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WSJ Advice Demonstrates Lack of Insight

November 11, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

In the December 4, 2012 issue of the WSJ entitled “Time for Elder Care?”, Kristen Gerencher offered advice for children of elders needing long-term care (LTC), but included only one questionable strategy about how to prevent LTC from bankrupting Mom and Dad (and possibly reduce the kids’ inheritance to $0.00!).

Obviously timed for those family get-togethers during the holidays, the story advises adult sons & daughters to take a good look to see if Mom & Dad are slipping, either mentally or physically, and may need some LTC assistance. If so, Gerencher lists professionals who can help find the right level of assistance.

Grencher suggests that the adult children look into options, ranging from voluntary services such as nutritional programs to more expensive (but unmentioned) alternatives such as moving to an assisted living facility or nursing home.

The reporter notes – correctly – that “Medicare doesn’t cover most LTC costs” and adds that “Medicaid covers them under certain conditions.” But she fails to add that the “conditions” are typically after Mom and Dad have spent their worldly assets (the kids’ inheritance) paying for long-term care and are impoverished. She does add, however, that the kids can consult an elder law attorney to make sure that their parents’ assets are properly sheltered, but then helpfully notes that any clever actions like cash gifts or transfers of assets to junior MUST be made at least five years before the parents apply for Medicaid. Ah, hah, the first reference to planning to avoid financial ruin!!

Sadly for her readers, Gerencher does not even mention long-term care insurance LTCi), which requires frank discussion and careful planning between parents and adult children! With reasonably priced LTCi, Mom & Dad will have the funds to retain their dignity and options to defray the cost of a wide range of LTC, based on their needs. Furthermore, the whole family will be able to gather during the holidays and at other times with peace of mind and a definite plan of action if the kids notice a need for care, which research has shown will happen to about 70% of elders.

Sounds like a plan to me!

“Life Is What Happens to You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans” (John Lennon)

May 21, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

“Joanne and Everett Parhiala had a plan. They would move from the Lexington house where they had raised their three children to a smaller Boston condo. Then, Joanne, 53, and Everett, 57, would work for a few more years before settling into retirement in the city.” (Aging parents add to retirement planning challenge. Boston Globe, May 21, 2012)

Sadly, their plans were derailed. The Parhialas instead began looking for a larger house in which to care for Joanne’s aging father and developmentally disabled brother.

As I have said repeatedly in this blog, the need for long-term care (LTC) can have a staggering emotional, physical and financial impact on the lives of families. This couple’s retirement plans were radically interrupted by unplanned parental caregiving duties. This unplanned interruption most likely not have occurred if the parents had done reasonable and responsible LTC planning when they were able to. OR if Joanne and her husband had had a frank discussion with their parents about LTC insurance years ago and, if necessary, helped cover the cost of the premiums for their parents.

Caregiving Boomers Find They Need Care Themselves

April 27, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a refreshingly fair and accurate article by Diane Stafford in the April 16, 2011 Kansas City Star, titled Care-giving boomers find they need care themselves. It is about the public’s wide-scale denial of the possibility of needing long-term care. She beautifully describes the disconnect and denial I encounter from well-educated, middle-class and affluent people on an everyday basis.

I hope readers will take Ms. Stafford’s advice to heart. According to www.longtermcare.gov, the US Department of Health and Human Services site, at age 65, there is approximately a 70% chance any of us will need long-term care. I urge you to plan accordingly – NOW. Planning will ensure financial and emotional well-being for both you and your family.

A video is worth 1,000 words

February 27, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

Click here to see a video featuring former journalist Meryl Comer candidly, poignantly describing how her life was turned upside down because she and her husband were unprepared for his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Now, in 180 degree contrast, watch this video illustrating the night and day difference long-term care insurance ownership makes for people and their families.

The Cost of Entitlements Just Goes Up and Up

February 15, 2012 by Honey Leave a Comment

“Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It” (NY Times, Feb. 12, 2012, pp. A1, 24) presents frightening trends that threaten the well being of every American. A myriad of benefits programs provided over $6,500 for every man, woman and child in the US in 2009, a 69% increase from 2000. And although the primary objective of these programs was to keep Americans out of poverty, the poorest Americans no longer receive the majority of government benefits.

Trends in the need and cost of these programs are sobering. Nearly 50% of Americans lived in households receiving government benefits in 2010, up from 38% in 1998 and 44% just before the recession in 2007. And spending on medical benefits is projected to rise 60% over the next 10 years. As the baby boomers age, the number of Americans covered by Medicare will increase by one-third. These increases will make spending on medical benefits higher than every other expenditure in the federal budget expect interest on the national debt – higher even than the money invested in education or defense!

And where will the money come from to cover all these national expenses? Not from the taxes we pay. For example, “a 45-year old woman who earns $43,500 in 2010 will pay taxes worth $87,000 to the federal government by the time she retires, BUT the government will spend $275,000 for her medical care before she dies. As the economists say, “There is no free lunch.”

As the boomers age, increasing numbers of them will also need long-term care, which is covered by Medicaid or personal funds, NOT Medicare. And, of course, the demand for long-term care will continue to increase – even as Medicaid funds shrink. How sad…

One way to maintain your dignity in your final years AND to minimize physical, emotional and financial stress on your family is to own long-term care insurance to cover these expenses that can average over $70,000 per year. You owe it to yourself and your family to give this option careful thought.

Request a Free, No-Obligation LTCi Quote

WSJ Advice Demonstrates Lack of Insight

“Life Is What Happens to You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans” (John Lennon)

Caregiving Boomers Find They Need Care Themselves

A video is worth 1,000 words

The Cost of Entitlements Just Goes Up and Up

From My Blog

Podcast Illuminates LTC Need

LTCI is Magical at Time of Need!

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