research and other initiatives on aging and health care. It found that many older Americans had barely begun to think about their long-term care needs, nevermind put aside money to cover them. For example, nearly 31 percent of respondents said getting older was something they’d rather not think about.

Following are other highlights from the poll, along with advice available on Next Avenue to help you avoid falling short when the time comes.

Only 16 percent of…

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Getting Familiar with the Long Term Care Insurance Cost

 

photo credit: http://www.adrtoolbox.com/

Being in the know of the long term care insurance cost would be helpful when thinking about plans for you and your family’s future and ensuring issues, especially regarding financial matters. Keeping in mid the possibilities that could happen in one’s life, it would be reasonable if you are already looking for the possible long term care insurances and their costs available near your place. Most people needing long term care could actually have it at home which they usually prefer, since the nursing homes are primarily for people who have illnesses more severe that they really need to be attended to most of the time.

 

Though long term care insurance policies cover the expenses of the long term care, it is still up to you where you prefer to have the long term care, which would adjust with the other conditions and terms of the policy. The rates of the long term care differ in every service needed and place where it will be received. Though, it also depends on your health conditions to what long term care service will be available to you. Even though you cannot perform two or more activities of the daily life, your health conditions must still qualify to acquire the other services as well.

 

Regarding the long term care costs, there are some things that must be looked into when judging the expenses. There are the professionals who would provide the long term care needed, the facilities that will be used according to what you will need, and the place where you prefer to be – at your own home or a nursing home. It might be overwhelming to think about how you could pay for all of those things that you will need, but you have more time to think about it, especially if you start to prepare for it and think about it a few years before you even approach the retirement age.

 

Know that you will be paying long term care insurance and they will cover in the future the expenses that you will need to acquire. But getting an idea of the rates of the services offered isn’t really a bad thing. Knowing the place where you want to get the long term care has also a great impact on the price you are going to pay. For an example, according to http://www.forbes.com, home health aides in Louisiana costs $9 an hour but $19 in New Hampshire. While according to http://www.longtermcare.info, in 2010, it costs about $205 per day in a semi-private room in a nursing home and about $229 in a private room. The homemaker services costs $21 per hour and it costs $67 per day in an adult day health care center.

 

The other rates will also vary depending on the duration of the care that you need. Some also consider the time of day and if there are any extra services that should be provided for you by the long term care.

 

But when thinking of computing/paying the long term care insurance cost, do not forget that there is the concept of inflation that should also be thought of since the prices are ever changing and it could affect the investment that you are trying to purchase.

 

Source:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2011/10/25/the-rising-cost-of-long-term-care-services/

http://www.medicare.gov/longtermcare/static/TypesOverview.asp

http://longtermcare.gov/costs-how-to-pay/costs-of-care/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2013/05/22/why-baby-boomers-need-to-get-real-about-health-and-long-term-care-costs-in-retirement/

How to pay $6,000 or more a month for long term care.

 

The financial challenge brought about by the increasing cost of long-term care insurance is one of the major reason why it is one of the most ignored annuity. If we are going to take a closer look and study how long-term care insurance works, we might be able to realize that the benefits far outweigh the cost and cons of buying ltci. The amount of money required to purchase insurance for long-term care is typically less than the amount of money needed to pay for ltc expense.  As a result, you still have money to leave to your heirs or family members. LTCI is a wonderful product, however, people are misguided, thus, it should be a responsibility for every individual particularly the baby boomers to educate themselves about the impact of long-term care.

Partnership for Long Term Care

As insurance brokers we hear this all the time “I’ll invest the money instead of paying premiums for insurance.”

For every $1,000 of monthly retirement income you want to generate  from your own savings, you will need about $230,000 in assets,  according to the Schwab Center for Investment Research. 

For example, if you want $3,000 a month, or $36,000 a year, you would  need savings of $690,000. That’s a conservative estimate, assuming that you earn 5.2% on your investments and live off the earnings without dipping into the principal.

For $6,000 a month you will need at least $1.3 million. Then there’s living expenses for spouse and family, maybe another $4,000 a month. You will then need over $2 million.

A $3,000 a month benefit policy might cost $1,000-$3,000 a year for the premium, depending on age, health and other benefit options chosen. The $3,000 a month benfit policy would include inflation protection that…

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Help! My LTC Insurance Premium Is Going Up

 

One of the challenges faced by long-term care insurance policy holder is the increase in ltci rates. A lot of people are on the verge of cancelling their policy because they think they can no longer afford it. However, cancelling your policy is a waste of money, and knowing that there is a great chance that you will be needing long-term care sooner or later, it can cost you your lifetime savings. There are ways on how to deal with climbing long-term care insurance rate rather than cancel you policies. Also, cancelling your policy and getting a new one could mean higher premiums because your age is a factor that affects the cost of ltci. You may opt to deal with the increase, you could either shorten your benefit period, lessen your daily benefit, lower the inflation rate or  take advantage of shared care rider if you have a spouse. In the end, keeping your ltci policy will still be worth it

The Long Term Care Guy Blog

Inflation, you can’t live with it, and economists say we can’t live without it.  But when you get a letter telling you that the cost of something you are paying for is going up, it’s not a pleasant experience.

There are several things you can do to mitigate a price increase on your LTC insurance policy, but lets first look at why it is going up.  The early policies, from the 80’s and 90’s were offered while this industry was in its infancy.  The insurance companies made several mistakes.  One in your favor is that the companies have learned that couples (who love each other) will take care of each other longer before calling in the hired help.  Thus couples discounts are larger now than they used to be.

One assumption that turned out to be incorrect was that over time, the insurance companies thought some percentage of people would simply drop…

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Why Long Term Care Insurance Information is Important for You to Know

Nowadays, long term care insurance (LTCI) is definitely more costly than any other kinds of insurance. Thus, not everyone can afford getting it. Knowing some long term care insurance information might help you if you are really interested in getting a policy.

When you are young and you are interested in LTCI for your future needs, now is the best time to purchase a policy. This is because when the person is young the probability of him/her getting into a critical health condition or serious disease that will need long term care is in very low percentage. Consequently, it will be a lower annual premium for the person.

during the later years of your life is highly discouraged. Approval from your insurance company for your coverage will not be easy by then. The insurer needs to check first that you are physically and mentally healthy at the time of your purchase before it gives you complete long term care coverage.

Insurers based premiums on the age of the policyholders. In other words, age plays an important factor in determining how much your premium will be. The good news is that some companies give really good discounts. This is especially when you intended to get a policy not only for yourself but for your other family members. However, you really need to study their offer and how it will work for you. Reviewing long term care insurance information you know and their policy they presented you will really matter.

LTCI is an investment everyone is suggested to have. No one knows what will happen in the future and it is best that you are prepared for it. On the other hand, one should check his/her financial capabilities first before going into this policy. You definitely want to make an assurance that it will not cause you trouble with your finances later on.

It is best to assess one’s savings and assets first before making a decision to purchase a policy.  Keep in mind that basic necessities such as food, water, clothing and housing are vital in one’s life and these things should be in one’s main priorities. However, if you think you can afford to pay the premium on a monthly or annual basis and still not getting into trouble with your budget, then you can go on.

LTCI is for security purposes and something to lean on during the later years in one’s life. Preparing to invest for it during at the young age will be an ideal way to do since the premium is much lower.  Having LTCI policy will surely make your life much easier during the later years of your life when your ability to take care of yourself is not the same as before. This is a good way to grow old as you know that you can rely on to something when the tough gets going. If this triggers you to get a policy, it is better to acquaint yourself with relavant long term care insurance information first.

Why Signup with LTC Insurance Providers?

Even though people have seen how long term care (LTC) and long term care insurance  (LTCI) have helped many Americans get over chronic diseases and have another chance at life, many still ask, why should they check out LTC insurance providers, even when there is Medicaid and Medicare available? Here are a few answers why signing up for an LTCI would be worth more than what you would expect.

When people reach the age of retirement, they usually think that they’ve saved up enough for everything that they will ever need and they’re all set. Wrong. Even if a person has saved up to a figure nearing or exactly around or a little bit over a million dollars in the bank, if ever they get a chronic disease, the rates of health care per month is around $3,000 to $4,500. Annually that’s roughly around $55,000. That amount does not include other expenditures like medication and use of facilities.

Being able to buy health insurance beforehand would save you thirty percent from what you would be spending for health care plus the miscellaneous of medication and facilities are also covered. That’s nearly forty percent savings which would leave you a total of $22,000 annually. Comparing the figures, it’s already obvious that you’ll be saving more with LTCI and be getting more with the benefits.

LTC insurance providers usually tell you how much the rates will be depending on your eligibility and policy. Most insurance companies are willing to give you a free quote just so you can put their company into high consideration. Just remember that getting LTCI prevents you from overspending and automatically keeps your family and friends lifted of the burden of having to shoulder the expenses.

One constant reminder for LTCI buyers is that to never forget or neglect to have your insurance policy contract fully explained to you by the LTCI representative. Even if you are a paying customer, it doesn’t excuse you from knowing exactly what you’ve just bought. It will save you the trouble of any changes with your monthly rates as some LTCI carriers may have this on their contracts.

Certain studies have shown that there is a seventy percent chance that everybody will need LTC at one point specifically around their retiring age. This means that the seventy percent equals to the chances that you have just secured the future of your health care after applying for an LTCI. This saves you from having to worry and experience stress with having to purchase health care individually.

There are many Americans who prefer not to get LTCI which is fine but this means that they constantly have to go to the doctor, be careful with their activities and try to keep in shape everyday for the rest of their lives. That seems possible except for the fact that they may have a medical history of a chronic disease then that would change everything and make them wish they had LTCI.

LTCI is expensive but it doesn’t mean that it’s not affordable. Based on the numbers, getting LTCI actually saves you money. Be sure to look into LTC insurance providers in your area and get yourself that peace of mind that you deserve.

 

Source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505146_162-39941511/long-term-care-insurance-vs-other-strategies-pros-and-cons/?tag=mwuser

 

 

 

Long Term Care Quotes – Do I Need Long Term Care?

 

 

Sadly, only a few people plan early for retirement. Some don’t even realize how important long term care planning is to retirement. What is long term care and do you need insurance to cover its services?

 

Long term care refers to services offered to elderly and disabled individuals. Long term care services include personal care assistance, housekeeping, medical and skilled nursing activities. With the high cost of care, it is important to prepare for the possible cost of these long term care services. Long term care insurance can help. You can even start at this moment and save money for long term care.

 

What Statistics Say About Long Term Care

 

Studies show that people are living longer and needing more and more assistance. Statistics also reveal that 70 percent of people age 65 and above will need some form of long term care assistance during their lifetime.

 

It is important to know that although the government can help, people should not solely to what the government can do. The administration is even encouraging people to buy long term care insurance. The most effective way to ensure your future is to study long term care insurance and compare rates. Having long-term care insurance gives you control over your finances in case you need it in the future.

 

What Is Long Term Care Quotes and How Can It Help You?

The insurance industry is a competitive world. Today, there are several insurance companies fighting for clients to sign up for their products. Some even revamp their marketing strategies to boost sales. One of their strategies is to improve their online campaign by installing a computation tool on their official website that will allow consumers to get an estimate amount of long term care insurance.

The long term care quotes estimator will ask several questions like your age, your marital status, your state of residence and your long term care preference. These are asked because these pieces of information will determine the cost of insurance. That is why it is important that you accurately answer the form so that you will receive precise estimation as well.

 

Moreover, the website will ask if they can call you and when is the best time for you to answer their call. They call not to force you to buy their products but to find out more about yourself. Like most insurance, they are interested to know about your health and family medical background. This will determine your risks of needing long term care.

 

The long term care insurance agent can also discuss with you about the different features that you can include in your plan like the inflation protection rider. This rider will protect your long term care plan against the increasing cost of care.

 

With so many long term care insurance companies today, it is important to find the right one that will offer you the best insurance products. Start looking for the best LTCi plans by requesting for a free long term care quote online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caregivers Trials and Tribulations

As the aging population increases, the demand for long-term care services increases as well, so is the demand for caregivers. A big percentage of individuals providing care are family members of long term care dependents, and a lot of baby boomers are relying on loved ones and family members to provide care for them as well. The reason for this is because family members do not require salary unlike licensed caregivers, home care is also cheaper compared to other long-term care settings.

AARP conducted a research on caregivers and caregiving and results showed that there may be fewer caregivers in the coming years due to the increasing demand for long term care. One reason is the increase in longevity and the current living situation of most men and women who may either be divorced or childless. However, if you only rely on family members, you might not be receiving appropriate and quality care when and where you need it due to financial constraints. And even if you have ample amount of savings, you can easily deplete it if you will be needing care for several years.

 

Reference:

http://www.infolongtermcare.org/long-term-care-insurance-information/

http://www.aarp.org/

The Long Term Care Guy Blog

The New York Times recently reported that caregiving is set to become the number one profession in the USA by the year 2020, overtaking retail.

This tells us there are a tremendous number of people caring for an individual needing long-term-care (LTC) services.  Whether they are working as a professional caregiver, or are caring for a family member, the stress is similar.  Today I am referring to an April 1 article in the USA Today newspaper concerning the depression that comes from doing this work.

The article mentions that 64% of those caring for disabled veterans have jobs.  On average, they miss about a day of work each week.  Twenty-eight percent quit work due to their caregiving duties.  Sixty percent say they are under constant financial strain.  Many of these caregivers are aging themselves and worry what will happen to the loved ones they care for when they can no…

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How Long Term Care Quotes Help You Choose Long Term Care Insurance

Many people still find it difficult to decide if they need long term care insurance or not. Although, long term care insurance provides more extensive coverage than government funded long term care insurance, still people are thinking twice. Possibly, because they do not understand how important long term care is and the topic about needing nursing home or home health care assistance is not something people enjoy talking about.

 

Long Term Care Facts

 

But, if you will look at the reality, seventy percent of people age 65 and older will need some type of long term care during their lifetime and this is not something that should be ignored.  That is why it is important to plan ahead and you can start by requesting for a free quote online.

 

Requesting For Free Quotes

 

Long term care quotes are offered by different insurance companies that specialize in LTCi products. It is part of their advertising strategy. By requesting your free quote online, you can compare prices from different insurance providers. You can also plan ahead and check if long term care insurance can fit in your budget.

 

How To Compare Policies

 

To help you decide, go to different websites offering LTCi and request for free quote. Put side by side each plan’s premium, benefit period and elimination period. The premium refers to how much you need to pay each month or year. The benefit period, on the other hand, is the minimum amount of time the policy will last.

 

Moreover, look for the maximum daily, weekly or monthly benefit. The elimination period is the duration of time you will need to pay for covered services before the coverage kicks in. A 90-day elimination period means that once you’re approved to use the policy, you will pay for care for 90 days before the plan begins to pay benefits. You also need to determine how much you can afford for long-term care insurance, and generally how much coverage you’d like to buy.

 

Once you obtained your long term care estimate and you have compared all these factors, you can now decide what insurance company you will sign up to. When you choose a product, make sure that you choose the plan that makes the most sense for you. That is the reason it is important to answer all questions in the free quote application request tool honestly. You also need to provide your medical history.

 

Truly, long term care insurance products are expensive. However, you need long term care insurance because it will protect you and your family from financial burden. Remember that long term care costs are rising each year. If you will not plan now, then expect to pay long term care costs out of your own pocket  or out of from your own savings account. The question is, where do you want to use your lifetime savings? Do you work all your life so that you can retire happily or retire with debts? If you want to retire worry free then plan for long term care now.

 

References:

 

http://www.infolongtermcare.org/long-term-care_information/

http://www.aaltci.org/

http://www.ehow.com/how_6718330_compare-long_term-health-insurance-companies.html