Long-term care insurance?

[Anonymous]

You need to save more on that income.

[Anonymous]

You have 401k and 529, which means you have slowed down the growth of your money significantly for years now.
Why would you want to hand over your money to an insurance company for a policy even they don't understand.
Do not just leave money to your children, but invest with them and for them already now. You all sit down, pick your 6-10 stocks, some ETFs and start. By the time the child is 30, they have been investing for 15 years. Imagine the experience they get while others are still trying to figure out their credit score.
Best if you could do it inside of Roth. Selling and buying inside of Roth is tax free. If can't do Roth, regular investment account is fine. Open one for the child at 18.
After 2-3 years of investing on your own, you'll see that you are doing better than your 401k and 529 ever did.
Forget about the match and tax deduction. You can do so much better if you only did it on your own. Investing is not a rocket science. They want you to think it is.

[Anonymous]

Probably wise to fully understand what you get out of any LTC that exists versus what may happen to you when you get older. The average tenure in LTC isn't particularly long, I believe. Medicare will cover a lot. My father has PSP and is still at home with my mother has his primary caretaker and a nurse comes in every week for bathing plus more if needed, and every penny is covered by insurance. True, it's not paying for a full time nurse though we will if we need to. But we also know when it gets to that point it won't be for years and years, most likely a year at the most.

Also consider full service retirement communities with continuing care assistance. With one community I've been told if you move in when healthy and later develop critical assisted living care you are grandfathered in and will be taken care of no matter what. They don't kick you out. But presumably varies from place to place.

Best to talk to specific advisors in this area.

[Anonymous]

I think the way to go is a CCRC. You do the buy in and then there are sliding levels of care if needed. The trick is to know when to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY policy out there that might be worth considering? Nursing home care is approx 10 to 15k a month. I really don't know who can self insure/invest for that. A dementia dx, and you are literally bankrupt.

I will say if you find Medicare coverage to do it, God help you. What you hear about Medicare facilities is true. They are seriously awful, having been through this with my inlaws.

you mean medicaid, not medicare. yes, the elderly person had medicare, but that's unrelated to a long term care facility.

Yeah, I did mean Medicaid. Sorry- see, I already have dementia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to save more on that income.

OP here - we have about 600k non-retirement between HYSA and brokerage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have 401k and 529, which means you have slowed down the growth of your money significantly for years now.
Why would you want to hand over your money to an insurance company for a policy even they don't understand.
Do not just leave money to your children, but invest with them and for them already now. You all sit down, pick your 6-10 stocks, some ETFs and start. By the time the child is 30, they have been investing for 15 years. Imagine the experience they get while others are still trying to figure out their credit score.
Best if you could do it inside of Roth. Selling and buying inside of Roth is tax free. If can't do Roth, regular investment account is fine. Open one for the child at 18.
After 2-3 years of investing on your own, you'll see that you are doing better than your 401k and 529 ever did.
Forget about the match and tax deduction. You can do so much better if you only did it on your own. Investing is not a rocket science. They want you to think it is.

There they are! Double your money every 3 years poster!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY policy out there that might be worth considering? Nursing home care is approx 10 to 15k a month. I really don't know who can self insure/invest for that. A dementia dx, and you are literally bankrupt.

I will say if you find Medicare coverage to do it, God help you. What you hear about Medicare facilities is true. They are seriously awful, having been through this with my inlaws.

Better to save/invest and find a great CCRC to enter when you are still healthy (ie early 70s). Get one where you won't pay any more for "advanced care" except the extra meals per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shop around, but don't jump on anything until you thought it through.

Insurance by it's very nature is a SCAM. It wouldn't exist if it wasn't a scam. Same as casinos and gambling. They must always come out ahead in profit overall when the books are balanced. Any losses with one claim must be compensated by overcharging everyone else.

Scams. And they have had decades to learn how to scam better.

Look I get what you are saying, especially when it comes to low scale insurance like insuring your cell phone from damage. But the basics of insurance are to transfer low probability, high cost risk (like home burning down) onto a broad array of people, so it's much lower impact per person, and pay them a small premium for it.

It's very sound economically when used to insure against low probability catastrophic losses.

Most pay out only $100-200/day and don't kick in until 90 days. They end after 2 years. Well most advanced care costs $300-400. After 2 years, you have nothing more to get. But if you have dementia, you could spend well over 2 years in high level care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably wise to fully understand what you get out of any LTC that exists versus what may happen to you when you get older. The average tenure in LTC isn't particularly long, I believe. Medicare will cover a lot. My father has PSP and is still at home with my mother has his primary caretaker and a nurse comes in every week for bathing plus more if needed, and every penny is covered by insurance. True, it's not paying for a full time nurse though we will if we need to. But we also know when it gets to that point it won't be for years and years, most likely a year at the most.

Also consider full service retirement communities with continuing care assistance. With one community I've been told if you move in when healthy and later develop critical assisted living care you are grandfathered in and will be taken care of no matter what. They don't kick you out. But presumably varies from place to place.

Best to talk to specific advisors in this area.

Yes a CCRC like that, where you have "paid more" when healthy can lead to only paying for the extra 2 meals a day whenever you need advanced care. IMO, if you can afford it, it's the best path. You get the care you need, your spouse will be at the same facility and can visit you daily, and the transition is smooth when care is needed.

[Anonymous]

The absolute best thing you can do if you have money for LTC insurance is to save just enough of it for a few weeks or months enjoying all of your favorite things in life before traveling to a Medical Assistance in Dying state or country.

Trust me, the vast majority of LTC facilities are hell, even the "good" ones. If you get a diagnosis that requires long term care, your clock is ticking to be able go out on your own terms and I promise you it will be infinitely preferable to languishing in an understaffed, overpriced care facility.

[Anonymous]

Nationwide has an excellent hybrid LTC/Life Insurance policy.

https://www.nationwide.com/financial-professionals/products/life/long-term-care?utm_campaign=Life-Brand&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=Google&utm_content=NF-B2B:LIFE:REP:NA:NA&utm_term=nationwide%20care%20matters&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=813719449&gbraid=0AAAAADqnijNZ0vCUWypyW60pcWh51nxoZ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0qrUqO_4jQMVYyqtBh3EbDvOEAAYASAAEgIRzvD_BwE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY policy out there that might be worth considering? Nursing home care is approx 10 to 15k a month. I really don't know who can self insure/invest for that. A dementia dx, and you are literally bankrupt.

I will say if you find Medicare coverage to do it, God help you. What you hear about Medicare facilities is true. They are seriously awful, having been through this with my inlaws.

Better to save/invest and find a great CCRC to enter when you are still healthy (ie early 70s). Get one where you won't pay any more for "advanced care" except the extra meals per day.

Early 70s is way too early, unless you know something about your health that will impede getting in. It's an 80s and 90s vibe. That's the trick here, knowing when to go. But early 70s won't be mentally a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY policy out there that might be worth considering? Nursing home care is approx 10 to 15k a month. I really don't know who can self insure/invest for that. A dementia dx, and you are literally bankrupt.

I will say if you find Medicare coverage to do it, God help you. What you hear about Medicare facilities is true. They are seriously awful, having been through this with my inlaws.

NP here. A dementia DX for me, I plan to take matters into my own hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there ANY policy out there that might be worth considering? Nursing home care is approx 10 to 15k a month. I really don't know who can self insure/invest for that. A dementia dx, and you are literally bankrupt.

I will say if you find Medicare coverage to do it, God help you. What you hear about Medicare facilities is true. They are seriously awful, having been through this with my inlaws.

Better to save/invest and find a great CCRC to enter when you are still healthy (ie early 70s). Get one where you won't pay any more for "advanced care" except the extra meals per day.

Early 70s is way too early, unless you know something about your health that will impede getting in. It's an 80s and 90s vibe. That's the trick here, knowing when to go. But early 70s won't be mentally a good idea.

First, you likely won't get in in your 80s unless in absolute excellent health (hint most 80 are not that)

My parents moved into one in mid 70s, and they love it. Sure it was a mindset to downsize (and all they could afford was a 1200 sq ft apartment) but for them, we had to pay the entry fee (mid 6 figures), and they are now enjoying a huge lifestyle improvement. They have activities, main meal each day included ((more if they feel like paying or managing the $$ well) and most importantly, with me being 2.5K miles away, they have the proper care should they ever need it, without me having to do much. It will be seamless if they need more care.
and they are the the "poor people" there, most are living it up, travel still and spend on many extras.
But now my parents no longer have a house to take care of, or any worries. If something breaks, it's not my dad attempting to fix it, they just put in a request and within a few Hours it's fixed. It's a beautiful campus with tons of outdoor activities, they have their own garden area and can easily walk 2-3 miles and not leave campus.