When Should You Consider Buying Long-Term Care Insurance?

The short answer to this question is: the month before you need to make a claim!

But since none of us have a crystal ball to tell us when we will be having a stroke or heart attack, or be diagnosed with a debilitating disease such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, we simply can't rely on waiting till the last minute to buy long-term care insurance

The truth is that anyone, at any age, can have an unexpected accident or change in their health that they could not possibly have foreseen that will require long-term care. A couple of well-known examples of such a situation are Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox.

Unfortunately, many people think of long term care insurance as protection that is mainly for older folks. But that is simply not the case. In fact, almost 40% of those receiving long term care are younger than 65 years of age! This surprising statistic testifies to the unpredictability of such a need arising at almost any age.

So, I suggest that the best age to purchase LTCI is at the earliest age that you:

1. Can comfortably afford the premium.

2. Have enough income and/or assets to protect that it justifies the cost of the policy.

Another sound reason for getting long-term care insurance earlier in life is that the premiums are much less and you will most likely easily qualify for coverage, perhaps even at a preferred rate that will save you considerable amounts of money throughout the life of the policy. Unfortunately, as we age, most people stand a higher risk of developing health conditions that could cause them to become uninsurable at some point, or at least substantially drive up the cost of a good long-term care insurance policy. My recommendation is to avoid these problems by investing in LTCI at a relatively early age if you can.

And since the cost of long-term care is not covered by medical health insurance, it only makes sense to protect your assets against one of the most devastating threats to your personal finances. In most cases, the earlier you get coverage for long-term care, the better.

Until next time...Duane

Posted in Financing Long Term Care, Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI), Paying for Care