Long Term Care Insurance - 10 Resolutions for 2009

New Year’s Day of course means it’s time for you to make your resolutions for the upcoming year. It’s well documented that the two most common New Year’s resolutions are losing weight and financial type resolutions (debt reduction, pay increase, etc.)

If you are over 40 years of age, now is the time to finally take a serious look at purchasing a long term care insurance policy to protect your assets.

Here are my top 10 resolutions specific to deciding on a long term care insurance policy:

Resolution #1 - Read the LTC Shoppers Guide. This is a great document to give you the basics of long term care insurance. It covers all the basics and helps you understand the many options that are available. Download the Long Term Care Shoppers Guide. 

Resolution #2- Start doing your homework.  The internet has thousands of pages, blogs, advise columns, experts, and government agencies that can help you start your research.  A few of my favorite Long Term Care Insurance providers are Allianz, John Hancock, and Genworth.  These three are top rated companies and provide fantastic individual plans as well as discounts for couples applying together.

Resolution #3 - Review Your Medical Records.  Since the major factor in qualifying for a policy is your current and recent past health history, it’s a good practice to understand what is in your medical file.  Even though you feel healthy, that past ailment you went to see your doctor about may come back to haunt you.  Understanding how your doctor perceived and documented your issues is important.  Policies are underwritten based upon your health and you’ll end up paying more or worse, be denied due to your problems.  Long Term Care Insurance is designed for healthy people.

Resolution #4- Schedule a physcial with your doctor.  Most companies require that you’ve been to see a physician within the past 18 months.  This makes sense even if you aren’t considering a policy.  Don’t be afraid of that doctor (especially the men reading this article).

Resolution #5- Ask your financial planner their view on Long Term Care Insurance.  This is always a good litmus test for your financial planner.  If they are negative on a plan….then I suggest you fire that planner immediately.  Long Term Care isn’t new anymore.  It’s been around for over twenty years and many of the nations top personal financial authorities strongly believe it’s a large piece of your financial planning puzzle.  Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey are big fans of Long Term Care policies.

Resolution #6- Talk with your children/parents.  If you parents are under 80 and haven’t yet purchased a policy, now’s the time to discuss this with them.  You may even have seen your own family torn apart by the catastrophic cost of providing care for a loved one.  Nursing homes and home health care options are expensive if you have to pay out of your pocket.  We all love our parents…of course we’d want to take care of them.  But can we?  The average cost of a nursing facility is over $60,000 per year. 

If you have adult children, let them know you are considering this so you can protect your assets and relieve the stress that they’d be under trying to care for you.

Resolution #7- Call/Visit a local nursing facility.  To truly understand the costs and more importantly the envirnoment, go take a tour of a local nursing facility.  Most are nice places to visit, but can you see yourself actually having to move in there?  I’d prefer to receive my care at home.  Today’s long term care policies offer provisions for home care.

Resolution #8- In Denial - Get Real.  Statistics tell us that 1 out of 2 americans will need long term care help as they age.  Most of us have homeowners insurance and we only have a 1 out of 12,000 chance that our house will burn down.  So why would you bet your life savings on a 50/50 chance you’ll need care?  And if you are married…..we’ll you get the point.

Resolution #9- Contact an Independent Long Term Care Insurance Agent.  The best way to review all of your options is with an independent agent.  They aren’t loyal to one company, therefore, they’ll work hard to find you the best priced product you can qualify for.  Insurance doesn’t have markups.  The agent is marking up your premium, the carrier sets the premium.  Your local auto agent most likely doesn’t have expertise in long term care, plus your local auto agent most likely is a “captive” agent and can only offer your one option.  Your independent agent can quickly compare dozens of companies and offer you several different options.  Request a long term care insurance quote.

Resolution #10 - Apply Today.  It doesn’t hurt to apply and learn if you’ll qualify or not.  Not everyone does.  The younger and healthier you are means the lower the premium you’ll pay, which can add up to thousands of dollars saved over your lifetime.

Here’s to a healthy 2009!

Long Term Care Insurance - don’t leave this critical protection out of your Estate Planning

One of the most important parts of any properly designed estate plan is to have a Long Term Care Insuarnce policy in place.  At this point in your life you most likely have all of your finances in order including having your portfolio properly protected from market changes. 

Sadly, far too many Americans still have far too much risk in their estate plans.  The missing element that can literally wipe out your estate is having to pay for extended periods of care as we age.  A fantastic way to mitigate this risk is by having a properly designed Long Term Care Insurance policy in place.

Long Term Care Policies are becoming more and more popular every year and more popular with the last of the baby boomer generation.  Take this simple self test regarding paying for the costs of Long Term Care.  At today’s rates the average nursing home costs approximately $6,000 per month or $72,000 a year.  Now take your liquid assets and divide that number by $72,000.  This will give you how many years your estate would last if you needed extended care.  If you are married, take the number of years and divide that number by two…since there are two of you to pay for.  Pretty scary huh!

This little exercise can be an eye opener for most.  And that was based upon today’s costs.  Is your portfolio growing at the rate of health care costs?  Hopefully so, if not, then your assets could be depleted that much faster.

The solution to protecting your estate is to have a properly designed Long Term Care Insurance Policy in place.  Several large insurance carriers offer these great plans such as Allianz, Genworth, John Hancock and MetLife. 

Thankfully, most qualified Estate Planners understand the value of having this type of plan in place.  You can read a great article from Bacon/Wilson, Attorneys at Law, on this subject here.

Get a fast, easy, and free quote on Long Term Care Insurance of all types. Please click and fill out the form for a no-obligation long term care quote.

 

How do I get a Long Term Care Insurance Quote?

One of the best ways to receive a Long Term Care Insurance quote is from a Long Term Care agent that specializes in Long Term Care Insurance and preferably an “independent agent”.  An independent agent versus a “captive” agent (only works for one company) will bring several different carriers to the table.  An independent agent’s loyalty is to you their customer, not to a particular insurance carrier that might not have the cheapest policy available. 

Many independent agents have software on their laptop that allows you to compare apples to apples between several different insurance companies.  Let’s say you are interested in $200/day for a daily benefit with a coverage term of five years.  An independent agent will be able to show you quickly the pricing for several different Long Term Care insurance policies from different carriers.  Then you can quickly determine if Allianz, Genworth, or John Hancock is right for you.  There are many more providers, we only mentioned some of the most common.

Finding an independent agent is as easy as searching on the internet or opening your local yellow pages.  Many independent agents work off of referrals, so a good place to check is with your friends and family members that already have a policy.

You can also check with your life insurance provider or homeowners insurance provider.  Many of these carriers offer Long Term Care Insurance…but remember, those are captive agents/companies.

Finally, each carrier has their own specific underwriting criteria for your health rating.  An independent agent also understands the nuisances of each company and will most likely be able to save you time and money choosing the most appropriate policy for your specific needs.