Feds, did you buy long term care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the poster who bought a policy at 32 years old. I'm a federal employee and bought the plan through them. Is that an option for you OP?

Thank you very much for your post, I am op and I really appreciate it.

Also thanks for everyone's input. In the beginning, I felt it might be a good thing because this is from feds and I am a federal employee. From their website, there are 4 or more package staring from around $160-200 per month, I could manage this amount, however, it will probably be raised higher and higher in the future. As many have said, it will only have limited coverage in the future.

I will do more research about it.

OP we (fed worker and Sahm) looked into this and decided that LTC plans didn’t seem very secure and also you have to go through underwriting which one of us would have trouble with.
After much thought we opted to get short term and long term disability insurance through FedAdvantage. If something happens you are guaranteed 60% of current income (they top off any SS disability payments and federal disability retirement payments so that you end up with 60% of your prior income until age 65. Not incredibly generous but gives us peace of mind. Our plan for LTC is to live mostly on SS and fed pension and have a very modest drawdown on the TSP (2%). I’ve run the calculators and that should mean our TSP balance doesn’t really get depleted and will therefore be available if one of us needs LTC. It should be enough for several years of LTC, S and P willing!
I don’t think any plan exists currently that would cover nursing home costs for more than a few years so everyone needs to “self insure “ to some extent

[Anonymous]

When I looked at this fed plan actually seemed worse than private plans because of the possibility they will rebid and reprice it (just like fed life insurance is worse than getting your own if you are healthy).

If you do get LTCI look for a partnership plan-- it basically rewards you for buying LTCI by letting you keep more of your assets before going on medicaid.

[Anonymous]

Me: no

My aunt: yes due to an illness she’s had since a child

[Anonymous]

I think it's good to get some facts and data about your likelihood of needing LTC -- and then factor in your health, your family's history, how much $ you already have saved for retirement, etc. The costs of LTC vary so much, as does the coverage. There are so many moving pieces that it's nearly impossible for anyone to simply say "yes, you should do this" or "no, it's a crock."

https://www.morningstar.com/articles/564139/40-mustknow-statistics-about-longterm-care.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945440/

I think LTC is probably more important for women than for men. Women usually end up taking care of men (their husbands) at home for as long as possible. Since women tend to outlive men, and often are younger than their spouses, it is less likely for a woman to have a spouse available to give at-home care, and therefore women spend more time in LTC (and thus have greater need for LTC insurance).

[Anonymous]

And more:

http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/probability-long-term-care.php

https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care.html

[Anonymous]

I do not, because I looked around at my financial and personal situation and decided against it. If I get sick now, I have income replacement insurance, pension, and SS. I’m on the law enforcement retirement system, and if I’d don’t retire until my maximum age, I will get about $75k a year in pension, plus SS, plus whatever is in my TSP. I’m also the only child of comfortable parents, so at some point I will likely inherit enough to use to top up whatever I need.

Also, I do not have a spouse. One of the biggest issues with elder finances is that often you have to drain down the finances for spouse number one, which leaves a very precarious situation for spouse number two. If I need care, I can spend all my money on me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not, because I looked around at my financial and personal situation and decided against it. If I get sick now, I have income replacement insurance, pension, and SS. I’m on the law enforcement retirement system, and if I’d don’t retire until my maximum age, I will get about $75k a year in pension, plus SS, plus whatever is in my TSP. I’m also the only child of comfortable parents, so at some point I will likely inherit enough to use to top up whatever I need.

Also, I do not have a spouse. One of the biggest issues with elder finances is that often you have to drain down the finances for spouse number one, which leaves a very precarious situation for spouse number two. If I need care, I can spend all my money on me.

That is only if you want to use Medicaid to pay for the nursing care. Spouse #1 can often be kept home longer such that LTC is only used toward the end. If a couple can pay Out of pocket for Spouse #1, then they don't have to "spend down" their assets. But, if they can't pay out of pocket, then it's not good for spouse #2... although she will likely be eligible for medicaid when she needs LTC. There's a reason why 70% of the people in nursing facilities are female.

[Anonymous]

No..after researching, we did not feel the fed plan was very good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not, because I looked around at my financial and personal situation and decided against it. If I get sick now, I have income replacement insurance, pension, and SS. I’m on the law enforcement retirement system, and if I’d don’t retire until my maximum age, I will get about $75k a year in pension, plus SS, plus whatever is in my TSP. I’m also the only child of comfortable parents, so at some point I will likely inherit enough to use to top up whatever I need.

Also, I do not have a spouse. One of the biggest issues with elder finances is that often you have to drain down the finances for spouse number one, which leaves a very precarious situation for spouse number two. If I need care, I can spend all my money on me.

That is only if you want to use Medicaid to pay for the nursing care. Spouse #1 can often be kept home longer such that LTC is only used toward the end. If a couple can pay Out of pocket for Spouse #1, then they don't have to "spend down" their assets. But, if they can't pay out of pocket, then it's not good for spouse #2... although she will likely be eligible for medicaid when she needs LTC. There's a reason why 70% of the people in nursing facilities are female.

Not just for Medicare reasons. Unless the family is loaded, end of life can be very expensive and it can easily deplete the resources of the couple, which leaves far fewer options for spouse two. So it’s not about “draining down” to qualify for benefits, but just the de facto drain down of needing to pay for everything.

[Anonymous]

Continual care ...such as Ericson Living Communities: Riverwood solves a lot of the guesswork out of what might happen. They make more sense than LTC policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Best use of your money IMO is to buy a house you can age in place in. People end up needing long term care because they have difficulty with "eating, dressing, walking, bathing, and other daily activities". If you have an accessible house including kitchen and bathroom, you will go a long way to being able to manage in your own home and might be able to make do with some paid assistance, rather than needing 24 hour care.

+1 This plan worked for our parents, and we've downsized into a one-level home.

[Anonymous]

I have my "business class to Zurich" fund. I don't "get" wanting to live so long that you need personal care. I will do my own cognitive testing as doctors certainly don't do any. They are too busy doing cancer screening or who knows what. Everyone acts like you must live through this stupid part of life where you throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars and become a huge burden for your spouse or children. We live too long. Ezekiel Emanuel was correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have my "business class to Zurich" fund. I don't "get" wanting to live so long that you need personal care. I will do my own cognitive testing as doctors certainly don't do any. They are too busy doing cancer screening or who knows what. Everyone acts like you must live through this stupid part of life where you throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars and become a huge burden for your spouse or children. We live too long. Ezekiel Emanuel was correct.

Lol. But I worry more about becoming disabled while my child is still young and needs me.

Interestinf that you'd fly business class to Zurich. If you can still enjoy business class, maybe there's still some life in ya?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Continual care ...such as Ericson Living Communities: Riverwood solves a lot of the guesswork out of what might happen. They make more sense than LTC policies.

I'm a Fed and when I took the retirement class, this is what our instructor advised, rather than LTC insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Continual care ...such as Ericson Living Communities: Riverwood solves a lot of the guesswork out of what might happen. They make more sense than LTC policies.

I'm a Fed and when I took the retirement class, this is what our instructor advised, rather than LTC insurance.

What is this?