Do you need long-term care? Have you had the experience of taking care of a family member as they age? I meet people regularly looking for strategies, solutions and ideas to attack their financial problems, concerns or accomplish specific financial goals. It is very common for clients and prospective clients to come in with the preconception that they need something. It is common for this preconception to be a product and not a problem. This year I had multiple prospective clients come in with the feeling they need long term care.
In order to answer that question I had to ask a lot of questions. Such as: How do you know if you need long term care? How do you know if you don’t need long term care? These are good questions to ask yourself as you start to get older. The most likely responses to the questions above, “I don’t know if you need long term care or not.”
Important questions to answer to help determine if you need long term care include the following:
1) What is my retirement income strategy?
2) Where do I plan on retiring geographically?
3) What will my income be in retirement?
4) What are my projected fixed living expenses in retirement?
5) What health benefits do I have in retirement? (private, pension, employee benefit, other)
6) How long can I sustain myself in retirement in the event I had to pay for long term care before running out of assets?
7) What is the expected cost of care in my area? What are the projected costs?
8) Do I want to leave a legacy, gift or assets to my family, community or charity?
Having answers to the questions above is a good starting point toward the right answer for your situation. They will help you determine if you need long term care or if long term care could add value to your personal financial strategy, goals and objectives.
I asked the prospective clients the above questions and many more to better understand their financial objectives, goals and concerns. So, do you need long term care? I don’t know, but as you get closer to retirement or start retirement, take the time to come up with a strategy. Reach out to licensed professionals who can help you understand the problem. If you don’t have a licensed professional feel free to contact me to setup a no-obligation meeting or receive an invitation to upcoming educational lunch or dinner on long term care.
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Trk # is 1665299 and dofu is 12/2016