Long Term Care Insurance

[rjn5656]

Just retired (59) and financial planner showed me a long term care insurance plan. Wonder what the thoughts out there on these plans are? Asked most of my retired friends and none of them purchased.

[misky]

They can be expensive. But I bought mine at a relatively young age of 55. The longer you wait, the more expensive. I also bought a plan that was paid off in 10 years. It was new at the time. So that I would noit have to pay when my income dropped when I retire. I think it's a wise investment. The average single person will pay over $250,000 in health care costs including preminums and copays. So the insurance is a hedge against these costs.

[jane032657]

There was a lenthy discussion on this recently if you look under search and type in long term care insurance. We have a plan and have had it for years. If your children are older they should take it out and pay for you as they will benefit through having you covered should you need LTC rather than spending their inheritence. However, if you are like us and have five children from 19-29, then they are too young as they establish their own lives, so we pay. You want to look at the increase in costs over the years of the policy, the increase in benefit, does it cover a choice of in home care or assisted living/nursing home/memory care and to what amount? Five Star assisted living starts around $5-6,000 a month and a nursing home is $10,000 plus a month. Remember, the policy only kicks in if you need assistance with three of the five or so activities of daily living-dressing, mobility, toiileting, eating, bathing. A LTC policy is not covering the day you decide you do not want to cook or clean and move into an assisted living community. Some people think that it will, and believe me, it will not.

[buzzy]

LTC insurance can protect you from going through your life savings if one or both partners needs that kind of care. We don't know if some unforeseen event will put us in that position. My wife and I took out LTC policies when we retired, at 62 and 64. It was too expensive (and probably unnecessary for us) to buy full unlimited coverage, so we got a 3 year period and a 90 day elimination period, but 5% inflation protection. This is a hedge against financial ruin, but we may never need it, so we picked an affordable level of coverage.

We chose John Hancock for their financial stability. The only disappointment so far is that within three years they petitioned Florida and were approved for a 40% premium increase. We were offered a reduction in inflation protection to hold the premium, but decided to pay the increase and keep our original coverage. We'll have to revisit this decision if this happens again, as I expect it will in the future.

I would rather have modest coverage than go without insurance and hope for the best.

[rjm1cc]

Just retired (59) and financial planner showed me a long term care insurance plan. Wonder what the thoughts out there on these plans are? Asked most of my retired friends and none of them purchased.I would tend to get one (I have one) but be sure to get several quotes and make sure you know what in home and out of home expenses are covered. There are some new annuity/LTC and or life insurance and LTC plans around so be sure to look at them. Also some large insurance co's have stopped writing them so make sure you have a good insurance company to behind the policy.

[NJblue]

LTC insurance can protect you from going through your life savings if one or both partners needs that kind of care. We don't know if some unforeseen event will put us in that position. My wife and I took out LTC policies when we retired, at 62 and 64. It was too expensive (and probably unnecessary for us) to buy full unlimited coverage, so we got a 3 year period and a 90 day elimination period, but 5% inflation protection. This is a hedge against financial ruin, but we may never need it, so we picked an affordable level of coverage.

We chose John Hancock for their financial stability. The only disappointment so far is that within three years they petitioned Florida and were approved for a 40% premium increase. We were offered a reduction in inflation protection to hold the premium, but decided to pay the increase and keep our original coverage. We'll have to revisit this decision if this happens again, as I expect it will in the future.

I would rather have modest coverage than go without insurance and hope for the best.

This is the main reason why we chose to not get one. If an LTC insurer is allowed to raise their rates in the future ... especially to such an extreme, to me this is no insurance at all. To me, the whole idea of insurance is the peace of mind that it is there if you need it. It does not give me peace of mind that it will be there for me if I need it since they can raise the rates to an unaffordable level. If they do this, I will have thrown away all that money over the decades.

[hotrodgirl]

I finally got one at age 58 at the urging of both my attorney and financial advisor. I got a 4% inflation rider and 90 day elimination period. My policy is through Genworth. I was also worried about premium increases, but it was explained to me that when policies were first underwritten many years ago, they did not account for the increased rise in population of the baby boomers. Now, of course, that is more built in so while there may be an increase in the future, it will not be out of reach. I liked the fact that I can have in home care and my choice of rehab, assisted living, etc. I certainly don't wish to be a burden on my family, and feel this is a good choice for me. It will leave me financially sound and able to choose my care.

[buzzy]

This is the main reason why we chose to not get one. If an LTC insurer is allowed to raise their rates in the future ... especially to such an extreme, to me this is no insurance at all. To me, the whole idea of insurance is the peace of mind that it is there if you need it. It does not give me peace of mind that it will be there for me if I need it since they can raise the rates to an unaffordable level. If they do this, I will have thrown away all that money over the decades.

You've certainly identified the big issue. A lot of it has to do with our risk tolerance. Our policies have a provision that if we should ever be unable or unwilling to continue paying the premium, then the amount paid in would be available for claims purposes. Not a great deal, but at least a forced savings account. Right now, the annual premium is about the cost of one month of nursing home care, so that wouldn't last very long.

[Lbmb24101]

All the above, great advice
I got mine thru work in my 40's They keep offering policies w bells and whistles, somI declined those But here is one biggie:
My husband is a cancer survivor and no LTC insurance will insure him!
Also, we have no children so for me getting long term care insurance was a must?
I agree with the person that said get some insurance; does not have to be the top tier
After seeing huge medical bills, and how expensive care has become, getting long term care is a must if one does not have 2 million in savings.