When considering one’s overall insurance needs for yourself and family members, it is worth taking a long, hard look at long-term care insurance. Morningstar reported that the 40% of individuals who reach age 65 who will enter a nursing home during their lifetimes. Though most of us do not want to consider the possibility of having to spend time in a nursing home, the simple truth remains that 4 out of every 10 us will. Having long-term care insurance is a simple way to have peace of mind knowing should that day come, you wont’ lose everything due to the high-cost of a nursing home stay.
The average nursing home stay is about 2 1/2 years, at a cost of $5,000 – $7,000, that quickly adds up to more than $150,000. For most people, that would drain their resources quickly, leaving them destitute and having to rely on the government for the balance of their stay.
There is often little we can do to prevent these things from happening, but there is a way to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst”, and that is through the purchase of long-term care insurance. We all hope that such a policy is never needed, but are thankful for it when a true need arises.
