Barry and Robin had made an appointment with us and when I got them on my computer via virtual meeting, I could see their smiling faces. After we all exchanged cordial greetings and asking if they were safe and healthy, the meeting got down to business.
They were very familiar with American Retirement Advisors as we had already assisted them in research on their Medicare health coverage as well as reviewing the most appropriate time to turn on their Social Security benefits. As usual, I asked, “How can we help”?
Barry’s Mom had passed away after a lengthy stay in a Long-Term Care (LTC) facility and luckily, his Mom had long ago purchased an LTC policy that took care of almost everything between the policy benefits and her monthly Social Security check.
Robin was quick to add that they did not have such a policy in place and were concerned about how they would be able to pay for such a service if anything happened to either of them. Barry added, “We don’t want to spend our life’s savings paying for LTC because it costs too much, and what would happen to the other spouse after we run out of money”?
I reassured them that this is indeed a serious issue most folks ignore, and LTC expenses are one of the top reasons folks go bankrupt in retirement years. Around 70% of folks will need some sort of long-term care in their lifetimes, either at a facility or at home. Women are almost twice as likely to need this service as men.
“Having a long-term care plan in place doesn’t necessarily mean you need a policy,” I stated, as we continued the discussion. There are multiple ways to receive care. First, in many cases, a family member will assist with care for an elderly parent or relative. This can create issues as we look at the age and health of the caregiver and their ability and training to actually provide proper care. Second, we can always go shopping for a long-term care policy, but the older you are, the more expensive these policies can become (just note that health gets you an LTC policy, not money). Third, you can actually have coverage through your retirement funds as some financial products offer Long-Term Care Riders that provides money in the event you go into an LTC facility. Provisions in all these options have many variables and require some serious research.
“Well, we don’t want our kids to have to worry about us” Robin was quick to add. “We didn’t have to worry too much financially about Barry’s Mom because she was prepared
I explained that we have “Guideposts” on this topic, and we will send those to you ASAP so you can become better educated on all your options. I also reviewed what financial expectations they had and offered to research LTC solutions that would meet their goals. And finally, we reviewed their assets to determine if their needs would be better served with other retirement income-producing products that would also add a layer of long-term care financial protection.
All our informative Guideposts are available at: www.americanretirementadvisors.com/guidepost).
They were both relieved that there were more options than they realized, and we set a date for our next appointment where we could review more factual remedies after we can complete research on their behalf. “As usual, you guys are great at helping us understand how this all works”! Barry exclaimed.
Does this sound like an issue you’ve been struggling with?
Call us, we can help!