In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Southern Illinois Elder Law attorney, discusses long-term care costs and at what age someone should consider asset preservation planning to protect their life savings from these potentially devastating costs.
Are We Old Enough to Need to Worry About Long-Term Care Costs?
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. Today I want to address the question that a lot of people ask and that is:
When are we old enough to start being concerned about and doing some planning for long-term care costs?
Let me tell you the first thing is that it’s definitely something that you need to do. Long-term care costs are the single biggest threat to your ability to leave an inheritance for your loved ones. Now, let me tell you some distinct advantages to starting that process early.
First, if your means of dealing with it is long-term care insurance you’re going to find these two things to be true:
1. It’s a lot less expensive if you buy it early, I’ll explain why in just a second.
2. You are less likely to have the health concerns that would cause you to either be denied or rated up.
Now, a simple explanation for why it’s much less expensive to get it early on. Average age of first claim on a policy is age 80. If you buy that policy at age 60, the insurance company has 20 years to collect the premiums they’ll need to pay out claims. If you buy it at age 70 they have 10 years, at age 75 they only have five. So, if you have 20 years to collect the premiums, they’re going to cost half as much as if they only had 10 years to collect the premiums. It’s a big difference.
In terms of Asset Preservation Planning that we can do for you legally, it’s the same thing. If you do the planning in advance, first of all there is really no downside to that, and second you don’t … you know I wish we could predict when we might have a need for long-term care. We have that five year look back period for Medicaid, three years for VA and oh, that we only knew that we were going to need care three or five years in advance. The fact is, we don’t. So, the smartest approach is to take that concern out of play.
Don’t be somebody who doesn’t have enough time to protect their life savings. Do it in your 60s, that’s really the time to get this done. Thanks.
For more topics on Asset Preservation Planning, visit these articles:
- How An Asset Preservation Trust Protects Your Life Savings From Long-Term Care Costs
- Is Protecting Assets From Long-Term Care Costs Ethical and Moral?
- Who Needs An Asset Preservation Plan?
“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618)632-7000 or (314)567-9292 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
