What are the Best LTCi Options?

In part one of his two part series about understanding long-term care insurance (LTCi), Forbes columnist Wade Pfau describes how LTCi prices are determined. He explains what an elimination period is, what a benefit period is, what a monthly benefit is, and what a LTCi “pool of money” or “benefit bank” is. He also describes different types of inflation protection.

In part two of the series What Are The Best Coverage Options for LTCi? Dr. Pfau describes the types of care LTCi covers and what entitles you to collect from your LTCi.

One thing is clear from reading these articles: LTCi is complex. No matter how bright someone is, ethical advice, preferably from an experienced LTCi specialist like me, is necessary for one to make a confident, wise decision on affordable LTCi they’ll be satisfied with for the rest of their life.

Mr. Pfau actually recommends having an elder law attorney study review LTCi contracts. This is unnecessary. Elder law attorneys generally specialize in wills, trusts, probate, etc, not insurance contracts. In addition, today’s LTCi policies generally have straightforward language a college educated consumer can read and understand. An experienced agent can and will confirm what the contract language means. The elder law attorneys I know are not particularly astute on LTCi contracts. A few of them are clients who relied on me for advice.

I’ve loved Dr. Pfau’s Forbes LTC series because he is so credible and astute. He expresses complexities in easy-to-understand language. He has truly done readers a service with this LTCi series.

As much as I respect and admire him, I think he’s wrong about some minor details, but as a whole, he really gets things right. This series is powerful and useful.