by | June 17th, 2019

In April I blogged about the importance of protecting yourself and your family from the full effect of the high costs of long-term care, and I wanted to make this point again because it needs to be repeated.

Earlier this month, there was a Wall St. Journal article offering this same advice.  The June 10 article, The Odds of Needing Long-Term Care, repeats a few of the staggering statistics I had shared, including: “The government says about seven in 10 (69%) people turning age 65 today will need some type of long-term care at some point.” And, “typically women need care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years).  These statistics are hard to ignore.

In his article, Glenn Ruffenach mentions several resources that provide you with other statistics and valuable information worth reviewing.  To start, the Administration for Community Living, a part of the Dept. of Health and Human Resources, has published a good primer on long-term care.  (Go to longtermcare.act.gov and click on: The Basics.) It reports that while about one-third of people who are 65 may never need long-term care, 20% will need it longer than five years! 

Ruffenach also mentions a more detailed resource, published by Health and Human Services, which looks at the risk of people developing a disability and needing help with “activities of daily living,” such as bathing, dressing and eating.  This report estimates that about one in six Americans will end up spending at least $100,000 out-of-pocket for those very services.  (Go to aspe.hhs.gov and search for: Long-Term Services and Support for Older Americans.)

So, what should you take away from all this?  You should take away that you could be on the unlucky side of  one of statistics – and that yours and your family’s nest egg could be at serious risk.

No one wants to think about these possibilities, but it is critical that you have a conversation with your family and your financial advisor on how best to hedge against these serious threats to your retirement finances and the future of your family’s finances.  To read more of this article, click here.    

To learn more about the benefits of long-term care insurance and riders, please contact Fahmy & Associates today at (703) 760-4630 or email us at kfahmy@fahmyassociates.com.

— Ken Fahmy

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