Will you need Long-Term care?

Most of us plan carefully for retirement but completely overlook the need to protect ourselves and our families against the costs associated with an extended illness. It can place enormous emotional and financial burdens on entire families, leaving the person in need of care dependent upon others.

If you are among the 76 percent of Americans who don’t expect to need long-term care of any sort, you may want to reconsider.(1) Chances are greater than 50 percent that each of us will require extended care at home or in a nursing home.(2) Another eye-opening fact is that one in four people who live to age 65 will spend one year or more in a nursing home, and one in three will spend three months or more.(3)

Without proper planning or coverage, many people are forced to spend money set aside for retirement or rely on their children to help pay the bills.

1. Gallup Poll, 2000.
2. Who Buys Long-Term Care Insurance? 1994-95 Profiles and Innovations in a Dynamic Market, Health Insurance Association of America/Life Plans.
3. A Shopper’s Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance, 1996, NAIC.