Long-term care insurance is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts in estate and financial planning.

I am not licensed to sell long-term care insurance so I certainly do not have any horse in the race as I write this article, but I am compelled to take a few minutes to hopefully open your eyes to another side of long-term care insurance.

As an estate planning and elder law attorney, I am fortunate to be able to assist my clients with asset protection and asset preservation. We are often able to assist families with protecting assets even if a loved one is already receiving skilled level care in a nursing home. Many people assume that therefore I don’t think long-term care insurance is a good idea and that is just not correct.

In all of the years of my practice, I have never once had a client tell me that they wanted to move into a nursing home. I hear day in and day out that the clients want to remain in their home as long as possible and if that is not the case, that they have their personal care home of choice.

Personal care homes are just one step above independent living and provide assistance with day to day activities when the person needs some assistance but does not need skilled level care. These places are beautiful and often feel very much like a person’s home and is where people want to live if they can’t stay in their home any longer.

I have done other blogs about the different types of long-term care insurance such as the partnership policies and also hybrid policies that are life insurance policies that payout in a death benefit if they are not used during lifetime on skilled care. The purpose of this article is to simply urge the people reading it to understand that I believe the most important thing that a long-term care policy can provide, regardless of the one that you choose, is peace of mind that you will be able to stay home as long as possible and in the event that you can no longer safely reside at your house that you will be able to go to the personal care home of your choice.

I am an absolute believer in nursing homes and the services that they provide but it is nice to be able to stay home or live in a personal care home as long as possible and long-term care insurance will make that a reality.

I often hear from people about the expense of a policy and after digging, it usually becomes apparent that they have not had anyone in their family that had to move out of their home or move out of the personal care home simply because they could not afford to live there anymore.  But they may have been able to stay at home or in the personal care home had they had a long-term care policy.

In 100% of the cases where people have experienced that, they are always looking at long-term care insurance for how it can keep them where they want to be as long as possible and as long as it is safe. 

Please contact your financial professional or licensed insurance agent to discuss the long-term care policies and if they are a fit for you. I certainly don’t think that it’s a one size fits all for everybody but it is important to take a minute to acknowledge that having options to stay in your home or live in a personal care home is certainly worth the time that it will take to get a quote and discuss.

Don’t let misinformation or confusion stop you from doing something that can allow you to stay where you want to be. Contact us, or join us for one of our free educational workshops on estate planning and/or asset protection planning so you know your options when it comes to planning for your family.  Just click here to discover more!