Planning for Catastrophic Health
Care Expenses
A good financial plan should address the possibility of catastrophic health care expenses. After that possibility has been considered, the next question is how to pay for it. Your health or Medicare insurance pays the hospital & doctors’ bills should you become sick or have an accident. Your disability insurance will replace all or a portion of your income should you not be able to work as a result of that accident or illness. Neither of these insurances will pay the +$70,000/year it can cost to hire someone to take care of you in your home or a nursing home. Only long-term care insurance (LTCI) provides that type of protection.
Most people have some type of disability insurance while they are working. They then enter their retirement or post-65 years with no disability insurance. Ask yourself a question. If you had to pick only one phase of your life when you were likely to be disabled, which phase would it be? Your pre-65 years or your post-65 years? Most people would say their post-65 years. Most people are entering their post-65 years with no protection from the huge costs associated with professional home or nursing care.
The younger you are when you purchase ltci the more likely you are to receive a better deal in terms of premiums & benefits. We like to think that ltci is a form of portfolio insurance. Your portfolio will perform a lot better without the drag of an annual $70,000 being withdrawn to pay for nursing care!
Contact Paul at (949) 489-2380
or by email at paulpendorf@bakerjensen.net
to get a copy of the LTCI shopper’s guide or to get the answer any specific questions you may have.