One Financial Planner Suggests Two LTC Insurance Alternatives
If you were to eavesdrop on a typical meeting with someone in their 50’s with their financial advisor, chances are you would here the sensible advice to purchase long term care insurance. This practical recommendation is rooted in the fact that nearly 70% of those aged 65 and older will need long term care services at some point in their lifetime. However skyrocketing long term care premiums has one financial planner recommending alternatives.
George Gagliardi is a certified financial planner focused on creative solutions to help preserve and grow his clients’ assets. A recent MarketWatch article shows that Gagliardi is skeptical of traditional retirement advice when it comes to protecting his client’s assets from the ravages of health emergencies and long-term care costs. Long term care costs are not the only threat, the other is the risk of exploding premium rates. Federal employees participating in the long-term care insurance program learned this harsh lesson in 2016 when their premiums jumped 126%. Two choices were offered- pay the higher premium and retain your current coverage or pay the same premium for less coverage. A spike in premiums had a direct impact on a senior’s cash flow and quality of life.
Few financial planners stray from conventional recommendations and approaches to asset management and preservation. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom yields typical results. Gagliardi takes a different approach favoring two alternatives: hybrid long term care policies and the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.
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In many situations, a HECM may be the only solution because of existing health issues with long term care applicants who will not be able to qualify. Because the costs of providing good long term healthcare to Seniors has become so expensive, even a HECM will only provide partial coverage in the long run. It is certainly better than nothing, but some will require more.