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Search Results for: affluent

Affluent Retirees Won’t Spend Their Money!

August 22, 2018 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Money in shape of heartAffluent 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.

 

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC, Misinformation About LTC, Uncategorized

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.

Filed Under: I'll Just Self-Insure, Uncategorized Tagged With: Long Term Care insurance, LTCi, self-insure

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.”

Filed Under: Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: Long Term Care insurance, LTC Insurance, Urban Institute

Tony Bennett is Not in San Francisco

February 15, 2021 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Tony Bennet’s story has now gone public. It is uncannily similar to Glen Campbell’s. Each was concertizing well into his moderate-to-late stage dementia. Deeply entrenched job functions are some of the last skills people with dementia lose.

Mr. Bennett’s wife and son have begun to speak out. The article says Mr. Bennett started showing signs of Alzheimer’s in 2015.

Tony Bennett has a $200 Million net worth, yet it sounds like he has no long-term care insurance (LTCi).

“Susan Bennett is serving as her husband’s caregiver.” Why? The article describes Mr. Bennett as at the stage where he needs a lot of watching.

Even super-affluent people neglect formal planning for their LTCi. Even more surprising is when they get to the point where they need care, though they have virtually unlimited funds, these folks often still want to avoid spending their own money to pay for LTC!

I believe additional caregiver support would lower stress and enable Mrs. Bennet and her family experience a more qualitative relationship with her Mr. Bennett.

Hyper affluent people like the Bennetts are not too rich to own long-term care insurance (LTCi). Many hyper-affluent people do. LTCi makes sense for them financially. But many, like Peter Max, Brooke Astor, Penny Marshall, to name just a few, didn’t own LTC. They and their families suffered badly as a result. One might even conjecture they suffered worse, because there was more money for family to squabble over, and because  such folks are accustomed to 5-star comfort, dignity, security, which is not how their last months and years turned out.

Tony Bennett Reveals He Has Alzheimer’s Disease

“He’s not the old Tony anymore,” his wife, Susan, said. “But when he sings, he’s the old Tony.”

 

The singer Tony Bennett has announced that he has Alzheimer’s disease, writing on Twitter: “Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s.”
The singer Tony Bennett has announced that he has Alzheimer’s disease, writing on Twitter: “Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s.”Credit…Evan Agostini/Invision, via Associated Press
Sarah Bahr

By Sarah Bahr

  • Published Feb. 1, 2021Updated Feb. 2, 2021, 12:32 a.m. ET

Tony Bennett, the 94-year-old singer who has become a beloved interpreter of the American songbook, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, his wife, Susan, told AARP The Magazine this week.

“Life is a gift — even with Alzheimer’s,” the singer tweeted on Monday morning. “Thank you to Susan and my family for their support.”

Susan Bennett, and Tony Bennett’s eldest son, Danny, told the magazine that Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s — a degenerative brain disease that causes memory loss, among other things — in 2016.

According to the magazine, Bennett began showing symptoms in 2015. “Even his increasingly rare moments of clarity and awareness reveal the depths of his debility,” the article states. But it said that he had not experienced the disorientation that prompts some patients to wander off, or episodes of terror, rage or depression.

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Before the coronavirus pandemic, Bennett had continued to perform extensively. But backstage, relatives told the magazine, he could seem “mystified about his whereabouts.”

“But the moment he heard the announcer’s voice boom ‘Ladies and gentlemen — Tony Bennett!’ he would transform himself into performance mode, stride out into the spotlight, smiling and acknowledging the audience’s applause,” the piece said.

His wife, Susan, would watch nervously, worrying that he would forget a lyric. “I was a nervous frigging wreck,” she told the magazine. “Yet he always delivered!”

The early signs came in 2015, she told the magazine, when he began forgetting musicians’ names onstage, and began stashing a list on the piano, she said. But he knew something was wrong and wanted to see a doctor, she said, and he learned he had Alzheimer’s in 2016.

Susan Bennett said that he can still recognize family members, but the magazine reported that “mundane objects as familiar as a fork or a set of house keys can be utterly mysterious to him.”

Bennett, who has had a seven-decade-long career, scored his first big hit in 1951, “Because of You.” In 1962 he recorded “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which became his signature song. Long after other crooners had died or faded from the airwaves, Bennett experienced a resurgence in popularity: He won a Grammy for his 1994 album, “Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged.” Since then, he has recorded duets with a string of notables including James Taylor, Sting and Amy Winehouse.

He recorded an album with Lady Gaga in 2014, “Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard’s Top 200 pop and rock chart. According to the AARP article, a follow-up album with Lady Gaga, which was recorded between 2018 and early 2020, will be released this spring.

Lady Gaga was aware of Bennett’s condition when they were recording their most recent collaboration, the article said. In documentary footage of the sessions, Bennett rarely speaks, and offers one-word responses like “Thanks” or “Yeah.”

But his appetite for all things musical remains robust. According to the magazine, he continues to rehearse a 90-minute set twice a week with his longtime pianist, Lee Musiker — and does so without any of the haltingness that can characterize his speech.

More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, including one in 10 people age 65 or older. Symptoms may initially include repeating questions, getting lost in a familiar place or misplacing things, and may eventually progress to hallucinations, angry outbursts, and the inability to recognize family and friends or communicate at all. Alzheimer’s has no cure.

Susan Bennett is serving as her husband’s caregiver.

“I have my moments and it gets very difficult,” she told the magazine. “It’s no fun arguing with someone who doesn’t understand you.” But she added that they felt more fortunate than many other people living with Alzheimer’s.

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Bennett’s last public performance was in March at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, N.J. Before the coronavirus shut down live performances, he was touring often, singing a 90-minute set without cluing in audiences or critics that anything was amiss.

“He’s not the old Tony anymore,” Susan Bennett told the magazine. “But when he sings, he’s the old Tony.”

Filed Under: Denial, I'll Just Self-Insure, Information About LTC Tagged With: long-term care, LTC costs, LTC Insurance, LTCi

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

cost of avoidance
Mr. & Mrs. Shaver — “Sweethearts Forever”

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.

Filed Under: Age related brain loss, Age related cognitive impairment, Denial, Elder fraud exploitation scams, Elephant in the Room, Helpful Information About LTC, Information About LTC Tagged With: age related cognitive decline, Aging, assisted living, brain loss, cognitive decline, dementia, Helpful Information About LTC, home care, long-term care, scams

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Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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Testimonials

Open Quotation Mark"Honey - Whenever I need a clarification regarding our “LTC” you are “Johnny on the spot” responding in a very prompt manner, reassuring me, informing me in a concise way, patient with me as I massage the understanding in my own words. Your knowledge is current and expressed with confidence, offered in your conscientious and upbeat personality. Quotation Mark ClosedIt is a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for your expertise." ~ Nancy Damon, Houston, TX
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Honey Leveen, LUTCF, CLTC, LTCP
“The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)”
404 Royal Bonnet
Ft. Myers, FL 33908

Phone: 713-988-4671
Fax: 281-829-7177

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

Email: honey@honeyleveen.com

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