Long Term Care: What You Need to Know

By Kathy Mueller, CLU, ChFC, FIC, LUTCF – WisMed Assure Insurance Advisor

We all know the importance of figuring out how much we will need to live on in retirement and being able to save enough money to generate what we need.

However, one thing most Americans don’t even think about is the cost of long term care.  Even though 70% of people 65 and older will need some form of long term care in their lifetime, less than 15% of adults age 50 and over have a long term care policy in place. 

Today’s cost of an assisted living facility average about $45,000 per year… and you can double that for nursing home care! 

Why is there such a coverage gap? Mostly, it comes down to a genuine lack of awareness and understanding of what long term care insurance is, how it works, and what it costs. Many people think Medicare pays for long term care… bad news; it doesn’t. While a few wealthier people can pay for long term care out of pocket, but most of us will not be able to do so.  

What is the solution? It’s long term care planning. And, one of the key components of a sound plan is a long term care policy to cover some of the costs. There’s good news, today’s long term care insurance looks quite different than it did 20 years ago. Many of today’s modern contracts pay out a life insurance benefit to your beneficiaries if you die without using all of your long term care benefits. 

Here’s the bottom line: to be most effective, your retirement and financial planning has to include long term care. We can help you discover if and how long term care fits in your future. For more information, please click here.

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