How to Protect Your Assets After 65

protect your assets, nursing home, long-term care, insurance, retirement

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I was at a financial symposium last week and one of the presenters made a profound statement. He said, “Don’t go broke in a nursing home.” That’s a scary thought, isn’t it?

Even if you’ve done everything right to plan for retirement, chances are you haven’t planned for long-term care. Ask yourself the following question: If you or a loved one needed long-term care, how would you pay for it?

The cost for long-term care averages $8,000 per month, that’s close to 100k per year. At those levels, you can see how quickly a financial portfolio can be eroded. Alzheimer’s alone can average eight years of care. In 20 years with inflation that’s $174,000 per year, totaling close to $1,400,000.

One in 1.4 people, age 65 or older, will need long-term care. However, the latest research shows that less than a quarter of Baby Boomer have long-term care insurance. That can put a strain on financial resources. It can also put an emotional toll on loved ones to care for a parent or spouse.

I met a woman in Indianapolis last year whose father was deteriorating because of a chronic illness. The costs for his care had continued for years. She alone was providing the sole care of her father and it was time consuming, exhausting, and untimely. She shared with a group of us how her own health started to decline because of the seemingly constant care she was giving to her father. It was heart-wrenching to hear of their family’s struggle.

Having long-term care insurance in your portfolio is a way to pay for some, if not all of the costs that could be incurred for care. It can also alleviate the financial and emotional impact it can have on your family.

As mentioned, long-term care costs can be very expensive and these costs can erode someone’s savings and retirement in a very short period of time. However, rather than thinking of this care as long-term care, think about it as “asset-based care.” In other words, the right type of long-term care insurance can be used to protect your assets. This “asset-based” care uses a life insurance policy or annuity that allows you to use the death benefit or cash value for long-term care costs with the option of “lifetime” care, which means you can’t outlive the care. Another benefit is if you don’t end up needing long-term care, your heirs can receive the death benefit.

Many people will have assets in retirement: Cash, qualified plan money, life insurance, real estate, annuities, pensions, a business, etc. Some, or all, of these assets could be whittled away to pay for the cost of long-term care. For those wanting to leave a legacy to children or grandchildren, that legacy could also be diminished by the costs of long-term care.

The first step is in your hands. Continue to get the information you need to make an informed decision and discover how asset-based care can protect your assets.

The consequences of not having long-term care, and the solutions to this expanding issue of “asset care” should be carefully considered.

Begin to discover what you can do to protect your assets and protect those you love from incurring expenses themselves. I invite you to learn more, get a quote, and see what Asset Care can do for you. Schedule an appointment with a Wealth Strategist at Paradigm Life and discover what is possible for you and your loved ones.

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A Wealth Maximization Account is the backbone of The Perpetual Wealth Strategy™