In 1850, it was common for families to have anywhere from 6-9 children! A driving incentive was that, “… children were considered an economic asset: with enough kids, parents could rest assured that at least some would survive and care for them in old age.” (Quartz, Oct. 11, 2017) You can see in this chart from Quartz (from the US Census) that parents had fewer and fewer children with each passing decade.

This steady decline of US birthrates has continued. There’s been lots of news on this recently. The New York Times recently had professional survey firm, Morning Consult, conduct a new poll of young adults to determine why they are having fewer children. They surveyed over 1,800 men and women, ages 20-45. What they found was that in 2017, the number of births in the US birth was at its lowest number in 30 years. And down a full 2% from 2016.

 

Why Are We Having Fewer Children?

As in decades past, it’s still a financially-based decision. While our ancestors saw children as an economic asset, they are now more of an economic burden. The rising cost of childcare was the top-rated explanation for scaling back on family size, as reported in this Fortune article (July 6, 2018).

Other reasons included the desire to spend more time with their existing children. Many others had fears about the country’s economic instability. It’s hard to plan for the future needs of their children over the next 20 years when their current finances no longer feel secure.

Fewer Children Means Fewer Caregivers

If we were still living in large families, there would be plenty of hands available to take care of everyone. From the babies through the great-grandparents. In 2018, however, our family size has shrunk considerably. There are fewer family members available to provide the daily care.

Who is going to take care of you when you need more help? The numbers tell us that it is unrealistic to depend on our kids.

If you’re ready to get some peace of mind over your future long term care needs, click here for your free, no-obligation quote for long term care insurance.

For about 25 years, I’ve been telling people assisted living is a better solution if there’s a late in life, chronic need for long-term care.

As you can imagine, I’ve met with a lot of resistance about this over the years. This feels like a very emotional decision to leave the “independence” of living in your own home and opting to live in an assisted living facility. However, if you take the time to look at the facts, you’ll understand my position. To fully understand the decision requires the ability to fearlessly envision a time when they are no longer strong, active and independent. And that time is coming for most of us.

A new study backs me up on this. Vindication is a lovely feeling!

The Preference for Assisted Living

A new poll conducted by Key Private Bank was reported on by McKnight’s Senior Living. Of those polled, the conclusion is that if older adults are independent and able to remain at home, that is their natural preference.  At the point where this is no longer safe or feasible, their first choice, by a landslide, is assisted living. The public is finally catching on to this.

Some of you, eager to stay in your home at any cost might be considering the option for home healthcare. Where 93% of respondents would choose assisted living once they could no longer care for themselves, only 11% preferred home healthcare. They understand the unnecessary burden that home care places on family and friends. Plus, the standard of care in assisted living is higher and more consistent.

By the way, some policyholders choose long term care insurance coverage that doesn’t cover home care, which significantly reduces their monthly premiums. Why pay for something you won’t want to use?

Imagine…

Imagine a scenario where you’re living alone. Maybe you’re married but you’re both at an advanced age. You no longer have the balance, strength or stamina from your younger years. You reach a point where you are at risk for falls stepping in or out of the shower. Perhaps you also need a tiny bit of help to avoid falls. Or some help getting up from chairs or getting your pants on. You might be at the point where you have dementia and are starting to make faulty decisions, placing you or your loved ones in danger. Maybe you decide to take an ill-advised walk and you can’t remember how to get back home.

In a reputable assisted living facility, you are

• safer
• less likely to experience abuse or fraud
• at decreased risk for falls
• able to live with less fear about your well-being
• more socially stimulated and carefree

If you own LTC insurance (LTCi) and are at the point where you need assistance in basic, daily tasks, your LTCi will be gushing money, waiting to give you the support. Your LTCi is your passport, with readily-accessible funds to access high quality care when needed. Hopefully, you’ll use your policy. If you’re like many of my policyholders, prompt, easy access to care, when it’s needed, will give you more dignity, safety, security, and options.

If you don’t own a LTCi policy, click here to receive your personal quote.

 

Isn’t that an eye-catching headline? It’s human nature to be drawn to bad news, addressing or even causing panic in the general public. And the media knows it, which is why they are motivated to share the very worst-case scenarios without exploring more common experiences.

Selling the Bad News

Here’s a short story that NBC recently ran, highlighting a couple’s worst dreams coming true. Their Long Term Care insurance (LTCi) premiums experienced noteworthy rate hikes. The couple’s story creates sympathy and also promotes fear among an uninformed public that would likely benefit from the benefits of LTCi coverage.

The story shared is absolutely true and the situation is difficult for the featured couple.

BUT IT’S NOT THE WHOLE STORY

Here are some facts that they forgot to share:

1. Older policies (written before 1996) were very robust and fully-featured. And yes, the rates charged were based on estimates that have proven to be faulty.
2. Holders of these older policies sometimes need to downgrade benefits to offset rising premiums. However, even with downgraded coverage, they still have higher benefits than a comparable policy has today.

How to Spread the Good News

Perhaps another reason for poor media coverage is due to a shortage of trained LTCi specialists. Before stories like the one from NBC is publicized, it would be helpful to get some insights from the industry experts, who were (of course) not consulted for this article. My clients know how to contact me with any and all questions about their policies. If they receive a rate hike notice, we have an honest conversation including:

• What caused the rate hike?
• Is likely to happen again and, if so, how often?
• Can they afford to maintain their current coverage?
• What is the most effective strategy going forward?

A respected colleague, Margie Barrie, wrote this piece that gives an informed response to the rate hikes some of her clients have experienced. The industry has gathered better data over decades of experience. Companies now know that once we purchase our LTCi policy, almost nobody ever drops it. More people than anticipated are collecting from their LTCi, for longer lengths of time.

In that article, Barrie also addresses the possibility of future rate hikes. On older policies, they could be more likely. But we can always find ways to ameliorate them, if necessary.

You Get to Decide

When you see some bad news about LTCi, please reach out to someone you trust to give you the full story. My clients rely on me for the truth.

If you’re ready to begin this conversation, let’s get started! Click here to receive your no-obligation quote for your personal LTCi policy.