{"id":2574,"date":"2020-10-25T09:12:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T16:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/?p=2574"},"modified":"2020-10-25T09:13:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T16:13:32","slug":"long-term-care-the-solutions-you-should-be-talking-about-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/?p=2574","title":{"rendered":"Long-Term Care: The Solutions You Should Be Talking About Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Very good article on long-term care by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D. Taking a moment to think about your \u2013 and your family\u2019s \u2013 possible future long term care needs is critical for us all since average life expectancy is now at 78 and rising. And, if you\u2019re already 55 or more, life expectancy has soared to around 84. This longer life can be cause for celebration or concern \u2013 especially concerns for your health and money. Two-thirds of people over age 65 will need some kind of long term care, and many of us aren\u2019t prepared for it. In fact, most of us haven\u2019t even thought about it. Perhaps I can help.<\/p>

To better understand increasing longevity and its challenges, my company,\u00a0Age Wave,<\/a>\u00a0one of the nation\u2019s thought leaders on retirement issues and Harris Interactive recently partnered with\u00a0Genworth Financial\u00a0<\/a>to conduct the landmark study \u201cOur Family, Our Future: The Heart of Long Term Care Planning.\u201d We polled more than 2,000 adults nationwide, gaining broad insights into how an individual\u2019s long term care needs could impact family members\u2019 lives, marriages, work commitments and financial stability. A complete report is available at this\u00a0link<\/a>. Some of the key findings from this eye-opening study follow.<\/p>

Live Long, and \u2014 Hopefully \u2014 Live Well<\/strong><\/p>

Americans now say they would like to live to age 92 \u2026 as long as they remain healthy. Respondents overwhelmingly reported that how long they want to live depends on how effectively they can maintain good health and independence. However, only 35 percent even considered the possibility of needing long term care if their good health is interrupted. Yet almost two-thirds (66 percent) of us will need long term care at some point in our lives.<\/p>

The #1 Retirement Worry<\/strong><\/p>

Uninsured medical expenses are the top financial worry among men and women age 55 and over. People told us they worry most about these expenses\u2019 unpredictability and potential for high costs. The study also revealed that many Americans are confused about what long term care actually is, and they\u2019re surprised to learn that Medicare and\/or traditional health insurance do not cover most long term care needs.<\/p>

Why Plan for Long Term Care?<\/strong><\/p>

According the study\u2019s respondents, \u201cnot being a burden on my family\u201d was the most important reason to plan ahead for long term care. Being \u201cable to afford quality care in the setting I choose\u201d was the next-highest priority, and \u201cprotecting my spouse\u2019s\/loved ones\u2019 quality of life and future security\u201d was next. When asked what aspect of \u201cbeing a burden\u201d worries them most, people told us that extended care can impose financial pressures on family members and also interfere with their lifestyles. Ironically, financial and caregiving challenges nearly always do fall on family members\u2019 shoulders when people fail to plan thoughtfully for their own\u00a0<\/span>potential long term care needs.<\/p>

Caregiving is Everybody\u2019s Business<\/strong><\/p>

Currently, an estimated 66 million Americans serve as family caregivers, and 80 percent of all long term care support is unpaid. Spouses, adult children, siblings and grandchildren provide it. The impact of caregiving can be unexpected: while only 40 percent of caregivers anticipate that they will contribute financially to a family member\u2019s care, the reality is that 83 percent do. Beyond the out-of-pocket finances, we found that these responsibilities caused nearly half of caregivers to miss work, change shifts or even miss career advancement opportunities.<\/p>

The #1 Age-Related Fear<\/strong><\/p>

We found that Alzheimer\u2019s is the disease people fear most in later life \u2014 more than cancer, heart disease, stroke or diabetes. Today, one in eight, or 5.1 million Americans over age 65 have Alzheimer\u2019s. As Americans age, it is projected that our Alzheimer\u2019s rates could triple unless we see medical breakthroughs to prevent or treat it \u2014 and I certainly hope we will! See this recent\u00a0op-ed piece<\/a>\u00a0that I co-wrote with Supreme Court Justice (ret.) Sandra Day O\u2019Connor and Nobel Laureate\u00a0Dr. Stanley Prusiner\u00a0<\/a>for a more complete examination of this issue. And track the progress of\u00a0USAgainstAlzheimers<\/a>, a new bi-partisan political advocacy network committed to stopping Alzheimer\u2019s by 2020.<\/p>

The Coming \u2018Caregiver Crunch\u2019<\/strong><\/p>

Smaller families, the superior longevity of women, repeated housing relocations and the rising number of middle-aged women in the workforce will soon create a mass shortage of family caregivers: a \u201ccaregiver crunch.\u201d More than ever before, we all need to craft a game plan for how we\u2019ll handle potential long term care needs.<\/p>

Talking and Planning for Your Peace of Mind<\/strong><\/p>

There are three core topics in family conversations about long term care: (1) what care options are most preferred (e.g. if you needed some help, would you prefer to be cared for at home, in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home?); (2) potential roles and responsibilities of different family members\u2019 (and possibly, help from a professional care coordinator, aid or nurse), should it ever be necessary to manage care; and (3) how to pay for any required long term care (with your or a family members\u2019 savings, through Medicaid or with a long term care insurance policy?). Alarmingly, we found that over 90 percent of all Americans have NOT discussed all three of these issues with their spouses, adult children and\/or parents.<\/p>

An Untapped Resource<\/strong><\/p>

Financial professionals can be valuable allies when you consider options to protect against long term care\u2019s financial and emotional costs. In fact, 78 percent of the study\u2019s respondents said they would find it helpful to talk to a financial professional about long term care. But only 16 percent have done so. Perhaps it\u2019s time to get that conversation started. To help get you ready, I have found these websites very useful:\u00a0www.longtermcare.gov<\/a>,\u00a0www.caringtalk.com<\/a>, and\u00a0www.ResearchLTC.com<\/a>.<\/p>

My Own Personal Decisions<\/strong><\/p>

Six years ago, my wife Maddy and I stopped to weigh what might happen to our family if one of us ever needed long term care. We felt that purchasing the insurance would carry a cost; however, we concluded that there were far higher potential financial and emotional costs to avoid for ourselves and our children. We realized that if either of us ever needed some help, we wouldn\u2019t want to burden our children and take them away from their own families or careers to look after us. My parents bought their long term care policies in their 70s; we decided to buy ours in our early 50s when the rates were lower and we were far likelier to qualify. We also took advantage of special discounts for couples and tax advantages for small business owners. We think of our long term care policy as \u201cpeace of mind insurance.\u201d<\/p>

Conversations about long term care planning can be difficult, but they\u2019re essential to maintain your family\u2019s financial and emotional stability. There are many different approaches to handling an extended care event and more and more community resources are now available to help you out. Regardless of which approach is best for you, give it some serious thought ahead of time. You\u2019ll give yourself far greater choices and control if you talk about it now. Don\u2019t wait for an emergency to ignite your decision making.<\/p>

In fact, please share this article\/blog with your loved ones and use it as a catalyst for productive family discussions.<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019d welcome all your thoughts, ideas and questions about these themes.<\/strong><\/p>

Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., is a psychologist, gerontologist and author of sixteen books on aging, health, life transitions and retirement-related issues. They include\u00a0Age Wave<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0The Power Years<\/em><\/a>, and his new book,\u00a0A New Purpose: Redefining Money, Family, Work, Retirement, and Success<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(with Daniel J. Kadlec). The founding CEO of\u00a0Age Wave<\/a>, he lives with his family in the Bay Area.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Very good article on long-term care by Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D. Taking a moment to think about your \u2013 and your family\u2019s \u2013 possible future long term care needs is critical for us all since average life expectancy is now at 78 and rising. And, if you\u2019re already 55 or more, life expectancy has soared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpbf-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574\/revisions\/2577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seniorstotherescue.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}