Long-Term Care: Invest in an Independent Old Age

Long-Term Care: Invest in an Independent Old Age

As a relative newcomer in the world of insurance products, long-term care policies are still suspicious for some potential customers who worry that the coverage is just another way to get at their precious retirement funds. If well-researched and carefully purchased however, such policies have the advantage of:

• protecting assets and guarding against debt in later life as care expenses mount.
• freeing up more funds to support quality of life in retirement.
• ensuring that long-term care is handled according to the individual's wishes and at the level of quality they desire.
• saving loved ones from having to make difficult decisions or committing themselves to the life of a full-time caregiver.

Prospective long-term care policy customers should thoroughly research all their options before committing to a policy. Some special points to consider include:

Shared Care

- Married couples should investigate policies with options that allow them to split the benefits. Before looking for

insurance quotes

, things to investigate include riders that lower the premium in the event of the death of one spouse and piggyback provisions that allow one spouse to access the other's unused dollars for a given year.

Inflation Protection

- The ideal situation is one in which premiums remain the same, but benefits increase annually. Some policies give holders the option to purchase stepped-up care each year rather than such an increase taking effect automatically. (Beware scenarios where benefits freeze if such increases are not purchased.)

Medical Determination

- The decision to activate long-term care is fraught with emotions and often complicated in familial terms. Choose a policy that allows the holder's personal physician to say when the need exists for the care benefits to be activated in order to minimize the emotional downside of such a transition.

Remaining At Home

- More and more seniors are opting to age in their own home with assistance. Be sure your policy allows for in-home care for such things as physical modifications to the structure, the purchase of assistance devices, and the hiring of health care staff. (Also make sure that if the transition to a care facility is required your benefits will continue at an acceptable level or that there is room for re-negotiation at that time.)

Life Insurance with Long-Term Care Option

- An increasingly popular product are life insurance policies that allow the holder to convert the accrued value for use to finance long-term care. These hybrid policies offer the security of the long-term care option while providing a benefit for heirs if such care is not required.

Far from being a gimmick or a scheme, long-term care policies can give aging individuals life-long control over their own destiny rather than forcing them to accept decisions made for them by loved ones or medical personnel. People don't think anything at all about insuring their cars or homes. So why not manage the most important risk factor of all, independent old age?

Comments

[Ian]

Lisa - very timely post. It will be interesting to see what happens to long term care insurance with the new administration. Buying LTCI can be a daunting task for many people. Because it's been blasted by the press as either too complicated or not necessary, many who can/should have it, don't. Here is a link to a great long term care resource. It's free and clearly writes out steps to choosing insurance for long term care....if it's right in the first place. "http://www.ltcconnects.com/resources/?page=consumer" - just download the PDF titled "Dignity For Life..."

Thanks!
Ian
http://www.ltcconnects.com