Investing money to pay for Assisted Living/Memory Care

Hi Terry,
My father is in an Assisted Living residence for Dementia. I would like to invest some of his money to help pay for his future living costs. As the disease progresses, so does the cost of care. What would you recommend?
Thank you!

Terry Says: Well, I so wish you would have asked 20 years ago — and I hope others will take this message to heart.  Your question is the reason I have always recommended Long Term Care Insurance.  And it’s something you might want to think about for yourself.

There is nothing you can “invest” in at this time, because you can’t take the risk of losing ANY of his money.  So basically you have to leave the money in the bank, earning almost nothing, because at least there is no risk of loss.  You have to hope his memory totally runs out before his money does, because you will have to get Medicaid assistance, and typically they do not pay for assisted living — only state-funded nursing homes.  Or you will have to dip into your savings to care for him.

I wish I could give you a better answer,  but if you do something risky and lose money, then you would have to face that reality sooner rather than later.