How to Avoid Financial Catastrophe If You Missed the Boat on Long-Term Care Insurance

There is no perfect time for estate planning, but there is also no wrong time. You are never too young to write a will, but if you never write one and your estate goes through probate court intestate, your closest family members will still inherit your property. You can draft a power of attorney the day before you need someone else to make a financial transaction on your behalf, or you can draft it years in advance, and the power of attorney is equally valid in either case. When it comes to paying for long-term care, the sooner you choose a strategy and act on it, the better. A lot of people procrastinate acting on the strategies that will make long-term care affordable, because when you are healthy enough that you are still in the workforce, it is hard to know how much long-term care, if any, you will eventually need. Your best choice is to buy long-term care insurance, but that opportunity can pass you by quickly. For help accounting for your future long-term care needs in your estate plan, contact a Dade City estate planning lawyer.

Why Is Long-Term Care Insurance So Great, and Why Is It So Hard to Get?

Long-term care insurance policies pay for nursing home care, residence in assisted living facilities, and sometimes even home health aide services. If you buy it when you are about 50 years old, it costs only a few hundred dollars per month. By contrast, a month’s stay in an assisted living facility costs several thousand dollars. In other words, a year’s worth of long-term care insurance premiums adds up to only about a month’s rent in an assisted living facility or treatment in a nursing home. Unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in a savings account, it is the most affordable way to maintain ownership of your house and also pay for long-term care.

Because long-term care insurance pays for itself so quickly, insurers will only issue it to people who can expect many years of paying premiums in good health before they start claiming benefits. If you try to buy long-term care insurance after you retire, you probably will not be able to get a policy at all, and if you can, it will cost a bundle.

Act Now Before the Affordable Alternatives Slip Through Your Fingers

If you have missed your chance to buy long-term care insurance, there are less expensive options that convey some of the benefits that long-term care insurance gives you. For example, whole life insurance and hybrid life insurance let you spend some of the insurance benefits on long-term care, but the policy limits are lower. An annuity can also give you a source of cash to use on nursing home care.

Contact a Florida Estate Planning Attorney About Paying for Long-Term Care

An estate planning attorney can help you figure out how to pay for long-term care if you cannot get long-term care insurance.  Contact The Law Office of Laurie R. Chane in Dade City, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

cnbc.com/2025/05/17/why-long-term-care-costs-can-be-a-huge-problem.html