Limited and Extended Care Planning Collective

For many seniors, long-term care (LTC) insurance—an insurance policy that helps pay for chronic medical care—can be a worthwhile choice. After all, nearly 70% of seniors aged 65 or older will require some form of long-term care in their lifetime—a service that can be prohibitively expensive, setting families back thousands of dollars a month.

But is long-term care insurance worth it? This policy tends to come at a steep price: in the U.S., for example, the average 55-year-old man pays an annual premium of $2,220. And thanks to insurance marketing tactics, potential buyers often believe that they’ll spend years in a nursing facility—which isn’t always the case.

Caring for a parent can take a big toll on your finances. Nearly eight in 10 caregivers report having to cover expenses related to caregiving out of their own pockets and spend an average of $7,242 a year on those expenses, according to a study by AARP. 

Fortunately, there are tax breaks that might help offset the cost of elder care. Find out if you are eligible for any of these federal tax credits or deductions for taking care of elderly parents.

Want to differentiate yourself? Then change the conversation! A hot topic that every client is concerned about is Financial Longevity Wellness. Today’s clients are worried about outliving or outspending their money or getting caught in an expensive ‘sandwich generation’ situation, or worrying about family or business financial wellness. 

Join the next Advisor Today webinar on Wednesday, March 29 at 12 pm eastern, as Carroll Golden, Long-Term Care Expert and Executive Director of NAIFA's Centers of Excellence, demonstrates a three-step formula to show how to incorporate Financial Longevity Wellness in the products and services you provide, while staying focused on your client’s story.  

This article is a continuation of Jamie Sarno's series on Short-Term Care Insurance. You can read the first part of the series here.

Did you know insurance plans that cover Nursing Home, Assisted Living, or Home
Nursing Care for a minimum of 365 days or more is considered Long-Term Care Insurance? Insurance plans that cover “less” than 365 days are considered Short-Term Care Insurance. Other than its shorter duration period, STCI shares many of the same great benefits and features that you would find in LTCI.

NAIFA will join our Limited & Extended Care Planning Center (LECP) partner, ILTCI, for the 2023 ILTCI Conference in Denver, CO, from March 12-15, 2023, at the Sheraton Downtown Denver.

ILTCI’s annual educational conference is for representatives of the long-term and extended care planning community and other strategic allies, including providers, public policy institutions, professional organizations, federal, state, and local government agencies, and the public. 

What if I told you…

“7 out of 10 people age 65 and over will need long-term care services and support at some point in their lives."

Nothing new, right?

For those of us in the long-term care industry, we know this statistic all too well. But I promise you, many people still do not understand what it actually means.

When long-term care insurance is not an option due to a person's health and/or finances, there may be an alternative solution to a difficult situation. Limited long-term care insurance can be an option to help during your client's time of need.

Register now for this upcoming webinar discussing limited long-term care on Tuesday, February 7 at 2 pm eastern.

The decision to move yourself or a loved one into long-term care can be a difficult one, and determining how to pay for long-term care can add unnecessary stress to a phase of life that’s already full of transitions. Understanding the costs you may encounter and developing a proactive plan to afford long-term care can help ease the burdens that accompany it.

What do you get when modernized Long Term Care Insurance products meet changing workplace needs and employee attitudes? An advantageous opportunity to grow your business, reach the middle market, and help protect more families from potential LTC needs.

Worksite benefits have long been a critical tool in helping employers attract top talent. What’s changed is that more employers want a variety of products to build benefit packages that are as diverse as today’s workforce – and there’s room for LTCi in this conversation.

Sure, you’ll face some challenges from decision-makers, but clearing hurdles is nothing new for seasoned LTC professionals. Here are three common objections that you can address with employers to change the way they think about LTCi.

As your parents age, there’s a good chance they will need long-term care. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than half of Americans turning 65 today will develop a disability serious enough that they will need daily help with the basic activities of living. Most will need care for less than two years, but 1 in 7 will need assistance for more than five years.

As tough as it might be to imagine your parents being unable to care for themselves, the thought of discussing this possibility with them probably seems even harder. But it’s important to talk to your parents sooner rather than later to develop a plan for long-term care if they ever need it. If you wait for an emergency to strike, emotions will be running high and you’ll likely have fewer options to deal with your parents’ need for care.