Written last October, this piece in the New York Times is just as relevant then as it will be 100 years from now. It illustrates the ongoing challenge of maintaining our own long term care as well as that of our aging parents.
MOST of the nation’s 78 million baby boomers are watching their parents grow old. While investigating caretaking options for their parents, they should also be thinking about their own old age and planning how they will pay for nursing homes or home health aides for themselves, experts say. With life expectancy steadily rising, the odds are that they will eventually need some help with basic functions, like dressing or walking, maybe for decades.
But many boomers are ignoring this prospect.
That doesn’t mean people aren’t aware of the issue. As we stated in a prevous post, the average age of those seeking insurance for long term care is falling and last year studies estimated that nearly 84% of those needing long term care services were under the age of 65.
That doesn’t mean we all need to rush out and buy LTCI. Consider your income and current wealth. If you have enough money saved up and are healthy (typically a couple million $$), long term care insurance may not be for you. (Just make sure to plan for the unexpected in this case!) Furthermore, if you have limited wealth or assets, you will probably be able to take advantage of certain medicare and/or medicaid services. But again, this is limited too, so make sure to read up on what medicare medicaid services will cover in the event you need long term care.
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Planning ahead is crucially important. If the baby boomers don’t plan ahead for their own healthcare, it’s going to get very messy, and quickly too….
Good post, Ian.