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We need to decide if we're going to make our own care decisions when we can no longer live alone or independantly. Or are we going to leave those decisions to a governement employee who must follow whatever the current government decides is approved for your care. Medicaid is being gutted, so please don't believe that you can rely on that at your most critial time in life. Please check out the links below and then schedule with me to start designing your plan so you can be prepared for whatever tomorrow brings your way. Kaiser Family Foundation 10 things about Medicaid long term care services and support https://www.kff.org/medicaid/10-things-about-long-term-services-and-supports-ltss/ AARP Nursing home staffing mandate delayed https://www.aarp.org/advocacy/one-big-beautiful-bill-nursing-homes/ University of Pennsylvania letter to Elizabeth Warren Univ of PA letter Schedule to learn more and design your plan My calendar

Professionals in geriatrics and gerontology define "elderly" and "advanced age" as 65 and older and those with chronic needs. It's hard to believe I'm almost elderly?!? The fact that there are professional specialties and new Ai tools, websites, apps and software programs focusing on this enormous age group should indicate to us younger than 60 to prepare for those days ahead of us. There are people and tools available to help as we age, and we should never be embarrassed to ask for help when we need it. Here are several helpful links you can use: America Association for LTC Insurance https://www.aaltci.org/ Phyllis Shelton's LTC website full of valuable info https://gotltci.com/ Certification for LTC https://www.ltc-cltc.com/ Elder Law Answers about law and Medicaid https://www.elderlawanswers.com/ Help and guidance for caregivers https://www.elderlawanswers.com/ Help filing LTC claims https://www.amadaseniorcare.com/ Alzheimer's Association https://www.alz.org/ National Council on Aging https://www.ncoa.org/ Companion Robot for seniors https://elliq.com/ View current and projected costs of care where you live https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Schedule a phone or zoom meeting to start designing your plan today https://calendly.com/diane-p4t/30min

A client with whom I've maintained a relationship for over a decade was almost talked into buying a new LTC plan earlier this year. I'm glad she called me to ask for help! I researched her risk and offered a very similar plan with significantly lower rates. Research is the key to finding the best plans for your family. When you are offered a quote for LTC insurance, ask the person quoting you how many companies they represent and how many LTC applications they submit on average each year. LTC planning is too important to leave to amatures! View current and projected costs of care where you live and where you plan to retire at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Then schedule a phone or zoom meeting to start designing your plan here

Don't let your 50 year old kids regret not having planned for future extended care needs when they first thought of it. A first question I ask when meeting with someone is "What made you decide to look into LTC planning now?" Far too many reply with some form of having thought about this years ago, but for whatever reason they came up with, they decided to wait. Now, the plans we're considering cost a lot more at 70 than they did at 50. Or maybe they can't health qualify for the plan they want. You must encourage your 40, 50 and 60 year old children to plan now, while they can be approved by more companies, and while the rates are manageable. This week, we share a client who is buying a plan for her daughter because the family knows the value of LTC insurance after seeing the husband/dad's LTC plan pay over $200,000 over 24 months, protecting the famly's wealth and emotional well-being. Two clarifications - 1) Audrey did not keep $46,000 of the RMD because she did have to pay taxes on the withdrawal. 2) Lindsey's plan's benefits wil increase by 3% annually. She doesn't have to wait until the 10th payment to see increases. Schedule with Diane to design your plan here View current and projected costs of care (use 5% inflation) where you live at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care

This week, I'm sharing a story of what happened when I was walking my dog on Saturday. This can happen to anyone. We don't have to be old or sick to have an accident. So many people wait to buy LTC insurance because it's for old people, but 1/3 of people receiving care today are under age 65. And we need to be healthy enough to qualify for coverage. If we wait until after an accident, or a diagnosis, or a medicine that insurance companies won't accept, our options narrow or disappear. Also, we need to encourage our older family members to not be afraid to tell on themseloves when they fall. Even after a big event that causes us to need help living through our days, owning LTC insurance increases the probability that we can stay home to get the help we need. View both current and projected costs of care where you live here Then schedule with me to start designing your plan here

According to an AARP report, the Department of Health and Human Services reported a 48% increase in cost for home care and assisted living from 2019-2024, while median household income for families 65 and older rose only 22%. That's an average 8% annual increase! And people doubt when we use 5% annual increases to project future needs.... View a summary of the report here See what current and projected cost of care where you live at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Then schedule with me to learn how you can protect your family, assets and choices here

This week, I received a very disturbing call, and this was soon after I met a man whose job is to protect people (mostly seniors) from scams. I'm so glad that a woman reached out to me for guidance before spending over half of her mom's little bit of savings she needed for her care. Listen and learn, then schedule time with me to prepare for your tomorrow. When we're prepared, we're less likely to be tricked. The 2025 Cost of Care report is available so you can see both 2025 costs and projected costs of care where you live. Check it out here BTW, home care costs increased by 13% across the country last year. Prepare today by scheduling a phone or Zoom meeting with me here

We need to believe that we're going to get through these world events that are being thrown at us every day. We have to believe that we're going to live a long life. When we live a long life, we get old, and when we get old we need help. The massage today is short, and I hope it encourages each of you to continue planning to protect those you care about most. The new 2025 Cost of Care updates were released thjis week and you can see current nd projectewd costs where you live here We're seeing a 13% increase in home care costs across the country. If we want o stay home when we need help getting through our days, we need to plan now to be able to do that. Schedule a phone or Zoom meeting with me to get started here

Just like when we go to an all-you-can-eat buffet, our eyes are bigger than our stomach. With LTC protection, bigger than our budget. We want the best policy that will pay for everything we need for as long as we need care, but our income and savings say we can afford something with less coverage. Or we apply as a couple and one is declined for health. Does this mean we don't get any coverage at all? No! It means we get as much as we can afford for the duration of premiums. If half of our expenses are paid for with insurance, that's using our own assets and income to pay the other half rather than paying for all of our needs ourselves. Our family will be thankful for anything we do to help them help us better. View 2024 and projected costs of care where you live here Please use a 4% or 5% increase in costs when looking in the future years as that's how costs have increased over the last three decades. Learn what your state let's you keep to qualify for Medicaid here Schedule a phone or zoom meeting to start designing your plan here

I get so many calls from families trying to find caregiving support answers for their older parent or relative. They've reached a point where they are overwhelmed and need help providing for their loved one. This is not the time to look for insurance. The choices are limited and have higher costs because at age 75 or 80, we're close to or at the age when the insurance companies think we'll open a claim. That parent should have considered LTC funding options at 50 or 55. But 50 and 55 year olds too often believe we'll be in the same health mentally and physically at 75 or 80, and that's usually not the case. We need to plan for this WAY before that need shows up. Parents who waited too long must encourage their kids to plan now so this doesn't turn into a never ending cycle of kids spending all of their time and money providing for parents and then not being able to provide for themselves later, depending on their kids' time and money, etc. I promised links to learn more about Medicaid. This link shows what each state let's us keep to be financially eligible for Medicaid benefits: What your state let's you keep This link shares how each state qualifies an individual for Medicad benefits: Elder Law Answers Schedule with me here to start working on your plan to protect your family, assets and choices and avoid being told where to live by the state.

Many people inquire about LTC insurance and unfortunately get incorrect or incomplete information. This is why it's important to work with a LTC Planning Specialist, like me, who studies this continually. Years ago, there were a lot more companies offering LTC insurance, but all the plans looked and worked very similarly. Today, there are less companies offering this insurance, but these companies are each offering more unique ways to design and fund plans to meet more needs. Listen to these podcast episodes and arm yourself with the questions you need to ask when designing your plan. You deserve to understand why an advisor or insurance agent is or is not offering you a plan to protect your family, assets and choices. Reach out to me to schedule time to learn more and start to design your plan here Ask me a question by scheduling here

Providing care for a very sick, injured or elderly family member is hard! Especially without help. There are currently over 50 million family caregivers sacrificing their time, family, health and future to provide that care. LTC insurance is not designed to replace you; it's there to help you be able to help without hurting yourself or getting overwhelmed from doing it alone. Who is going to pay for those 7.8 million licensed care providers as the Baby Boomer generation reaches 80 this year and continues to age? It's either us, our family, or the government. Part of "us" is LTC insurance - so we won't force our famly members to exhaust themselves. You can view current (2024) and estimate future cost of care where you live here I recommend you use 5% COLA and not the 3% that defaults when you open the page. I said I would add a link to the site that discusses LTC reform and how Medicaid impacts the entire industry, but the link is not active today. I have LTC Bullets emailed to me weekly. Hopefully, it's up and running again soon. The link is here for when it is online again Schedule a meeting with me here

Jason Dutra with BuddyIns joins us this week to share a case study on worksite LTC benefits. There are companies that will offer guaranteed issue (no health questions) hybrid life/LTC plans to a company with as few as 3 employees. Listen and learn if this is a tool you would like to offer, or that you would like your employer to offer. Then schedule an introductory meeting with me to discuss options for your company here If you'd like to learn more first, use this link to research at BuddyIns https://buddyins.com/worksite You can schedule a meeting with Jason by submitting a referral at the top right of the page. Please remember to request me as your specialist. I look forward to helping you protect those you care about most.

Hello to all our new and returning listeners! Because we've had a large increase in listeners, I thought I'd share what we discuss during our initial consultation (which costs you only time). It's good for long time listeners to get a refresher as well. Our first meeting, via phone or Zoom and sometmes in person, is mostly educational. It's impossible to make a decision on something as important as preparing for futue extended care needs unless we understand what we are deciding. LTC insurance is not for everyone. It must fit in with the rest of your retirement plan in order to protect both your assets and your family. You can view current (2024) and projected costs of several types of care where you live here A 2025 update will be released in March, 2026. You can schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me here I look forward to meeting you and helping you to protect those you care about most.

Because we have so many new listeners, we decided to get back to the basics of long term care and LTC insurance. The best starting point is to learn current and future costs of home care, assisted living, and nursing home care. Use the cost of care website to find costs where you live at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Once we understand the risk we're up against if we suffer from dementia, a stroke or a severe car accident (for example), we need to decide where we would want to live when help is needed to get through our days. We need to consider who we want to have helping us, and we need to decide how we're going to pay for this care. Listen and learn how different types of insurance plans decide when and how claims are approved or declined. Learn which kinds of plans can be tax deductible and which can be paid using HSA funds. Get your current policies and proposals out and schedule time with me to evaluate them and learn if they best meet your needs. Schedule a phone or Zoom meeting here