Because of all the great strides in the medical profession we are living longer lives. As a result, there is a possibility that you may become frail in your later years. If you do become frail, what do you think providing care would have on the emotional, physical and financial wellbeing of your spouse and children? Providing care would have devastating consequences to your family. So the question is, what’s your plan to mitigate those consequences? I put together plans that allow you to remain safe, at home, while preserving the emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing of your family. This is done by allowing those you love to supervise care, not provide it. This preserves their emotional and physical wellbeing. The other goal is to preserve your retirement portfolio, so it can continue to generate income and ensure that the retirement plan you have in place will execute properly.There are two distinct sets of consequences to a need for care over an extended period of years. The first is the emotional and physical wellbeing of those who have no choice but to provide it. Please remember that by definition, those with physical or cognitive impairment are severely compromised in their ability to get through the most basic routines. The result is that taking care of their custodial needs quickly becomes all-consuming. Some of the unintended consequences:
1. Providing care often makes healthy caregivers as chronically ill as those who require care.
2. Extended care does not bring children together, it usually tears them apart.
3. If you ever need extended care over a period of years, your life is not going to end, someone else’s life is likely going to end.
The second consequence is to the family’s retirement portfolio.
Paying for care can only come from two sources (assuming there is no long-term care insurance): from the family’s emotional and physical wellbeing or their wallet. If clients pay for care from their portfolio, doing so ends up disrupting every plan they developed over working years to secure financial viability, including plans to:
1. Minimize taxes
2. Generate income to keep financial promises
3. Wait out a down market
4. Securing the financial viability for a surviving spouse
5. A plan to educate grandchildren
6. A succession plan because there may be no estate to pass on
7. A special needs plan
If you own long-term care insurance, it will allow you to maintain independence, choose where care is provided, including a good nursing home, if necessary and protect your assets. Another important fact to consider is the financial strength of the long-term care company.
