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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Witnessing elderly people forced to live and die in pathetic conditions because they have no money is strong motivation to save as aggressively as possible.[/quote]

Even prudent savers nest eggs can be quickly wiped out by the insane cost of assisted living.[/quote]

In many cases whether you saved or not you will end up on Medicaid. It may be better to spend now on fun stuff or give the money wear when you retire and let Medicaid pay for home nursing care than to bankrupt yourself paying for it. Just be sure to live in a state with a good Medicaid program.[/quote]

No one wants to go on Medicaid because you have to get rid of all your assets in order to qualify and you have to meet the level of care need for a nursing facility. A don't think most people can plan to run out of money the exact moment they need nursing care, so they either end up in poverty for several years living at home, or they have a period where they have to sell their house and spend down all of their assets before Medicaid starts paying the bills. If one person is in a nursing facility and the other isn't, you can keep your house (up to a certain dollar value) and a few hundred dollars a month, but if the at-home spouse dies the state can sell the house and keep the money to recoup the cost of caring for the institutionalized spouse. And almost all of your social security check will go to the nursing facility except a very small "personal needs" allowance (like $50/month) -- if you are "poor" enough to have Medicaid pay, then the government will either make you spend down all your assets or go after your home after you die and prevent you from keeping any income over a nominal amount. So, if that's the way you want to live in retirement, by all means go ahead and count on that. [/quote]

Exactly. I have long term care insurance in place of life insurance. No way am I going down the medicaid path. No way is my mother either.  I'll bring her in my home before I allow her to be subjected to the horrors of Medicare both physical horror and financial horrors.[/quote]

Two other things -- Medicare (health insurance for physician, hospital, and Rx) is available to everyone over age 65, Medicaid (which covers nursing homes) is for the poor. Lots of people get them confused and think because all old people get Medicare they will be covered for nursing homes. Not true AT ALL.

Also, I don't know that all Medicaid-covered nursing facilities are a horror. Many are well run and competently staffed. However, the patients are extremely vulnerable and the financial horrors are definitely true, so I don't know why anyone would PLAN on Medicaid being their retirement approach. [/quote]

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