Search Results for: affluent

Affluent Retirees Won’t Spend Their Money!

August 22, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Affluent people often tell me they don’t need long-term care insurance (LTCi). They’ll self-insure, instead. This is contrary to my experience.

Traditional retirement planning typically calls for a gradual drawing down of savings to produce retirement income. Contrary to this long-held belief, a recent study published by Employee Benefit Research Institute (ERBI) proves otherwise. In fact, affluent retirees do not want to spend their money!

As illogical as it sounds, this is a point I have been writing about for years. Retirees find great comfort in the size of their nest egg and there is too much uncertainty in their future.

ERBI’s new study shows affluent retirees (with over $500,000 in non-housing savings) had only spent down 11.8 percent of their savings within the first twenty years of retirement. This is far less than projected. In fact about one-third of sampled retirees increased their assets over that period.

Relaxing About the Future

My strong opinion, based on nearly 30 years of client observation, is this: LTC insurance ownership releases people from an ever-present gray storm cloud of a possible LTC need looming on the horizon. The gray cloud grows ever larger with each passing year. Let’s call it the LTC Storm Cloud. It’s caused by fear of an unexpected, unplanned for, possibly catastrophically expensive “Spending Shock“, caused by a chronic long term care need.

An AHIP study released in 2014 (email me at honey@honeyleveen.com for the actual study) confirms LTC insurance owners get 35% more hours of care, as well as many additional advantages, such as increased independence and dignity, decreased financial stress, higher quality family relationships, and the list goes on.

The reason LTC insurance owners obtain more care is because they’re not paying for it out of their income or savings.

I see people denying their true need for care all the time. Often, it’s because they have the money for it, but just don’t want to spend it. They’re afraid of losing their wealth. Don’t let this happen to you!

When you’re ready to get some peace of mind about your future needs, click here to receive a no-obligation quote for your personal LTCi policy.

Affluent People Should Self-Insure for LTC, Right?

October 31, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Many affluent people believe that they’re better off using their own money to self-insure long term care (LTC) needs. They view their savings and investments as their personal safety net, their rainy day fund. And yet, with all that financial preparation, they still can’t face the facts when their health declines and it becomes time to get extra care. Acknowledging the truth about your health is very emotional, no matter how much money you have.

When You Self-Insure Long Term Care

The easy part is recognizing that you will, at some time in the distant future, need long term care. Choosing to fund these needs from personal savings could end up working against you.

First of all, with no formal policy in place, how do you know when it’s the right time to start stepping up your level of care? Your long term care insurance has specific guidelines.
Secondly, an LTC insurance plan provides a blueprint for your loved ones to follow. Without this blueprint, nobody really knows how much care you intended to receive.
Even for the highly affluent, financial planners describe unplanned LTC costs as a dangerous “spending shock” that should be avoided.

Once you have a good LTC insurance plan in place, be sure to let your family know about it. Share your plans so they know what you want. Unnecessary sibling disagreements about money may be avoided.

Both affluent and non-affluent families suffer from postponing receiving the care that they need in their later years.

Here’s a great story by Christine Benz, who shares in her opening paragraphs how her parents could well afford to self-insure for long-term care (LTC), but her family denied the need!

Check out my testimonials page for examples of affluent and non-affluent families where LTCi ownership made a huge difference for the better.

I encourage you to avoid denial of your need for long term care! Use your LTCi as you originally intended: to prevent you from being a burden on those you love. Live out your life in comfort and grace!

Click here if you’d like a free quote on long term care insurance for you or someone you love.

Affluent People Want LTCi (Long-Term Care Insurance) Badly

April 29, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A new study by the Urban Institute dated March 29, 2011 (2100 M Street NW Washington, DC 20037) shows that the affluent are not affluent by accident.

Of all the excuses I hear, “I’ll just self-insure for LTC (long-term care)” ranks first. It definitely takes first place in both the most frequent and irrational excuse categories.

Of course, people of all income levels often give me this excuse…and many others. What this new survey demonstrates, however, is that affluent people (those making over $100,000/year) are more likely to buy LTCi.

According to the survey, Americans aged 55 years and older with annual incomes over $100,000 are twice as likely own LTCI (19.3% versus 10.3%)

In my world, “I’ll just self-insure” is code for “I think I’ll take that diving vacation in Tahiti. It’s much more fun than talking about responsible LTC planning now to avoid stress, strife and possible financial catastrophe later.” It could also be code for, “I can’t watch football games on the old 40″ HD TV anymore. I need a bigger, newer TV now!”

In short, earners of over $100,000/year are more likely to say, “I think I’ll take that diving trip to the Bahamas or the Florida Keys this year, not Tahiti. This way, I can still see magnificent sea creatures, relax, and have a great vacation. And I can afford reasonable $1,000-3,000/year LTCi premiums at the same time.”

The High Cost of Avoidance and Denial

January 20, 2020 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Over the years, I’ve written multiple blogs posts about the importance of creating a solid long term care plan to address your late life wishes. Make the plan and share it with your family. And yet, time after time, I read horror stories about unnecessary suffering, neglect and even death because they never had “the conversation”. As if avoiding this important discussion gives them some artificial sense of control and safety. There is a cost of avoidance and it’s very high.

“I’d rather die than talk about this.”

The truth is that once chronic health problems arise, your ability to make good decisions often decreases. This is partly because your brain may have reduced cognitive powers. And also because making good choices becomes harder when you’re feeling panicked with fewer options. It’s really hard to see the big picture when it feels like your world is getting smaller.

Mr. & Mrs. Shaver Paid the Cost of Avoidance

As reported in the New York Times (Dec 2019), their love story is the thing movies are made of. A romantic courtship and a loving marriage of 60 years. Unfortunately, his wife starting showing signs of dementia. Even though his children encouraged hiring home care help, Mr. Shaver refused any discussion. “Mind your own business. I’m taking care of it.”

He had ample savings for their retirement, so we know the cost of hiring help was not the issue. As the sole caregiver to his wife, he was obviously aware of her declining state of mind. However, he was unwilling to make any move that would improve their environment.

It must have broken his heart to see the love of his life disappear from his life. She no longer recognized him or their daughters. One day, while she was asleep, her loving husband laid down in bed next to her and shot his wife. And then shot himself.

The Time to Plan is Now

I’ve been helping people create these plans for 30 years. One thing I’ve learned is that having such a plan in place provides a peace of mind and increases quality of living. Without the comfort of a strategy, the fear of aging only grows over the years. As you age, the concerns over injury (falling in the shower, tripping over furniture, dizziness from medications) can contribute to mounting fears.

Once the fear takes hold, it becomes harder to make clear and thoughtful decisions. I’ve done several blogs on age-related brain loss and cognitive decline.

For most of us, whether we’re middle class or more affluent, owning long term care insurance (LTCi) is critical for ensuring dignity, options, and access to quality long term care. But it’s not enough. You must have ongoing, difficult conversations with your family so everyone understands the outcome you desire.

Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi coverage. Your family will thank you.

Denial of the Facts Does Not Make Them Less True

October 10, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Resistance to planning for long term care and doubting that human activities have created global warming share some very interesting roots. What a revelation to me! Author Karie Marie Norgaard connected these dots in her book, Living in Denial.

In the book, Norgaard examines the thought processes behind those who choose to deny the existence of climate change. I read an essay by Andy Skuce in which he takes a deep dive into Norgaard’s research and understanding about Denial.

Types of Denial

The book divides denial into 3 categories:

Literal denial. This happens when people don’t trust the facts, even when overwhelmingly supported by objective and thorough scientific data. We often see this from “Climate Skeptics”.
Interpretive denial. This one gets slippery. It accepts the facts (climate change is real), but reinterprets the meaning so it doesn’t sound like a real threat. That removes their responsibility to make proactive changes, since it’s not a real problem.
Implicatory denial. In this case, the facts and the interpretations are generally accepted. But then, “the psychological, political or moral implications that conventionally follow” are discounted and ignored. Climate change is already too advanced for anyone to do anything about it, so I’m off the hook and don’t have to make hard choices.

Denying the Need for Long Term Care

If these thought processes sound familiar, these are exactly the same behaviors I’ve been writing about throughout my career as a Long Term Care Insurance Specialist. Let’s run through these again:

Literal denial. Not trusting the facts — No matter how many studies get funded, no matter how may reports get written. There are always going to be people who refuse to accept that they are probably going to need financial help to cover their future medical care.
Interpretive denial. Accepting the facts: Yes, we’re living longer. Yes, we’ll probably need help in our later years. BUT… we’ve always taken care of each other. Or our family is ready to step in to help. We’ll be fine.
Implicatory denial. I know, we’ve got some uncertain times ahead of us. BUT… ‘they’ say that there’s no real reliable coverage. Or it costs too much. What can I do at this point?

For almost 30 years I’ve had well-educated, affluent friends and acquaintances make excuses to avoid the conversation about reasonable, responsible long term care planning. Intellectually, these people know better. They are making sound decisions in other areas of their lives, but they refuse to accept the fact that after age 65, they might be one of the 70% of us are going to need some sort of long-term care.

Denial is not a river in Egypt and the first step is easy. Click here to receive your no-obligation quote on your own Long Term Care insurance plan.

Search Results for: affluent

Affluent Retirees Won’t Spend Their Money!

Relaxing About the Future

Affluent People Should Self-Insure for LTC, Right?

When You Self-Insure Long Term Care

Affluent People Want LTCi (Long-Term Care Insurance) Badly

Denial of the Facts Does Not Make Them Less True

Types of Denial

Denying the Need for Long Term Care

From My Blog

Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

LTCI is Magical at Time of Need!

Testimonials