Long-Term Care Options Change Again

What are your plans for long term care? Is it the “I won’t need it so don’t worry about it plan?” That is not a plan, of course, and if you are leaning in that direction (or just sticking your head in the sand), I encourage you to read why I bought long term care insurance and predicting the costs of long term care. That may jolt you back into a state of reality. (Sorry – someone had to do it!)

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Gambling with Your Retirement Future

Do you gamble with your retirement future? I’m not referring to merely ignoring or not having a plan for retirement. I’m talking about acts of commission or omission that place your retirement plan at serious risk. A recent news article about a 66 year old hopeful retiree reminded me of this.

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Long Term Care National and Local Cost Trends

Every baby boomer needs to think about long term care needs and costs. The odds are quite high that one of you will need it. Can you afford it? Read more

Exploring Myths About Medicare

The closer I get to age 65, the more curious I become about Medicare. Earlier in my retirement thinking (perhaps five or ten years ago), I casually made some assumptions about Medicare – both positive and negative – that turned out to be untrue. This earlier thinking was generally along this incorrect path: Medicare is free, covers most everything an older person would need, but finding providers who would accept Medicare would be difficult. Now my thinking about Medicare is more accurate but there are still some myths out there.

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How Much Long Term Care Insurance Should You Have?

One of the biggest questions in long term care insurance is “How much coverage should we have?” I have researched and thought about long term care coverage and amounts quite a bit in the past year. Read more

The New Public Plan for Affordable Long Term Care Insurance

Baby boomers should be paying close attention to the long term care insurance provisions of the recently passed health reform legislation. The Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act, a/k/a the Class Act, is the first national plan to help working Americans insure themselves for future long-term care. Read more

Annuities with Long Term Care Benefits

A frequent objection to the purchase of long term care insurance is that years of premiums may be wasted if long term care is never needed. Similarly, many prospective retirees are reluctant to invest in an immediate annuity because of a concern that they will die long before receiving a meaningful amount of annuity income. Insurance companies are now introducing products that are designed to address these purchaser concerns. One of the products is called a hybrid annuity with a long term care benefit or rider. Similar products are called long term care annuities. Read more

Using Whole Life Insurance to Create a Pension Income Stream

Today I am presenting a guest post from a fellow personal finance blogger who proposes an interesting strategy for using whole life insurance as a way to generate retirement income. I will have some comments about this strategy at the end of the post. Read more

Which Financial Risks Should You Insure Against?

In many ways, personal finance is about managing risk. More particularly, financial planning must include plans for minimizing damage to your financial future caused by known but uncertain risks. These risks can affect your investments, your health, and your liabilities to others. Read more

Predicting the Costs of Long Term Care

Imminent health care reform may include a long term care plan that consumers can buy into. The benefits offered are likely to be helpful but inadequate. How inadequate? You can find out by using an online long term care cost estimator. Read more

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