Long Term Care insurance Archives - Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Practical, Useful Advice for Caregivers

October 29, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Roslynn Carter once said, “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.”

Helping a loved one as their caregiver is a selfless responsibility many of us will take on at some point during our lives.

Readers of this blog already know how stressful caregiving can be. Things get harder without detailed planning. Long term care insurance (LTCi) can provide some financial security and peace of mind.

Challenges Caregivers Face

To help caregivers understand and find solutions to their challenges, EduMed created a fantastic online guidebook for caregiving success. I like this guidebook because it is brief, concise, and gives actionable advice. I read many stories about caregiver and patient suffering and hardship. Very few sources provide practical, useful advice helping caregivers find their way forward.

The guidebook begins by highlighting the challenges facing caregivers on a regular basis. It’s important to know that these experiences are shared by so many others.

These challenges include:

Time Management — How to juggle daily errands, feeding & bathing your loved one, doctor appointments and your own self-care.
Stress (physical and emotional) — Like headaches, chest pain, loneliness and/or anxiety.
Lack of Privacy — Your life is no longer your own, as the needs of your loved ones take priority. Whether or not they or the rest of your family appreciate your efforts.
Financial Strain — Even with your attentive care, medical bills might be adding up. Without proper planning and effective coverage from long term care insurance, the pressure easily builds.
Lack of Sleep — The added responsibilities of caregiving can often lead to increased anxiety or insomnia.
Isolation — Spending so much time caring for your loved one can limit the time you used to share with friends. The mere idea of lunch out can sound like a fantasy.
Burnout — The combination of physical, mental and emotional energy required can overwhelm most people.

Suggestions to Support Caregivers

Fortunately, this guidebook gives some practical advice that caregivers can follow. They boil down to 3 major areas:

Process (organize your tasks)

Make lists, capture appointments and reminders on calendars. Research the numerous phone apps that are available (Some suggestions are included in the handbook).

People & Community (connect with a support system)

You don’t have to do this alone! For example, consider building a support team so you can delegate certain tasks. Find support groups so you can connect with others to share your stories, your woes and your wins.

Self Care (don’t forget YOU)

Even the lightest exercise routine can make a difference in your outlook. So can healthy food choices. And don’t forget to make time to have some fun (remember fun?). You can’t help anyone when your own tank is running on fumes.

Choosing to take care of a loved one is a huge decision, not to be made lightly. With all of the uncertainty and self-sacrifice, one of the most helpful things you can do is plan ahead. As I’ve written in multiple posts, have the conversation today! Decide what that care will look like, what’s expected of you and a reasonable budget.

Perhaps you’ve been thinking about long term care insurance (LTCi) to help reduce some of these challenges. Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi policy.

All the Single Ladies, All the Single Ladies… LTCi and Single Women

September 30, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

The need for long term care doesn’t think about your gender, your financial success or even your age. A life-changing medical crisis can barrel into your life when you least expect it, like an unexpected car accident. Or, it can sneak up on you, introducing subtle symptoms over time, barely noticeable. We see this, for example, with Alzheimer’s disease in people even in their 40s. What we do know is that single women are more in need for long term care insurance (LTCi) than others.

The Special Case for LTCi and Single Women

The two major factors driving the need of LTCi by women are longevity and caregiving.

It probably won’t surprise you to read that women live longer than men. More than two-thirds of Americans over the age of 85 are women. And 80% of centenarians are women. It’s no wonder most residents in nursing homes are women.

At the age of 75, almost 70% of women are single (widowed, divorced or never married). This means they typically live alone, without help with their daily tasks. And because of their historically lower earnings, single women at this age have significantly lower income from Social Security and other retirement plans.

Women are also more likely to be providing care for family members. 75% of people providing home care are women and typically a daughter caring for her mother. On average, she will devote 20 hours each week taking care of her mother. However, 1 in 6 caregivers will provide 40+ hours each week.

Older Women and Poverty

A report compiled by Justice in Aging last year found that out of the 7.1 million older adults that live in poverty, nearly two-thirds of them are women.

The report points to a number of issues that impact the incidence of poverty among women (You can click here to read the full report).

Wage Gap and Low Paying Jobs — 70% of workers earning $10/hour or less are women.
Caregiving — Caring for children and/or parents takes time away from paid employment.
Higher Health Care Costs — A 65-year old woman will spend $47,000 more in health care than a 65-year old man.
Domestic Violence — Affects physical and mental health, so it keeps women in poverty.
Wealth Gap — The Wage Gap reduces many women’s ability to accumulate wealth over their lifetimes.

If you are a woman, you are more likely to need medical care in your later years. Even if that care doesn’t begin until your 70s or 80s. If you have spent years taking care of parents and/or children, this is the time to start thinking about taking care of yourself.

Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi policy.

How Good Food Can Help Your Finances

September 24, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

While researching the value of nutrition on our long term care benefits (“Eating for Life — An LTCi Benefit“), I came across a powerful infographic. There was so much important information in that image, I decided it needed its own blog post. I want to highlight all the great points made.

Many people spend their time and energy looking to solve their health issues with multiple prescriptions. But some of the easiest answers can be found in the foods we eat on a regular basis.

The Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University has launched a Public Impact Initiative to address the “nutrition crisis” found across our nation. They are bringing the full power of their research to help create awareness and change. They are targeting farming programs, school lunch offerings, the military and many other stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

Food Is Medicine

The image below starts with the 10 foods that cause nearly half of U.S. deaths (heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes) each year.

Eating too much: sodium, processed meat, sugary beverages, and unprocessed red meat
Eating too little: nuts & seeds, seafood Omega-3, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and polyunsaturated fats

The Public Initiative aims to save lives and also reduce the skyrocketing costs of healthcare.

LTCi benefit

Workplace Strategies

Reducing employee health risks (like high blood pressure and sugar levels) by only 1% can save employers $83 to $103 each year.
Wellness programs lower medical costs by $3.27 for every $1.00 spent

Lower Income Families

Increasing intake of fruits & vegetables of all SNAP recipients will save $6.77 billion over a lifetime.

Healthcare System

Increasing intake of fruit & vegetables by Medicaid and Medicare participants could prevent almost 2 million cardiovascular disease incidents and save over $40 billion in healthcare costs.
Treating diabetes by providing free fresh food lowers the risk of death or other complications by 40%.
Increasing the amount of whole grains, nuts, fish, and plant-based oils in our diets can prevent 3.31 million cardiovascular disease events. This could save over $102 billion in healthcare costs.

The LTCi Benefit

Here’s the bonus! While we’re enjoying all of this delicious, nutritious food, we’re feeling the incredible benefits in our bodies. We’re also living longer lives with significantly better health. This lowers our own cost of healthcare.

In addition, this preserves the value of your long term care insurance policy, allowing it to grow in value for a longer period of time. When you finally need to start receiving payments, you will have a deeper well to draw from. This gives you access to a wider variety of care options and a higher quality of life in your later years.

Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi policy.

How I Discovered My Fate – Part 1

September 9, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

In high school, I remember my social studies teacher telling us that we were going to have an aging crisis. There was going to be an enormous bulge of Baby Boomers with unprecedented long lifespans. With longer lifespans, they would have medical needs like we have never experienced before. She explained that we were not equipped to handle this crisis. Little did I know this was my earliest career call!

This thought lodged into the subconscious of my brain, resting dormant for many, many years.

About 20 years later, I got my insurance license. In the early days of my career, I was an agent for life, health and disability insurance. Looking back, I’m so grateful I took the time to build this fundamental knowledge of insurance products. It’s really helped me and my clients in my work in long term care insurance.

Great Advice

When I got my insurance license, my beloved Aunt Ruth, who I dearly miss, mentioned that she had bought a long term care insurance (LTCi) policy for herself. She described what it was and how it worked. And she recommended that I look into this new product. She suggested that adding it to my growing portfolio of insurance solutions could create even more options to help my clients. To my credit, I already learned that my aunt’s advice was usually correct and I began my research.

Back in those days, I actually had to go to the library to research long term care insurance. I was unable to find any information in the books, magazines or journals on the shelves. So I turned to the microfiche (Do you remember those whirring machines?) where I finally found a few articles about this fascinating new insurance coverage. I was immediately intrigued and smitten by the nascent LTCi industry! The need and the product made so much sense to me!

A Quick LTCi History Lesson

While LTCi had been around since the 1970s, it really didn’t get much attention until the late 1980s. Even then, very few insurance agents understood it or offered it to their clients.

As my social studies teacher predicted so many years ago, our advances in medicine and technology were helping people live much longer than expected. Which was great news. Except that we forgot to plan for housing and care for our aging population as they became unable to care for themselves.

Heeding the Siren Call

Since my time in the microfiche stacks, the call of LTCi kept tugging at me. It was a brand new product. Hardly anyone owned it yet. Few people had ever heard of it. I could see the obvious need for it.

The economics were clear: Increased LTC Demand + Scarce Caregiver Supply = High LTC Costs.

Thanks to my early work, I already understood how insurance protects assets and gives people more access to a variety of options. The world of LTCi became an obvious path for me. A perfect fit!

LTCi is a product I could believe in with total conviction. It was something that could make a transformative difference for people and their families.

I believed the world needed a long term care insurance (LTCi) specialist. So, in the late 1980s, I launched my solo LTCi practice. I knew that being a pioneer in this industry would have its challenges. But I also believed the journey would end up helping a great many people!

More LTCi History: My Journey Begins

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my story!

In the meantime, if you’d like to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi policy, just click here.

Eating For Life – An LTCi Benefit

September 3, 2019 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Many people believe that, as they age, they will naturally fall victim to a variety of diseases. I want you to understand that there is nothing “natural” to this cycle. There’s a lot to the aging process that we have control over. Sure, it all catches up with us in the end. But isn’t it interesting to imagine living out more of your years with independence, vigor and joy?

A recent Op-Ed in the NY Times (Aug. 26, 2019) was written by two noted authorities on the subject. Dariush Mozaffarian is dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. His co-author, Dan Glickman, is a former secretary of agriculture (1995 – 2001). Their piece does not mince words. As stated in the title, “Our Food is Killing Too Many of Us“.

They make a well-researched argument for the value of healthy eating for life, especially in today’s climate of rising health care costs and reduced funding for government-sponsored programs. Almost half of the adults in the US are pre-diabetic or diabetic. 3 out of 4 adults are overweight or obese and cardiovascular disease kills 2,300 people every day. Every single day.

As they report, “More Americans are sick, in other words, than are healthy.”

Eating For Life – A Hidden LTCi Benefit

Our newsfeeds are full of information about how our diet affects our health. Our diet also directly affects our wealth. By making the decision to eat just a little healthier, we can significantly reduce the burden of medical expenses and also increase the quality of our lives.

Here’s something you may not have thought about. The longer you can sustain a healthy lifestyle, the longer you can postpone filing a claim from your long term care insurance (LTCi). That means that the policy continues to build value over a longer period of time.

A study printed in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) found that over 45% of cardiometabolic (heart, stroke or Type 2 diabetes) deaths were due to poor diet. They specifically cited “excess sodium intake, insufficient intake of nuts/seeds, high intake of processed meats, and low intake of seafood omega-3 fats.”

Today’s Decisions, Tomorrow’s Benefits

This is totally preventable! I encourage you to review your typical eating styles and see if there are small changes you can make today. The benefits will last a lifetime. A lifetime that can be filled with more joy and greater vigor.

Now is also a great time to learn how long term care insurance can provide for you in your later years. Click here to receive a free, no-obligation quote for your own LTCi policy.

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