Happy New Year…and happy 65th birthday to the Baby Boom Generation! Today, the oldest Baby Boomers started turning 65.

An article in the January 1, 2011 New York Times, pp. A1, A3, “Boomers Hit Another Milestone of Self-Absorption: Turning 65″ states that over the next 19 years, 10,000 boomers a day will turn 65. There are 79 million of us, about 26 percent of this country’s population. “The pig has moved through the python, and is moving to the final stage,” says the article.

The reporter states that boomers are the most self-centered generation ever, which as a boomer, I feel qualified to attest to.

The writer also reports that the suicide rate for middle-aged people has increased and appears to be related to the sluggish economy. The assumption is that boomers are far from being economically prepared for their long lives.

This does not bode well for what long-term care will look like for the majority of us baby boomers. Statistics show that very few of us own long-term care insurance (LTCi), or have even had a conversation about responsible long-term care planning.

If you are a boomer who falls into the majority of those have not yet prepared for the possibility of needing long-term care, I urge you to heed my call to prepare now, so that if the need arises, you will have dignity, options and choices.

The biggest misconception about LTCi is that it’s too expensive. My clients are often pleasantly surprised to learn that LTCi prices can be quite reasonable. Indeed, what is expensive is needing long-term care for anything but a brief length of time and not owning LTCi.