Texas and other states recognize November as National Long-Term Care Awareness Month. Everyone should take a serious look at this topic because the costs of long-term care can easily wipe out one’s retirement assets and deny the funds to one’s heirs after death. Well-known statistics make it doubly hard to ignore the subject in that most elderly persons will need such care in one form or another at some point in time.
One major tool used by people to combat these issues is the long-term care insurance policy. One should do some research and determine which companies would be the better fit for the person’s age and circumstances. Different companies write their risk positions differently, tending to attract and benefit more effectively certain segments of the elderly population over others.
Further, there are differences in how each company may treat married couples vs single individuals. This uniqueness of each type of policy should be researched and understood in the fact-gathering process. The traditional type of long-term care policy may not be the type that the average consumer will prefer, and that is due to the high cost of the premiums for coverage that could possibly never be tapped.
Therefore, it is generally more prudent to research and seek out the so-called “hybrid” policies. These are more valuable, in the sense of traditional investment vehicles, and can provide a return whether the long-term coverage is needed or not. They may contain an element of whole-life coverage or may have an annuity program incorporated into the policy. There are also tax incentives that may make it much easier for a person or couple in Texas to get set up with a policy of this nature. One of the best ways to identify and evaluate the options is to consult with one’s long-term care attorney.
Source: bradenton,com, “Gardner Sherrill: Components in pricing long-term insurance”, Gardner Sherrill, Nov. 14, 2016
