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Archives for September 2014

Failure to Plan for LTC Akin to Denial of Climate Change

September 26, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Climate ChangeIt felt almost revelatory to realize the nearly perfect correlation between climate change deniers and people who refuse to plan responsibly for their long-term care.

Both denials appear to involve active refusal to accept facts.

According to one of many sources you may know (Google), the majority of us (77% in this instance), believe in global warming. That’s a strong majority.

This is approximately the same percentage of Baby Boomers who are concerned about their ability to pay for long-term care, depending on the study you read.

All reputable sources predict that 70% of us reaching age 65 will need long-term care at some point in our lives.

Fewer than one-third of us have saved for long-term care.

According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, only about ten percent of us who are age and income-appropriate  own long-term care insurance (LTCi).

The facts are conclusive, there’s an 8,000 pound elephant of long-term care in the room.

Here’s  additional information on how unwise it is to deny the need for long-term care planning.

In the case of long-term care denial, I can give you one story after another about otherwise well-educated, affluent friends, who can afford LTCi premiums, have had first-hand experience being a caregiver, and who would be catastrophically affected if they need care for anything but a short period of time.

If I hadn’t seen in excess of 300 of the LTCi policies I’ve sold during the past 25 years pay off for my clients, if I hadn’t seen the transformative difference LTCi ownership makes, if I hadn’t been often thanked by clients for selling them their LTCi, I might almost be amused by the excuses people give me for not being willing to discuss long-term care planning with me.

I can understand hoping for the best, waging a fierce battle against the odds, and cultivation of an ever-present positive attitude. These things are helpful. This is not the same as denial. Denial is a straightforward avoidance of, a refusal to accept the facts. Such denial often leads to tragic outcomes.

Filed Under: 3 in 4 Need More, Denial, Elephant in the Room, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: American Associatin for Long-Term Care Insurance, Honey Leveen, Long Term Care insurance, long-term care, LTCi, www.aaltci.org, www.honeyleveen.com, www.longtermcare.gov

Mothers Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be Caregivers

September 15, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Daughter Caregiver“Mothers Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be Caregivers” is a guest blog by my friend and colleague, Phyllis Shelton. When I read this, I realized I could not improve upon what she says in any way.

Daughters provide twice as much care for aging parents than sons do, according to a recent study mentioned in The Washington Post. The article said men base their care for an aging parent on whether a sister or the parent’s spouse can handle caregiving responsibilities.

A 60 year old woman contacted me recently, at the direction of her 40 year old daughter. I was thrilled to hear that her daughter was pushing the envelope on her mother planning for LTC, and most importantly, that this mother is listening to her daughter and taking action.

This blog is an appeal to advisors to help MOTHERS take care of DAUGHTERS so they can care about and not for their mother when they grow up. There’s a huge difference between those two words besides two letters!

Caring FOR can mean…

  • taking time away from husband and children
  • taking time away from a job or going part-time or even having to give up the job
  • compromising personal health

I’ve seen this first hand. My mother cared for my grandfather for 10 years in our home and did not have to quit her job. She did it by working nights as a nurse and caring for him during the day. He was blind, insulin-dependent diabetic and had numerous other health issues. He was also my best friend, his room my first stop when I got home from school. My mother took wonderful care of my best friend. She died at age 54 after a two-year losing battle with breast cancer. She was also depressed much of the time, which think whatever you will, I attribute that to years of caregiving with little rest, which ultimately attacks the immune system. I saw this affect my parent’s marriage. I grew up hyper-vigilant as I knew how to call the police or fire department at five years old, and she and I were always “on” to be sure he didn’t fall and hurt himself. Bathing, dressing and cleaning him must have been so difficult for her… and him as well as his mind was fine.

Advisors, ask your clients: “Mothers, is this what you want for your daughters?”

The tidal wave of caregiving is coming. Cheryl Matheis, an AARP Senior Vice President said in a May 1, 2012 National Public Radio interview:

“In 20 years, we’re going to have twice as many people over 65 as we have now. So the average worker is going to end up being a caregiver.”

This is a direct message to women and their employers, because women do make up the majority of caregivers, and women make up 47 percent of the workforce! (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

When a spouse, parent or even an adult child has a disabling accident or illness, the working caregiver has to take time away from work to find caregivers if she can afford them at $18-20 an hour. If she can’t afford them, she may have to go part-time or leave the workforce in order to be a full-time caregiver. A common dilemma today is when a woman waits to have children after launching a career, only to have to plunge into caring for aging parents as soon as the children are raised.

Think about it. Just when women have finally broken through into executive positions and millions have become business owners themselves, this caregiving tidal wave could be the greatest threat to everything women have accomplished in the workplace!

Long-term care insurance can be a phenomenal solution to this generational problem if the parent is still insurable. Just as the daughter in this story realizes, she wants her mother to be taken care of and she also knows it will impact her own lifestyle significantly. But you need to move quickly to help the mothers in your client database, especially if they are single. Most carriers are gender rating which means single women are having to pay a much higher premium.

Another type of policy which can be a great fit for parents who are single is a Facilities-Only policy. Not many carriers offer this, but it can cost 30 percent less because it doesn’t cover home care. This can make it possible for the adult child to visit the parent in a “country-club” assisted living facility, which in many cases will be a safer environment than the adult child’s home, especially if the adult child works outside the home. Proper hygiene, nutrition and exercise can be maintained by the assisted living facility as well as a 24/7 response in the event of a fall or other trauma. The comfortable surroundings combined with regular social interaction can be uplifting to the parent. This is what I mean by caring about our parents, not physically for them. Depending on where you live, this care averages $3500 a month but can easily be $4500.

If the parent isn’t insurable for traditional long-term care insurance, an annuity with strong long-term care benefits can be a viable option as there are no health questions. Depending on the condition, a life insurance with long-term care insurance may also be an option; e.g. lupus that is stable.

The #1 reason why people are seeking out information on long-term care insurance is because they don’t want to be a burden to their children. Without a plan, this is often the outcome.

Phyllis Shelton is a well-recognized author. Here are her Amazon book listings, I hope you’ll take time to click through to them. Phyllis’s books are accurate, informative, entertaining and empowering. They are great for consumers who wish to be as well-informed as possible about long-term care. Phyllis’s website is www.ltcconsultants.com.

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Caring for parents, Honey Leveen, long-term care, LTC Insurance, Phyllis Shelton, Sandwich generation, www.honeyleveen.com, www.ltcconsultants.com

Is Traditional LTCi or Hybrid LTCi best for you?

September 12, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Traditional Or Hybrid LTCiHere’s a September, 2014 Morningstar article by Christine Benz describing the main differences between traditional long-term care insurance (LTCi) and the newer hybrid (also known as “combo”) LTC products. Hybrid LTC products are life or annuity based; traditional LTCi is a type of health insurance.

This article is good because it is written in “lay” language.

I have more articles that describe the differences between traditional versus hybrid LTC approaches. Email me and I’ll send additional articles to you.

Although I’ve been working primarily with traditional LTCi for the past 24 years, before embarking on this career, I spent a couple of years selling life, health and disability insurance. I still know how to explain complicated aspects of life and annuity-based products adeptly and simply.

There are pluses and minuses to each approach. I like to show both approaches and don’t favor either. I just want to see more people take the high risk, high cost odds of needing long-term care more seriously, and plan accordingly.

In the Big Picture, each approach is good. Just take action and plan for needing long-term care, now!

Here’s an old, rhetorical question that’s been around well before I started my career. Here it is: what’s the best insurance policy? Answer: the one that’s in force when you need it!

Filed Under: Denial, Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: annuity-based LTC, Christine Benz, combo LTCi, hybrid LTCi, life-based LTC, long-term care insurannce, LTC Consciousness Tour, LTC Insurance, Morningstar

World Getting ‘Super-aged’ at Scary Speed!

September 8, 2014 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Super AgedCNN Money just published a great article about a just-released report by Moody’s Investment Service. It is about how rapidly much of the world is aging, and how disastrous this will be for the world economy.

The article states that by 2020, 13 countries will be “super-aged” – with more than 20% of the population over 65.

That number will rise to 34 nations by 2030. Only three qualify now: Germany, Italy and Japan.

“Demographic transition … is now upon us,” warn Elena Duggar and Madhavi Bokil, the authors of the Moody’s report.

“The unprecedented pace of aging will have a significant negative effect on economic growth over the next two decades across all regions.”

This excellent interactive chart shows how much and how rapidly the world will be super-aged.

Moody’s finds that accelerating population growth will lead to slower economic growth. Will this also lead to a shortage of caregivers? I think so, especially for those without the money long-term care insurance (LTCi) provides to pay for care. This is certainly evidence that our government will not be capable of paying for the long-term care so many of us will need.

Formal long-term care planning, well in advance, with traditional long-term care insurance or the excellent asset-based LTC products now available, is the only sane way for the majority of us to ensure and conserve emotional, physical and fiscal health.

Filed Under: Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: Aging, CNN Money, Elena Duggar, Honey Leveen, long-term care, LTC costs, LTCi, Madhavi Bokil, Moody's Investment Service, super-aged, www.honeyleveen.com

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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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