What?

You would think that you have earned the right to live comfortably in your aging years so you could just enjoy life. However, it's not that easy and so many really don’t have that opportunity.

Retirement must be planned for, but so should unexpected limitations that might not have been taken into consideration. Some of those considerations are health concerns, possible rehab or continued assistance needed to live your daily life the way you want to live it.

The costs for such assistance are more than most people plan for, thought about or have expected. Approximately 40% of adults 65+ need daily assistance and 70% of adults 65+ will need assistance at some point in their lives.

We are not talking about medical assistance, we are talking about assistance needed for personal care, transportation, companionship, and sometimes specialized services for dementia or Alzheimer’s. These types of assistance, however, are just not covered by normal medical insurance. Only if you have a long-term care policy or have Veteran's benefits will insurance cover in-home care services.

There are other ways as well that you can plan for these instances and may need some financial investment planning help unless that is your specialty.

Some Cost examples:

In-Home $4,957.00/month

Home Health $5,148.00/month -often requires written doctor's order for insurance coverage

Assisted Living $4300.00/month

Residential Skilled Nursing Care $7,908.00/month for a shared room, $9,034.00/month for a private room

Financial Planning ways to be able to cover those costs:

LTC Insurance

-high premiums

-coverage varies by policy

-most require assistance with 2 ADLs before payment of Assisted Living Services

-often max age for sign up

Reverse Mortgage

-loan taken against value of home

-convert home equity into liquid funds

-needs to be repaid w/interest within a certain timeframe from the homeowner's move to an assisted living community

Life Insurance

-Cash out existing policy and use for LTC

-Some policies feature accelerated death benefit (ADB)

• allows the policy holder to get a tax-free advance on insurance benefit while still alive

• ADB usually 2-3% of total benefit amount

Life Settlement

- Life insurance policy holders sell their policy to a 3rd party company. A 3rd party buyer will then pay you a lump sum. This amount is not as large as the full policy death benefit.

Through tons of research, it is said that by the year 2050, the ratio of family members to provide caregiver support for their loved ones will drop to less than 3:1. Currently, we are standing at about 7:1 and by 2030 we will be close to 4:1. Additionally, on average, one or more adult children live more than 280 miles away so it is not an easy fix for them to be able to be the caregiver for their family member.

9/10 Americans ages 65 and older want to stay at home as long as possible. Seniors and their families are willing to pay their own way with money they have saved.

• Based on research, elderly Americans receiving in-home care needed fewer trips to the doctor. Doctor's visits were reduced by 25%.

• The U.S. saved as much as $25B in hospital costs in 2008 due to the growth of in-home care services over the previous decade.

• Delays premature entry into assisted living facilities and nursing homes

• In-home care allows for respite for family members caring for their loved ones

I hope we have achieved our goal of providing a little in-depth information on how planning for just daily living in our later years needs to be a priority. We all like to think that we will never need such care, unfortunately that is not always the case.

So just know that there is assistance available to keep living your life to the fullest, whether you are planning for it just in case, or you are in the throws of it. We are here to help.

RESOURCES FOR FINANCIAL INFORMATION & HOME CARE SERVICES:

LPL Financial / Josh Fleming / 402 Cypress #305 / Abilene, TX 79601 / (325) 673-0185

www.lplabilene.com

Home Instead / 441 Lone Star Drive / Abilene, TX 79602 / (325) 670-9610

www.homeinstead.com/234