It’s not something that’s fun or even pleasant to think about, although, at some point, you’ll likely need help taking care of yourself or even a loved one.
It’s easy to think “I’m too young and healthy to think about that problem right now.” Let me be clear that it may not simply be your age or deteriorating health that could place you in a long-term care situation. There are people who find themselves needing extended care due to an unfortunate accident; and I’m sure like myself, most of you don’t have that crystal ball telling you if this may or may not happen.
Getting Long-term care coverage is not something you can wait until you need it to put it in place. Much like your car insurance, you cannot get into an accident and then call the insurance company for coverage. This is coverage you need to plan for as you would your home or your car, hey even our cell phones are being insured! As a matter of fact, statistically speaking… more than 70% of people will need some form of Long-term care in their lives, yet not very many people are preparing for it. We all pretty much have protection for our homes but how likely is it to see a house fire in 7 out of 10 homes on your street… let’s think about that for a moment.
Long-term care (LTC) covers a whole range of services to meet your needs if you’re disabled, chronically ill, or if an accident leaves you in need of months of recovery and being unable to care for yourself. Services, like helping you with day-to-day living activities such as dressing, eating, bathroom use etc. are considered long-term care and these things are NOT covered by your regular health or Medicare insurance. LTC may be provided at a facility such as a nursing home, assisted living, memory care center or even in your home! Let’s face it, most people would rather be in the comfort of their own home. How nice would it be to know that you would have the coverage in place that you would need should you find yourself in this position? These services are typically associated with senior citizens, it could be needed at any age.
When to think about it
Just like planning for your retirement, putting something in place for long-term care can be a sound financial plan for your future! People in their 50’s are who on an average begin to put coverage in place for Long-term care, but it’s never too early to begin planning ahead.
As with most other insurance coverage, as you get older, LTC may become increasingly difficult to purchase or more costly. This is because as we age and our health risks increase, insurance companies will be more reluctant to cover us.
If you think you might want LTC coverage, definitely look into your options! There are multiple ways to make sure that you have the coverage you will need if and when the time comes; don’t be caught unprepared.