Page 37 - Flathead Beacon // 6.24.15

FINANCIAL CORNER JESSE RIGLER
PREPARE FAR AHEAD FOR LONG-TERM CARE COSTS
ONG-TERM CARE COSTS CAN BE To prevent these events, you will need potentially devastating to one’s to create a strategy to pay for long-term financial situation. The more you care expenses — even if you never incur
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know about these expenses, the better prepared you will be to deal with them.
To begin with, just how expensive is long-term care? Consider this: The aver- age cost for a private room in a nursing home is more than $87,000 per year, according to the 2014 Cost of Care Survey produced by Genworth, a financial-ser- vices company.
And the average cost of an assisted liv-
them. Basically, you have two options: You could self-insure or you could “trans- fer the risk” to an insurer.
If you were going to self-insure, you would need to set aside a considerable sum of money, as indicated by the costs mentioned above. And you would likely need to invest a reasonably high percent- age of this money in growth-oriented investments. If you chose this self-in-
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“NONE OF US CAN KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR US.”
surance route, but you never really needed a sig- nificant amount of long- term care, you could sim- ply use the bulk of the money for your normal living expenses during retirement and earmark
ing facility, which provides a level of care that is not as extensive as that offered by a nursing home, is $42,000 per year, according to the same Genworth study. All long-term care costs have risen steadily over the past several years, with no indication that they will level off.
Many people, when they think about long-term care at all, believe that Medi- care will pay these costs — but that’s just not the case. Typically, Medicare only covers a small percentage of long-term care expenses, which means you will have to take responsibility. Of course, if you are fortunate, you may go through life without ever needing to enter a nurs- ing home or an assisted living facility, or even needing help from a home health- care aide. But given the costs involved, can you afford to jeopardize your finan- cial independence — or, even worse, impose a potential burden on your grown children?
the remainder for your estate. However, if did need many years of nursing home care, you could end up going through all your money.
As an alternative, you could transfer the risk of paying for long-term care to an insurance company. Many plans are available these days, so, to find the choice that is appropriate for your needs, you will want to consult with a professional financial advisor. Here’s a word of cau- tion, though: The premiums for this type of protection rise pretty rapidly as you get older, so, if you are considering add- ing this coverage, you may be better off by acting sooner, rather than later.
None of us can know with certainty what the future holds for us. Ideally, you will always remain in good shape, both mentally and physically, with the abil- ity to take care of yourself. But, as you’ve heard, it’s best to “hope for the best, but plan for the worst.”
with Live music afterwards featuring
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FIREWORK
Jesse Rigler is a financial advisor at Edward Jones in Kalispell.
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JUNE 24, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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