LTC Insurance

My wife and I will have assets of 800000 –  1million when we retire.  Is it necessary to purchase long term care insurance?

SAVAGE SAYS:  Not unless you are sure that neither of you will contract some kind of disability such as Alzheimers, or live long enough to need basic care with activities of daily living.  The first to do so will probably be fine — since the average stay in a full-care nursing home is less than 3 years, and the current average cost of such care in a major city is only about $125,000 a year!  But if you guess wrong, and both of you need care, then someone (typically the wife who will live longer) is going to be dependent on the state Medicaid program, because all the money (and her energy) will be spent on the first spouse to need care!  The situation becomes even more critical if your home is counted as your asset.  Because then the only alternative for the remaining spouse is a reverse mortgage or the sale of the home.

There are some new types of policies that combine LTC coverage with life insurance. Then if you don’t use the care, your heirs will get the life insurance proceeds.  Read recent articles on the subject at TerrySavage.com — Or contact Brian Gordon or Peter Florek at MAGA, LTC  800-533-6242,