Long term care insurance

[disneyfreakk]

I am starting to consider LTC insurance for my DH and I. He is 38 and I am 35. Are we too young to consider this? If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it.

 

[Straitlover]

Everything I've read about it says to start getting it in our 50's.

 

[branv]

I started to look into it as DH and I don't have kids and may never have kids at this point, he is an only child and my family is far away and not terribly close. It came up when we had a health concern with his father regarding parkinson's type symptoms -- started researching the type of care needed for disabiling illness/injury/cognitive impairment, and were stunned at how quickly this type of care can drain even a robust savings/retirement account.

Since I never went into detail with any insurer, most of the info I found was slightly vague regarding costs, etc. But what I did find was that no one would even give us a quote if we were under the age of 40. I know it's less a year the younger you are when you sign up, but was pretty much told by the couple of large providers I contacted to get back with them in a few years.

 

[HeatherC]

We have also looked into it and have also heard to buy it in your 50's. We still have a few a more years, but will definitely do it.

 

[Tink-aholic]

I am 40 and I have had it for five years. I can't understand waiting. A friend of mine has MS, and someone else I know has ALS, and both are in their early 40s.

If you require long-term care, your health insurer won't pay for it. If you have young children, your spouse could end up having to make a choice to divorce you to prevent financial ruin (and that could still be seen as fraud in some cases). Sad, sad situations...and something that is totally worth the peace of mind that my $400 a year buys.

 

[disneyfreakk]

Thank you for your quick replys.

I guess I will get it when we turn 40 then. I would just hate for one of us to get really sick, or have an accident, or etc. and need LTC and not have planned correctly for it.

I worry about our retirement money/ liquid funds/ investments if something should happen. I do not want either one of us to be a burden on the other one. (finacially speaking)

We do not, and will not have any children either. But I am not really sure if that has anything to do with having LTC insurance or not.

 

[disneyfreakk]

I am 40 and I have had it for five years. I can't understand waiting. A friend of mine has MS, and someone else I know has ALS, and both are in their early 40s.

If you require long-term care, your health insurer won't pay for it. If you have young children, your spouse could end up having to make a choice to divorce you to prevent financial ruin (and that could still be seen as fraud in some cases). Sad, sad situations...and something that is totally worth the peace of mind that my $400 a year buys.

If you do not mind me asking, who did you go with, and what kind of plan is it?

 

[runwad]

I've had LTC insurance thru my work on my husband for 2 years now. Alzheimer runs in his family so I felt I had to insure against him needing long term care. He was 46 when I got it and I'm prepaying his plan so only have to pay the premiums for 10 years. Even though this is really expensive I felt this was a safer course to go for us. My premiums cannot be raised for 5 years and then after that the insurance company can go to the State Insurance Board (?) and ask for a rate increase if needed and approved. I have an inflation rider and also a benefit that if I have to cancel for any reason the money I have already paid in in premiums will be there for us to use for care if we need it. I'll end up paying 50k for this policy in 10 years but it's good for the rest of his life. I didn't like the plans where you have to pay every month until care is needed because I read too many stories of retiree's having paid premiums for years then once in retirement the rates had risen so much that they could no longer afford the coverage. I didn't want to put all that money in and end up losing it all in 20 years if the premiums went up to high. Mine also has a clause that if DH dies before 71 I get all the premiums I paid in back if he dies w/o needing the care. I'm hoping when I'm done paying all his (auto deduct from my pay) that I can get the same type of plan for me. I'll be 52 so I hope it will be affordable by then. Oh and this plan I picked pays for 3 years in a nursing home. I couldn't afford the 6 year option. And they say most people are in nursing homes for 3 years. Plus it pays for in-home care which I'd hopefully be able to keep DH at home and care for. This is cheaper then nursing home care. Of course I'm really hoping I never have to use it. Its a lot for piece of mind but I'm fine with that.

Also if I lose my job I can still keep this plan and just pay the premiums by sending in a check instead of the auto deduct.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We got ours in our late 30's. Since then we both have been diagnosed with some medical issues and our parents have dealt with serious health issues. 2 parents died from their issues after we got our LTC policy.

If we had waited to get ours, our own medical condition plus the genetic history would have caused our rates to be much higher.

We are thankful we got ours "early"

 

[MrsPete]

You're not likely to need this 'til well past 50, so you're not "late".

Yes, you'll pay more if you wait . . . but if you start it early, you'll pay for more years. You can't win in the insurance game.

We have long-term insurance on me, but not on my husband. That might sound foolish, but I think it's the right choice. I'm younger than he is, I'm in better health, and if genetics count for anything, I'll probably outlive him by about 30 years. In short, the likelihood is that he'll have me to take care of him . . . but I'd have to count on our children, and I don't want to place a financial burden on them. They may end up taking care of me, but I don't want them to have to squeeze me into a too-small house or make financial sacrafices to do so.

Also, be sure of what your policy entails. I'm sure you want a policy that'll allow you to stay in your own home and pay for help -- maybe occasional help at first, then more as time goes on.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I started my LTCI when I was 60. At that time I had it set up for $140 per day for up to five years of payments, so the maximum payout would have been $255,500. However, I had it set up so that each year without a claim the daily amount and the limit would both go up by 5% and this is a compounded number.

Now that I have had ten anniversary days, the daily amount is up to $228.05 and the limit is up to $416,183. And my premium remains at $175 per month.

 

[ilovemk76]

I started my LTCI when I was 60. At that time I had it set up for $140 per day for up to five years of payments, so the maximum payout would have been $255,500. However, I had it set up so that each year without a claim the daily amount and the limit would both go up by 5% and this is a compounded number.

Now that I have had ten anniversary days, the daily amount is up to $228.05 and the limit is up to $416,183. And my premium remains at $175 per month.

Here is a good example to compare premium obtained in your mid 30s. Mine is unlimited, ~$350/day, inflation rider and flat premiums for life. If I start collecting my LTC the premium stops. Mine is $1500/year or $125/month.

Had I waited until I was 50 I would have not gotten my coverage. I was diagnosed with cancer in my 40s.

 

[Denisem7]

The earlier you get long term care insurance (LTCI) on yourself, the better. The industry trend is moving away from buying LTCI only after age 50. Besides saving on premiums, you will qualify for a better rating class. You will also end up saving more towards your long term care costs when it’s time for benefits to kick in, simply because you’ve been saving over a longer period of time. This way, you may be able to save enough money to cover up to 6 years of care in a nursing home.

If the companies you are looking at find you and DH too young to insure at this moment, try looking at aggregator websites that have larger pools to choose from. The aggregator websites may host an insurance carrier who specializes in insuring young families wanting LTCI coverage.

If you want your money to do more for you, you could consider investing in a whole life insurance policy with a long term care rider on it. Because you’ll be saving up in the policy’s cash value component now, you should have a sizeable amount later on from which you can withdraw long term care benefits when you need them.

Denise Mancini
Disclaimer: I work for AccuQuote and this is my personal opinion.

 

[bettymae1121]

I just hope I can get LTC for DH. He has type 2 diabetes and is insulin dependant, and will turn 40 in March. I worry that they won't insure him at all, or charge so much that we just can't afford it.

My dad has LTC insurance and I can't tell you the peace of mind it brings. He got it a few years before being diagnosed with Parkinsons and knowing that it will cover home care, assisted living, and nursing home care is wonderful. My brothers and I would gladly take care of him, but he'd loath being a "burden" on us and we won't have to worry about only being able to afford 2nd rate care for him.

 

[Sadie22]

I just hope I can get LTC for DH. He has type 2 diabetes and is insulin dependant, and will turn 40 in March. I worry that they won't insure him at all, or charge so much that we just can't afford it.

My dad has LTC insurance and I can't tell you the peace of mind it brings. He got it a few years before being diagnosed with Parkinsons and knowing that it will cover home care, assisted living, and nursing home care is wonderful. My brothers and I would gladly take care of him, but he'd loath being a "burden" on us and we won't have to worry about only being able to afford 2nd rate care for him.

Consult with a good elder care/estate planning attorney who has knowledge of companies that insure people with chronic conditions. During a consult with our State Farm agent, he told me that I would never be able to get LTC insurance even though my Type 2 diabetes is under good control. After I explained to him that I knew that was not true from my experience working with EC/EP attorneys, he said that State Farm did not offer such policies.