Based on our experience at Cornerstone Financial Services, most people think long-term care (LTC) is confusing and a subject to be avoided.
But it doesn’t have to be. When you boil it down, the basics of LTC are rather simple.
In this post, the second in our series, we’ll dive a bit deeper into how the reality of needing LTC can impact your life.
The LTC Decision Tree
To get an idea how LTC could affect you, go through the chart below. Think about how your life would be impacted by the various situations.
If you’re affected by an LTC situation in your lifetime, which is likely, there are two basic questions:
- Who will provide your care?
- Who will pay for your care?
The first question focuses on the location and delivery of your care. Who will deliver the services you need? And further, what are the implications of that decision? With family, emotions and finances can play a role, while other solutions have their own drawbacks.
Who pays for your care is a matter of finances and preparation. The self-paying route can be costly. And if you want Medicaid coverage, you must qualify for welfare. Though as we know from last month, insurance is available to handle LTC costs.
Insure Your Care
Some LTC policies are “use it or lose it,” which means if the care is never required, no benefits are paid. But there are other insurance-based solutions that generate income for LTC and offer benefits for your family too.
One is a “hybrid” LTC insurance plan, which is part LTC insurance and part life insurance. It pays for LTC costs if needed, but if you follow the left side of the “decision journey” above, your family receives a benefit.
And that’s just one example. There are other solutions that can leverage your existing assets to double their worth in LTC, while they continue to accumulate safely, free from market volatility.
We’ll examine those solutions in more depth in the next post of this LTC series.
Securities offered and sold through CoreCap Investments, Inc., a registered broker/dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through CoreCap Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisor. Cornerstone Financial Services and CoreCap are separate and unaffiliated entities.