Long Term Care

A long-term care insurance policy covers a variety of medical, personal and supportive services provided at home, in an assisted care facility or in a nursing home for an extended period of time. It can help you avoid depending on others for care, preserve your independence, protect your standard of living and give you greater choices if you need confined care or home health care.

If you re over age 65, the need for a long-term care insurance policy may be obvious ý you want to plan ahead, to be able to pay for any long-term care expenses without draining your retirement savings or becoming a burden on your family.

But here s something that may surprise you: if you re 60, 55 or even 50-years-old, you should consider adding long-term care insurance to your portfolio. If you require long-term care services because of a serious accident or illness, how will you pay for it? Disability insurance will replace a portion of your income, but you already have other expenses to pay with that money. Long-term care insurance meets that need. Purchasing coverage at a younger age rather than waiting means the premium you pay at the time of purchase would be lower than if you waited to purchase coverage.

There's no single policy that's right for everyone. Each insurance plan needs to be tailored to fit your needs so that you can get enough coverage without depleting your assets if you need care.

Some things to consider when determining your needs are:

• the cost of local nursing homes
• the amount of social security, investments and other assets you have available
• how much can you afford to pay out-of-pocket