Have you thought about how to pay for care in your old age, especially if your health declines?

While most of us have thought about a healthy retirement, we often prefer not to think about what would happen if we need extended long term care. It is just something that we prefer not to dwell on.

But if we don’t plan for the possibility of long term care, we may not have the resources we need to have the type of care we want in our final years. How you will age is not something you have much control over. How you LIVE during those years will depend precisely on how well you prepared.

Consider this: If you are hospitalized for a deteriorating illness, you may be entitled, under Medicare or private insurance, to limited nursing care after you are discharged. If you just age poorly, and are unable to can for yourself without help, Medicare and private insurance pays nothing. Medical insurance covers accident and illness. It does NOT cover the expenses associated with long term custodial care, or the inability to care for yourself due to the slowing down associated with aging. It does NOT cover the care you need after an illness, if you cease to make progress towards recovery. In other words, Medicare and private health insurance does NOT cover the costs we are most likely to incur in old age. If we need help getting in and out of bed, bathing ourselves, dressing ourselves, feeding ourselves, etc., or if we can do all these but are just forgetful, or lose track of where we are and wander off, Medicare and private health insurance will NOT pay for someone to assist us.

What will care cost? It is hard to say, but we know that care today, either full-time in your home, or in a nursing home, can easily cost $150 to $200 a day, or more. That could be over $70,000 a year, as of today. In 20 years, it could easily double to over $140,000 a year. If you need care for 6 years, the total bill could be close to $900,000. For just one person. If there are two of you, it could be $1.8 million.

If liquidating $1.8 million in assets in 20 years is not going to be a problem for you, then you may not need long term care insurance. But if doing so will cause a hardship, or use up assets you need, or want to leave to your heirs, you should consider looking at long term care insurance alternatives now. There are many alternatives, at different price points. I’d welcome the opportunity to sit down with you.

Louis Berlin is the author of several books and numerous articles on insurance and financial fitness, including the highly acclaimed “How to Not F$$k Up Your Financial Future, and the Rest of Your Life,” and “Financial Fitne$$ For Everyone,” both available on Amazon. He is the CEO of LouisBerlin.com, an independent life, long term care, disability, and annuity insurance agency, and Synergix, his consulting firm.

His education includes a BA (cum laude) from Princeton University (1975), and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance (1977), and additional accreditation from the American College, including a Certificate as a Family Business Specialist. He has spent over forty years in various businesses, mostly with firms and investments he owned and operated.

His ultimate goal is to make clients at all income levels, and at all stages of their career, more successful by benefiting from his extensive experience, and more financially fit by building wealth and protecting assets efficiently.

His has a wife, five adult children, several children-in-law, and two grandchildren. He nominally resides in South Florida, but is more often found visiting his children and grandchildren in New York and Boston.

Should you be interested in their service please email at [email protected].