95% of the Baby Boomers could lose everything they’ve worked to accumulate.
Are you one of those millions?
Not sure? Then you must read A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care.
A Boomer’s Guide
to Long-term Care
George D. Lambert, III
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND VII
INTRODUCTION IX
DISCLAIMER XI
A SCARY THOUGHT 13
A COMPLICATED ISSUE 15
THE COSTS 16
THE ODDS ARE STACKED AGAINST YOU 17
A WOMAN IS AT GREATER RISK 20
YOUR CHOICES 21
SELF INSURE 21
RELY ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS 23
RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT 25
TAP YOUR HOME EQUITY 30
AN IRREVOCABLE TRUST 32
LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE (LTCI) 33
FIND THE RIGHT PLAN 59
LIFE INSURANCE/LTC COMBINATION 63
ESTATE PLANNING IDEA 65
YOUR PREMIUMS MIGHT BE DEDUCTIBLE 67
TO WAIT OR NOT TO WAIT 70
THE GOVERNMENT PUSHES FOR LTCI 73
WHAT IF YOU DON’T QUALIFY FOR INSURANCE 76
AGENT OR NOT 78
HOW TO JUSTIFY NOT BUYING LTCI 79
AFTER YOU MAKE YOUR PLANS 85
HYPOTHETICAL CASE STUDY 86
BENEFIT–NEED SPREADSHEET 97
POLICY COMPARISON SPREADHEET 98
APPENDIX 105
INDEX 107
END NOTES 109
A SCARY THOUGHT
Getting old is scary. The oldest of us boomers turned 60 in 2006, yet many of us are in a state of denial when it comes to aging. But what’s the alternative?
When it comes to possibly needing long-term care (LTC), you might very well take the attitude, “Well, that’s not gonna happen to me.”
Baloney!
The fact is that this is the biggest financial risk many of us face and most of us are not prepared.
We worry about protecting our lifestyles, incomes, homes, cars, boats, and possessions from financial loss. Yet too many of us don’t have any plans for how to cover the biggest expense we could face.
And do you think this is a problem that doesn’t affect the wealthy?
Hogwash …
Northern Trust conducted a survey of households with $1 million or more of investable assets. They found that the participants believed rapidly rising health care cost was the number one potential obstacle to enjoying retirement.
Let me ask you: Are you among the boomers who will retire in their early 60s?
With life expectancies ever rising, there’s a darn good chance that you’ll live into your 80s, 90s, or longer after you retire.
Now you need to ask yourself: What can I do to make sure a sickness or injury over the next 20 or 30 years doesn’t leave me, my spouse, or my heirs with nothing but bills?
One option of course, is to simply stick your head in the sand and keep telling yourself that getting sick and needing help will only happen to “the other guy.”
A COMPLICATED ISSUE
Long-term care is a complicated issue about which there is a severe lack of knowledge.
And here’s the proof:
A 2006 survey sponsored by the John Hancock Life Insurance Company included a 10-question true/false quiz about LTC basics. The majority of respondents got only four answers correct!
This book is not intended to make you an expert. It is intended, though, to make sure that you are in the minority of boomers who understand LTC issues.
In addition, you need to know what questions to ask, whether you are talking to a caseworker from Medicare or an insurance agent.
If you don’t know what to ask or don’t understand the basic terms, you will be putting yourself at a huge disadvantage.
Read more about A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care and George Lambert HERE.
Copyright 2008 George Lambert. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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