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                                     Everyone Benefits

                                                  Many people often think of long-term care as something for “old people,” while
                                                  often telling themselves, “We don’t need that now. We’ll consider that later
wh                                               when we’re older and get closer to needing it.”

                                                  Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. While certainly appropriate for care of
                                                  the elderly who require it, long-term care is not something reserved exclusively
                                                  for older individuals. In fact, 40% of all those who are receiving care are pre-
                                                  retirement age adults, ranging in age from 18 to 64. Their needs were created
                                                  by accidents, strokes, brain injuries or tumors, mental conditions, AIDS,
multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, or even early onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

When younger people need care, it is often truly financially devastating. For example, the average length of
stay in a nursing home for a male younger than 59 is 3,840 days – that’s more than 10 years and far longer
than the benefits provided by conventional group or individual health insurance, including HMOs.

A recent Gallup poll showed that 76% of Americans believed that they would never need long-term care; no
nursing homes, no assisted living facilities, no adult day care or home care. Yet the facts tell us that almost
half of us will spend some time in a nursing home when we are older, while 72% of us will use home
healthcare services. In other words, long-term care protection is important for everyone.   When
considering the purchase of this benefit, individuals should keep in mind that the best long-term care
policy is one that provides comprehensive benefits – covering all types of care, including at-home or adult
day care, or care in an assisted living facility or nursing home. Benefits should be available for the care that
is most appropriate for the individual’s long-term needs.

Selecting a policy

A long-term care policy should be
adequate to cover the potential need,
considering the daily amount and how
long benefits may need to be paid.

As with any type of insurance, the
purpose of long-term care protection
is to safeguard individuals and their
assets against catastrophe. Therefore,
while the average length of a stay in a
nursing home is only one-and-a-half
years, when we consider only those
nursing home stays that are for
chronic conditions – those lasting more
than one year – then the average length
of the stay is more than six years. That
makes a policy with unlimited, lifetime
benefits the most desirable.

The policy should also provide
protection against inflation. Individuals
should think about those benefits that
might need to be available in 10, 20 or
even 30 years. Perhaps just as
important, it is critical to contemplate
what the costs could be at that time
compared to the costs today.

What About Now?

Some policies are made available
for purchase even after a person is
in a facility. This plan is designed to
help pay for the care costs directly from
the policy funds versus your pocket.
These policies are most useful and beneficiary when a Long Term Care policy was not in force prior to
hospitalization.

Give yourself one less thing to worry about by taking steps now to protect your hard-earned assets and
your independence in the future.

Many of our Long Term Care Products are not available online. We would need to assess your personal
situation to better serve you and your needs. We offer free, private consultations. Contact us today.

For more information about making long-term care insurance part of your secure future, consult our
financial advisors directly or use our online tools for more information online. We look forward to serving
you.



	Long Term Care (LTC) Protection The most pressing financial concerns of many people tend to revolve around providing for their families, assuring adequate retirement income and preserving their estates for the future. However, few people consider what would happen to their families, themselves and the assets they have worked so hard to accumulate over the years if they were to require long-term care due to a prolonged illness or disability. Consider the following facts. According to the Health Insurance Association of America, approximately 50% of all people over 65 will spend some time in a nursing home during their lifetime. The average annual cost of nursing home care for one person is more than $50,000. Medicare pays for less than 2% of all long-term care cases – including nursing home care, assisted living and custodial care – for a maximum of only 100 days. Medicaid pays for long- term care only after an individual has spent his or her entire estate, qualifies as impoverished and is admitted into a nursing home that accepts Medicaid. Fortunately, there is a solution to assist in paying for these expenses and leaving more of an individual’s estate intact – long-term care insurance. Without long-term care protection, expenses associated with assisting in the activities of daily living can drain – and sometimes even deplete – a person’s entire estate, potentially putting family members into debt.