Long term Care Insurance

[nclion]

Just out of curiosity, I ran some quick numbers at the Feds LTC site for a 63 year old to purchase coverage today with a inflation protection of 3%. I focused on the lifetime benefit, the max the insurance would pay vs. investing the premium to self insure. Now I guess I need to run these numbers through a investment calculator to see where the break even point is.

EDIT: I ran some number using a calculator from bankrate.com and added below the initial investment required plus the monthly investment to match the monthly premium payment. Period of investment is 10 years at 7% NOTE: the 3% inflation cost in not consider here, but neither is the increase in LTCi premiums. I hope this makes sense for those looking to fund their own LTC. Please provide feedback if you think my calculation are not correct.

Lifetime Benefit Premium Payment Benefit Amount Benefit Period


$109,500.00 $168.91 monthly 150/day 2 years - $50,000.00 initial investment with $169.00 monthly investment


$164,250.00 $247.71 monthly 150/day 3 years - $80,000.00 / $248.00


$219,000.00 $330.28 monthly 200/day 3 years - $105,000.00 / $330.00


$365,000.00 $489.79 monthly 200/day 5 years - $180,000.00 / 490.00

[nclion]

LTC is the one thing that I don't have a good feeling about as I near retirement. I have looked at insurance through work as a Fed, but I just don't like the cost of premiums vs. what you actually get in coverage. I also don't like the horror stories of those who try to collect after years of faithfully paying their premiums. That is why I have decided to just try to self insure even though I know our nest egg may not be enough for one or both of us if we need LTC for an extended period of time.

For healthy married couples, the group long-term care policy with the federal gov't is not the best value. Plus the fed program does not protect assets through any of the state "Long Term Care Partnership Programs" and the fed program is not under the Rate Stability Regulation.

Thanks for the feedback, I was under the impression that the fed coverage and rates would be hard to beat on the open market, I will have to do more research.

[delamer]

LTC is the one thing that I don't have a good feeling about as I near retirement. I have looked at insurance through work as a Fed, but I just don't like the cost of premiums vs. what you actually get in coverage. I also don't like the horror stories of those who try to collect after years of faithfully paying their premiums. That is why I have decided to just try to self insure even though I know our nest egg may not be enough for one or both of us if we need LTC for an extended period of time.

For healthy married couples, the group long-term care policy with the federal gov't is not the best value. Plus the fed program does not protect assets through any of the state "Long Term Care Partnership Programs" and the fed program is not under the Rate Stability Regulation.

Thanks for the feedback, I was under the impression that the fed coverage and rates would be hard to beat on the open market, I will have to do more research.

WoW2012 may be right about healthy married couples. But one huge benefit of the federal program is that you can qualify with very minimal underwriting during an open season.

It’s the only way we could have obtained LTC for my husband.

[CoastalWinds]

I don't think insurance is insurance. There is insurance for all kinds of things. There are extended warranties which is a form of insurance. You can insure your golf swing, your smile and whether there will be 1 foot or more of snow on Xmas.

I remember about 25 years ago when JLo insured her booty!

[tj]

LTC is the one thing that I don't have a good feeling about as I near retirement. I have looked at insurance through work as a Fed, but I just don't like the cost of premiums vs. what you actually get in coverage. I also don't like the horror stories of those who try to collect after years of faithfully paying their premiums. That is why I have decided to just try to self insure even though I know our nest egg may not be enough for one or both of us if we need LTC for an extended period of time.

For healthy married couples, the group long-term care policy with the federal gov't is not the best value. Plus the fed program does not protect assets through any of the state "Long Term Care Partnership Programs" and the fed program is not under the Rate Stability Regulation.

What about healthy single people?

[DorothyB]

I'm single and was healthy until this year. I purchased my LTC policy maybe 13 years ago? Due to my father's service, I qualified for the Federal LTC Insurance. I shopped that with an agent after qualifying and purchasing it. The agent at that time said that he couldn't come close to matching the benefits at that cost.

[tj]

I'm single and was healthy until this year. I purchased my LTC policy maybe 13 years ago? Due to my father's service, I qualified for the Federal LTC Insurance. I shopped that with an agent after qualifying and purchasing it. The agent at that time said that he couldn't come close to matching the benefits at that cost.

Indeed - I tried to get a quote and they said keep what I have.

[WoW2012]

LTC is the one thing that I don't have a good feeling about as I near retirement. I have looked at insurance through work as a Fed, but I just don't like the cost of premiums vs. what you actually get in coverage. I also don't like the horror stories of those who try to collect after years of faithfully paying their premiums. That is why I have decided to just try to self insure even though I know our nest egg may not be enough for one or both of us if we need LTC for an extended period of time.

For healthy married couples, the group long-term care policy with the federal gov't is not the best value. Plus the fed program does not protect assets through any of the state "Long Term Care Partnership Programs" and the fed program is not under the Rate Stability Regulation.

What about healthy single people?

The FLTCIP is very competitive for healthy single females.
It's not competitive for healthy single males.

[capjak]

My MoM spent 6 years in assisted living and 6 months in nursing home.

I purchased (56/57 year old) One America (Asset Care) a Hybrid policy guaranteed no increase in LTC cost of rider, with an upfront premium plus 10 year pay (probably should have done 20 year pay) for the unlimited payout LTC rider at 3% inflation and 4% accelerator (rider is paid after 25 months of death benefit increase of LTC) $54,000 each person per year benefit todays dollars.

I will likely be able to afford LTC but I wanted something to protect from large event (i.e. LTC at a young age etc...).

Also looked at traditional: (Mutual of Omaha) and traditional with unlimited payout NGL.