I recently read a post from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service explaining that almost 70% of people turning age 65 will need long-term care (LTC) at some point in their lives (longtermcare.gov). My immediate impression when I read that statistic was that I’m glad that I will be a part of the 30% that will never go into long-term care.
The more I thought about reality of life and the effects of age, the more I realized, I’m not the only one impacted by LTC. What if my wife needs LTC? What if my parents or in-laws need LTC? Whose financial responsibility is it to pay for at-home care, assisted living, or nursing care facility expenses?
I started getting nervous about the cost of long-term care. That’s where my research began.
Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance
Traditionally, a person could purchase a basic LTC insurance policy, which would provide coverage if that personal ever went into an assisted living or a nursing care facility. However, if that person passed away without ever using the policy, then the premiums paid were lost. I have never been a big fan of the “use or lose it” philosophy with insurance.
Asset Based Long-Term Care Insurance
An evolution of LTC insurance has been occurring over the last few years. Now when you purchase LTC insurance it is designed to help you protect your assets and premium payments by using the safety of whole life insurance.
For example, OneAmerica is a large mutual life insurance company that offers this type of insurance. When you open an Asset Care policy (i.e., their product line of LTC insurance) with OneAmerica, you can be confident in the following guarantees:
1 – Your single premium is guaranteed
2 – The amount of death/long-term care benefits you have is guaranteed
3 – Your money earns interest with a minimum guaranteed interest rate of 4%
4 – You can have lifetime coverage at a guaranteed premium.
The bottom line is, when looking at your retirement planning road map, you’ll want to include long-term care insurance.
Thankfully, with the new types of LTC plans, you can eliminate the risk of long-term care expenses for you and your family while having a guarantee on your premium payments paid into the policy.
As with any financial and or insurance service or product, there are many available options and choices. Each person’s financial goals and needs are different, therefore, it becomes important to work with an agent and a company that can assess your needs and provide you with the best policy for you.
At Paradigm Life, part of our mission is to provide you with the proper education on all of your insurance needs. We work with you and your individual financial goals, both short and long term. Therefore we are equipped to assist you in planning for long term care well before you may need it.
- Justin Martin
Justin Martin, MBA, Financial Consultant, and Agent of Paradigm Life, has worked in the financial industry for 12+ years. He currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife and three kids. Click here to view more information on Justin Martin.
