Is Long-Term Care Insurance Worth It?
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
Release Date: 11/18/2019
How to Prepare for the Retirement Danger Zone, Ep #214
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
If you are retiring soon, you've most likely wondered if your asset allocation is too risky. Some have called the period just before and after retirement the Retirement danger zone as it's a time where understanding how you should be invested matters for your long-term financial success. After years of great returns in tech and large cap US stocks, many retirees could have bigger risks present in their allocations than they realize. In today's episode, you'll learn why sequence of return risk has been called the retirement danger zone and how to prepare for it within the context of your...
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Be Ready For These 10 Tax Surprises, Ep #213
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
So many of us will be hoping for no tax surprises when preparing our tax returns this year. This is why we want to provide you with a list of common tax surprises to watch for. After working with hundreds of clients to prepare their tax returns, we’re sharing the latest tax surprises we see that could be helpful to know when completing your tax return this year. Outline of This Episode [0:42] The Slott Report [2:39] Inheritance surprises [6:51] Credit card rewards [8:10] Interest income increases [10:54] Income earned in different states [12:32] 1099Ks [14:14] Underwithholding from...
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How to Handle a Forced Early Retirement, Ep #212
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
Retirement can hit us with numerous curveballs. One of those could happen right out of the gate–being forced with an early retirement. We all know that layoffs are part of the corporate landscape. While they are commonplace, when you are faced with one later in your career it can cause you to reevaluate your financial situation. In this episode, we discuss your options if you are laid off and how they fit in with your financial plan, your tax plan, and your 401K. **** 📬 Get our . 📰 See the 🌐 Explore the
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Tools for Making Better Financial Decisions, Ep #211
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
While most of our listeners are in or on the cusp of retirement, many have loved ones who are earlier in their careers. Often we get questions on how our listeners and clients can help their younger family members make better financial decisions. As we celebrate International Women's Day with this episode, you’ll meet our newest CFP, Niamh Douglas. Niamh and Allison discuss some tools and strategies to help young people who are just starting out get off on the right financial foot. Resources & People Mentioned Episode 189 - BOOK - by Nick Murray BOOK - by Laura Redfern ...
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Turn Your ‘What Ifs’ into 'What's Next' with Retirement Stepping Stones, Ep #210
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
Many who approach retirement view it as the ultimate goal, but you could have 30+ years to experience the retirement you've worked to build. While much of retirement planning is focused on the numbers, people often fail to intentionally plan out how they'll spend their time. In this episode, we explore some common retirement pitfalls and then ten stepping stones to help us overcome challenges you might encounter. **** 📬 Sign up for the and receive our Pre-Retirement Checklist. 🎯 Article - 📰 See the 🌐 Explore the
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5 Reasons to Consider Investing in More Than the S&P 500, Ep #209
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
Many investors have been tempted to invest more, if not all, of their portfolios in the S&P 500 given the incredible run it’s had over the last decade. But today we are talking through five reasons why you should consider not making a concentrated investment only in the S&P 500. Don't let recency bias rule your decision-making on the road to your ideal retirement. **** 📬 Sign up for the and receive our Pre-Retirement Checklist. 🎯 Article - 📰 See the 🌐 Explore the
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The Challenges with Divorce in Retirement with Lesli Doares, Ep #208
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
One of the biggest financial disasters that people can experience in retirement is divorce. On this episode of Financial Symmetry, Grace Kvantas chats with licensed marriage and family therapist, Lesli Doares. Lesli shares warning signs to look out for, misconceptions about keeping finances separate, and why couples should seek marriage counseling in retirement. Your marriage affects every aspect of your life. Listen in to learn how you can improve it. **** 📬 Sign up for the and receive our Pre-Retirement Checklist. 🎯 Article - by David Booth 📰 See the 🌐 Explore...
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Should I Roll My IRA into My 401K to Do a Backdoor Roth? Ep #207
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
If you have rollover IRA accounts and want to make a backdoor Roth IRA contribution, this episode is for you. There are several steps involved to handle this strategy in the right way including understanding how you roll the IRA accounts to your 401k. Today we walk through five considerations you should think through before you implement a strategy to complete your Backdoor Roth contributions. **** 📬 Tips each month to help you Enhance Your Today and Enrich Your Tomorrow. 🎯 📰 See the 🌐 Explore the
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15 Surprising Financial Facts to Round Out 2023, Ep #206
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
In our usual episodes, we aim to arm you with a particular insight or strategy that can help you inch closer to your ideal retirement. But, with todays show, we want to close the year by providing a list of 15 surprising financial facts about the year that you could share in a conversation with a friend or family member. We also pay tribute to the great investor Charlie Munger, by providing a few of our favorite Mungerisms. As you begin your 2024, we thank you all for listening and sharing our show. We look forward to continuing to provide you with helpful steps on your journey to reach...
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Planning for Health Insurance in Retirement Pre-Medicare, Ep #205
Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement
If you are planning on retiring before age 65, there is no doubt that you have had this question. What do you do about health insurance? In the United States, the health insurance landscape is ever-changing and takes quite a bit of planning. Many people even feel anchored to their jobs because of the prohibitive costs of health insurance. However, there are options for healthcare before age 65. Listen in to discover what your options are and what you should be doing to plan for this complicated aspect of early retirement. Outline of This Episode [2:44] COBRA [8:04] Using...
info_outlineHow do you know if long term care insurance is worth it?
Short Youtube video here: https://bit.ly/3akBTVZ
This is a topic we discuss with our clients regularly. With an aging population comes increased options for retirement living, assisted living and nursing care options. Along with increased options come increased costs as well which can be exorbitant in some cases. If long-term care insurance has been on your mind, you’ll want to have a listen to our objective viewpoints as we consider if long-term care insurance is really worth it.
Why do people consider long-term care insurance?
There are 3 different ways that people may fund their long-term care needs. They may self-insure, or use their savings. They buy long-term care insurance, or they may rely on government funding. Many of our listeners are in the sandwich generation, where they are both helping their kids and helping their parents at the same time. As they watch their parents age they begin to see the emotional and financial stress that can arise and it affects the way they think about aging. 70% of people will need some sort of long-term care. Usually, a stay in long-term care is only a couple of years but 1 in 10 men will require a stay of more than 5 years and 2 out of 10 women will stay more than 5 years in long-term care.
At what age should you buy long-term care insurance?
As you probably know, long-term care insurance only gets more expensive as you age. But you probably don’t want to buy into it too early, what if the insurance company goes out of business? We think the best time to buy long-term care insurance is in your mid-50s. Costs tend to jump about 6-8% each year that you wait. But even if you do buy early the premiums could increase. Often times the actuaries don’t fully understand the risk and end up raising premiums for current policyholders.
What does long-term care insurance cover?
Generally speaking, people go into long-term care when they can no longer perform the activities of daily living or ADL. This includes going to the bathroom alone, eating, moving about the home, or they experience a decline in mental state. Often the long-term care insurance covers a maximum period of 6 years or less. There is a daily benefit amount that you can choose from. Often that benefit is between $100-$200 per day. Many long-term care insurance packages come with an inflation rider. Your premiums will be related to the variables that you choose.
So, how much does it cost?
Long-term care is not cheap. A private room with skilled nursing can cost $100K per year. Going down the scale, assisted living averages about $75K per year. And home health can be about $50K per year, but you do have to factor in household expenses as well.
A 65-year-old couple can buy a long-term care insurance policy for $4800 per year with basic benefits totaling $180K. If that same couple waits until 75 to purchase a policy that amount will increase to $8700. You also need to consider the fact that not everyone gets approved. The longer you wait to buy a policy the harder it is to get approved.
It’s important to have as much information as possible before making costly decisions. You need to understand all of the factors before you commit. We’re here to help you make informed choices. Listen in to hear all of the factors that you should examine when considering whether to buy long-term care insurance.
Outline of This Episode
- [4:27] Why do people consider long-term care insurance?
- [6:57] At what age should you buy long-term care insurance?
- [10:14] Won’t Medicare cover this?
- [10:50] What am I paying for?
- [13:47] How much does it cost?
- [16:46] A case study about self-insuring
- [20:07] What types of policies are there?
- [23:25] What questions should you be asking yourself?
Resources & People Mentioned
- Kiplinger - How to Afford Long-Term Care
- Genworth - Cost of Care Survey
- CNBC - Not having it can be serious
- Morningstar - An Action Plan for LTC
- Vanguard (PDF) – Planning for health care costs in retirement
- AALTCI – Long-Term Care Statistics
Connect With Chad and Mike
- https://www.financialsymmetry.com/podcast-archive/
- Connect on Twitter @csmithraleigh@TeamFSINC
- Follow Financial Symmetry on Facebook