The Basics of Long-Term Care Insurance, Ep #89

<p>What is long-term care insurance? Do you <em>need</em> long-term care insurance? How much does it cost? When should you buy it? Is it a good deal—<em>or is it a ripoff</em>? Long-term care insurance is a necessity for some and completely unnecessary for others. You want to make informed decisions about your future. That’s why I’m going to share how it works and what it covers in this episode of The Retirement Made Easy Podcast.</p> <h2>You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...</h2> <ul> <li>[2:48] Check out FREE resources at RetirementMadeEasyPodcast.com</li> <li>[4:02] What is traditional long-term care insurance?</li> <li>[11:52] Who needs longer long-term care?</li> <li>[13:01] How much of a benefit do you buy?</li> </ul> <h2>What is traditional long-term care insurance?</h2> <p>Whenever you need long-term care, a physician must sign-off that you’re unable to complete two of the six activities of daily living:</p> <ul> <li>Bathing</li> <li>Dressing</li> <li>Toileting</li> <li>Transferring</li> <li>Eating</li> <li>Continence </li> </ul> <p>My late grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. At some point, he was unable to dress without assistance and he was unstable when transferring. He qualified for long-term care insurance. Once you qualify, you don’t have to pay your premiums and you start receiving the benefit. It’s tax-free and will kick in after an elimination period, usually around 90 days later. </p> <p>Long-term care policies will pay for home health care or assisted living. My grandfather had an in-home nurse that helped throughout the week and eventually he moved into assisted living. You want to purchase a policy that can pay for <em>both</em>. </p> <h2>Choosing the benefit period of your policy</h2> <p>You also get to pick the benefit period, usually a number between 2–5 years. The premium will be far higher for a longer policy. How long do you need the policy to pay out? The average woman needs long-term care for 3.7 years versus only 2.2 years for men. The premium