Long-Term Care Insurance – Can you afford it?

The first question you need to answer when considering Long-Term Care Insurance is can you afford the price?  Too often people are buying Long-Term Care insurance with features that fit their budget but do not provide a meaningful benefit when a claim occurs.

Our thoughts around Long-Term Care Insurance:

There are generally must haves to a Long-Term Care Policy:

  1. Cost of Living Adjustment 3% minimum
  2. Adequate Daily or Monthly Benefits
  3. Long-Term Care paid up over 10 years or sooner is preferable to lifetime payments
  4. It has to be affordable and make sense in your financial picture
  5. You should only buy GAP long term care insurance

Assuming the above you need to know the general costs for Long-Term Care Insurance (Average the top 3 carriers does not represent any 1 carrier’s pricing):

  1. For a couple monthly $500/month
  2. For a couple 10 pay  $13,000/annual
  3. For a couple single pay $200,000 single pay

In general we would prefer you buy a robust long-term care policy or instead you self insure

We usually recommend considering Long-Term Care Insurance for 3 scenarios:

  1. Couples in their late 50’s
  2. Those who want to protect inheritance
  3. Those with a history of disabilities such as dementia in the family