How many have considered long-term care insurance?

[Thrif-t]

Originally Posted by imfreak

in the previous years, very few Americans consider long term care insurance due to lack of urgency and insufficient info on its advantages. however, when Americans witnessed the drastic effects of lack of planning, the number have increased, though not that much. Many insurance companies and private organizations are working hand in hand to educate the public about the consequences of not preparing for ltc

Yep this is absolutely true in my case.DH's grandparents had to be put in a nursing home for 4 years both together, went thru all they had saved all those years. DH's parents however did not learn from that experience and now DMIL is in nursing home and FIL is going thru all he has. I however will not let history repeat itself with us. I've taken out a LTC policy thru my work benefits. Although for now I only have it on my DH and am prepaying the plan in 10 years. At that time I will look into getting a policy for me. I'll be 54 and hope the cost won't be too prohibitive. But odds are with the illnesses that run in DH's family he may need nursing home care before me.

[dczech09]

Like other types of insurance, LTCI's cost is derived from the cost of long term care. A nursing home stay averages in the neighborhood of $40,000 per year. And that is a pretty standard facility with standard services. So of course the insurance coverage itself is going to be a pretty penny.

One thing that absolutely grinds my gears is when someone refers to an insurance policy being a bad investment. INSURANCE and INVESTMENT are two different things. You should not be looking for a return on investment with an insurance policy. Just like DS stated earlier, you buy insurance based on the coverage and not so much based on cost. Stop viewing insurance through the scope of investment.

Whether or not you need LTCI comes down to one question: if you or your spouse came into a need for long term care, could you afford it yourself? If you can afford it, do you want to pay it yourself?

Now obviously any one person's need for coverage will vary and you will not know your need for coverage until the event occurs (at which point you become uninsurable). So we must look at the worst case scenario. Can you afford the worst case scenario? There is your answer.

Is it expensive? Yes. But so is health insurance. I am a very healthy person who runs everyday and stays in good shape. It isn't likely that I will go to the hospital enough to compensate for the money I pay for the insurance. However, God forbid that I ever ended up in Chemo-land, I will be VERY HAPPY that I have insurance in place. The same should go with LTC.

As for an age to buy it... I will do my own research and formulate my own opinion. But from what I have read thus far, it is generally advised that you buy in between the ages of 55 and 60. This make sense as the likelihood of requiring long term car prior to 60 is very slim to non-existant.

[krantcents]

I bought LTC insurance roughly three years ago. My prime motivation was seeing my mother in a Dementia unit at a cost of nearly $7,000 per month for years and that was 6 years ago. She was nearly 99 years old when she died and exhausted her savings.

[artwest]

I looked into LTC insurance about 3-4 years ago. I was about 49-50 and my wife was 41-42.

There were several policies and factors to consider including inflation protection, which is a must. As I recall there was a 3 year policy, 5 year policy, 10 year policy and lifetime policy. There was also a 6 year shared policy, which meant me and my spouse would each be covered for 6 years, however, we could used time for each other. For example if my wife was in the nursing home for 8 years, she would use her 6 years and 2 of my years. We would then have 4 years left to use.

While we feel that it is VERY important to have LTC, we could not afford it at that time. If I remember correctly, the premiums ranged from around $1,800 per year (my wife and I combined) to around $5,500 (again my wife and I combined).

We hope to have our house paid for in 5 years or less and we will then revisit LTC. In 5 years I will be 58 and my wife 49 and we will be completely debt free. We can then use most of the money that we were using for our house payment to buy LTC insurance. We want a minimum of a 10 year policy and preferably a lifetime policy.

In my opinion, the ideal time to get a LTC policy would be age 50-55 so we would be a little late for me but just about the right time for my wife.

[graceful]

Something to consider for sure but we couldn't afford it at our ages 42/44 for sure. Still paying off our house with 2 kids' colleges coming up.

DH's grandmother is in her 90's in excellent PHYSICAL health but has dementia. She lives in an apartment in the basement of a 3 family house with DH's one aunt's family and one uncle's family living upstairs. The other 2 siblings who live out of town visit often and support financially. They have someone stay with grandma 24/7 because she has a tendency to wander off.

DH's parents are relatively young - early/mid 60's. I'm not sure what they have planned for LTC but they are planners. They were able to retire early about 10 years ago. If they need LTC and haven't planned for it, they will live with DH's brother or sister and we would send financial support. They live out of state down the block from DH's sister's house now and help watch her brood of 4 kids.

My parents are in ok health and are 66/75. I am an only child. If they need LTC, they will live with us. I will either need to take care of them myself or hire someone. The most likely scenario is that they will live with us and one of them will take care of the other.

We still have 2 older generations to consider before we even think about ourselves at this point.

I guess we are lucky to have a family support system in place. However, who knows what will happen with us and our kids' generation...