As families’ gather to show love and appreciation for all that fathers have done for us, you can give something back to him by having a difficult, but critically important conversation, about planning for his long term care.
Although it is difficult to persuade any parent to discuss the issue of long term care, it can be raised with the approach of enabling them to retain control of their options and financial security. You can play an important role in helping both your parents maintain their independence and dignity by helping them create a plan. Fathers are used to playing the “provider” role for their families, and resist the efforts to be “provided for.”
Facing a long term care need is usually a crisis that family members or close friends are forced to address. As seniors are faced with the struggle of losing independence, they resist burdening a daughter or son with their care. Seniors often hide their struggles and become the primary care givers for each other. However, when caring for a spouse, they neglect their own health issues and often end up passing away before the spouse they were caring for.
When children of aging parents end up being responsible for their parents care, they face many conflicts between of the commitments they have to their own families and work. When a parent is in care, it often causes conflict and strain on the relationships among the siblings, causing parents more distress.
With the average cost of custodial home care being $20 an hour and the cost of a nursing home at $75,000 a year, the financial impact on families can also be devastating and may leave families having to depend on nursing home care through government assistance.
All of these burdens can be greatly reduced by having a plan that includes parental wishes and resources in place to pay for the appropriate care in the setting of their choice. It’s never too soon to have those plans in place, yet, if you wait too long, it will be too late.
The most loving Father’s Day gift you can give is to encourage and help your parents plan for a long term care need. It’s a gift from the heart that is truly priceless.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
7 Reasons Not to Buy Long Term Care Insurance
1. You might not need it. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at least 70 percent of people over age 65 will need some sort of long term care services. Maybe you'll be one of the 30% who won't. If you live past 85 years, you might be the 50% who won't have Alzheimers.
2. Your kids will take are of you. Decide which one of your kids can quit their job, walk away from their own lives and take are of you. Give them notice now so that they can plan for it. Maybe one of them can even delay their own plans for retirement by spending their savings on your care. Hey, you changed their diapers, why shouldn't they change yours.
3. It's too expensive. According to the 2009 Cost of Care survey put out by Genworth Financial, the average cost of care is $82,000 a year today. You could save your money and in 30 years you can pay the $328,000 it will cost for one year of care. The average annual premium is about $2,000 a year and most policies have compounded inflation that will keep up with the rising cost of care. Why spend $60,000 over 30 years in premiums?
4. You'll never end up in a nursing home, so you don't need a policy. The majority of care is provided in a home setting and more than 50% of current long term care claims are for home care. You'll only have go to a nursing home if you need a nurse to take care of you or you don't have enough money to afford staying at home.
5. The government will pay for your care. If you've spent all of your assets down to $2,000, you're right. It doesn't matter if your care requires skilled nursing, Medi-Cal will fund your care in a Medi-Cal-funded facility where you can share a room with 4-6 other people. At least you won't feel lonely.
6. You don't need to even consider a policy until age 65. Granted if you're still healthy, you can get a policy and pay five times more than you would have paid if you had gotten the policy at age 60 and 10 times more in annual premiums had you bought your policy at age 55.
7. Your wife or kids can be asked to assist in your suicide or you can do it yourself. If anyone assist in your suicide, they can receive free room, board and health care for the rest of their lives granted by the Federal government. If you're planing on doing it yourself, make sure you do so before you forget where you put your gun.
Why plan for your own long term care experience?
2. Your kids will take are of you. Decide which one of your kids can quit their job, walk away from their own lives and take are of you. Give them notice now so that they can plan for it. Maybe one of them can even delay their own plans for retirement by spending their savings on your care. Hey, you changed their diapers, why shouldn't they change yours.
3. It's too expensive. According to the 2009 Cost of Care survey put out by Genworth Financial, the average cost of care is $82,000 a year today. You could save your money and in 30 years you can pay the $328,000 it will cost for one year of care. The average annual premium is about $2,000 a year and most policies have compounded inflation that will keep up with the rising cost of care. Why spend $60,000 over 30 years in premiums?
4. You'll never end up in a nursing home, so you don't need a policy. The majority of care is provided in a home setting and more than 50% of current long term care claims are for home care. You'll only have go to a nursing home if you need a nurse to take care of you or you don't have enough money to afford staying at home.
5. The government will pay for your care. If you've spent all of your assets down to $2,000, you're right. It doesn't matter if your care requires skilled nursing, Medi-Cal will fund your care in a Medi-Cal-funded facility where you can share a room with 4-6 other people. At least you won't feel lonely.
6. You don't need to even consider a policy until age 65. Granted if you're still healthy, you can get a policy and pay five times more than you would have paid if you had gotten the policy at age 60 and 10 times more in annual premiums had you bought your policy at age 55.
7. Your wife or kids can be asked to assist in your suicide or you can do it yourself. If anyone assist in your suicide, they can receive free room, board and health care for the rest of their lives granted by the Federal government. If you're planing on doing it yourself, make sure you do so before you forget where you put your gun.
Why plan for your own long term care experience?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
2009 Cost of Care Survey Released: conclusion move to Louisianna
Genworth Financial just release their annual cost of care survey and the conclusions are consistent every year -- care keeps getting more expensive. This year they added a "Choice and Affordability Index." I live in Californian, where care costs an average of $225.14 a day and is listed as having "high cost" and "least options." I thinks this just means that it costs a lot to receive care in California and you don't have a lot of options of where to receive your care. If you've lost most of your life savings lately and you're retired, you can always move to Louisiana where the cost of care averages $139.48 a day and has a "least cost" and "most options" rating. If you do have to go into long term care, the last place you want to be is Alaska. Besides being really cold, the cost of care in Alaska averages $514 a day and has the same "high cost" and "least option" rating as California. If your plan is to retire in Hawaii, start saving your money. It is the second most expensive place to receive care at $374.82 a day. Hopefully, you can get a room with a view and enjoy some beautiful scenery while your're there.
No matter where you decided to retire, you better start saving your money, make a good investments or buy insurance.
No matter where you decided to retire, you better start saving your money, make a good investments or buy insurance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
