Long Term Care Needs Planning
The thought of needing long term care can be difficult to face, but like life insurance, it is necessary if you want to plan for the future and protect your estate. The best way to protect yourself financially against the costs of long term care is with a long term care insurance policy.
Planning With Long Term Care InsuranceThe eventual need for long term care services is very real. According to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine that 49 percent of those over the age of 65 will, at some point, require some form of long term care services in the hands of professionals. With the cost of long term care services running anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 or more each year, you need to plan for such massive expenses and you may need to plan much earlier than you may expect. If you wait too long, premiums for long term care insurance may be too high, or you may not qualify for long term care insurance.
When to Plan for Long Term Care InsuranceThe goal is to plan for long term care far enough in advance to take advantage of your age and good health, but not too far in advance so that you end up paying for premiums for more years than necessary. While it will differ depending upon your current health and family medical history, the most opportune time to consider long term care insurance is around the age of 55. However, if you are younger and are experiencing health problems or you have a family history of specific, debilitating medical conditions, you may want to consider long term care insurance earlier.
Kick Starting Your Long Term Care Insurance PolicyWith the great variability in policies and how they are enacted, researching what you need and what is available is absolutely necessary. In general, you want to be sure of what medical conditions may be excluded and avoid policies with exclusions to dementia, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Be sure you understand how policy benefits are triggered, which will come down to how many activities of daily living cannot be performed without assistance. Avoid policies which require more than the inability to perform 2 activities of daily living as the benefit trigger.
Planning the Amount of Long Term Care Insurance NeededOf course, the amount of coverage your policy provides is essential to planning for long term care. Pay attention to the benefit limits, which will be daily, weekly or monthly depending upon the policy. There may also be a maximum lifetime benefit which will end benefits. These benefits should be set according to the average cost of long term care services in your area. Also, inflation guard will be essential, especially if you are younger, as the cost of long tem care is continually increasing and your coverage could become obsolete if you do not include inflation protection.
Find the Best Rates with Long Term Care Insurance QuotesAs you are planning and shopping around, take advantage of the availability of long term care insurance quotes. They are free, available online from a variety of reliable sources and can help you get the right policy at the right price. Rates will vary considerably, even on the same policy, from company to company, so quotes can help you save a great deal of money by pointing out the most affordable long term care insurance policies. |
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