Long-Term Care Insurance can be cheaper than
Do-It-Yourself Caregiving
Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- If one of
your aging parents suddenly needs help with
the tasks of daily living, who will provide
it? You? If that's your default plan,
says Craig Smith, President of LTC Financial
Partners LLC (LTCFP), be prepared for
sticker shock. Your services don't come
free.
LTCFP is one of the nation's largest and
most experienced long-term
care insurance agencies.
Do-it-yourself caregiving can be very
expensive, Smith asserts. "In fact long-term
care insurance, even with premium payments
extending over 30 years, can be much
cheaper."
This assertion is based on a recent report
published by the MetLife Mature Market
Institute, "The MetLife Study of Caregiving
Costs to Working Caregivers: Double Jeopardy
for Baby Boomers Caring for Their Parents."
For America's 10 million employed
caregivers, lifetime losses in pay,
pensions, and social security benefits total
an estimated $3 trillion, according to the
study. That amounts to $304,000 per worker.
"It will cost you a fraction of that for
insurance, so you have the money to pay a
professional to care for your parent," says
Smith. The numbers:
-
A good policy costs just hundreds to
thousands of dollars per year depending
on the covered person's age, health, and
benefit features desired.
-
That's far less than
the $304,000 lifetime-earnings hit even
if premiums are paid for 30 years or
more.
Of course, there's a chance that none of
your parents (typically four per couple)
will ever need long-term care. But don't
count on it. According to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, at
least 70% of Americans over 65 will need
long-term care at some point.
"People often reject long-term care
insurance because they think it's
expensive," says Smith. "But the opposite is
true. It's one of biggest bargains around."
LTCFP has over 500 agents covering all parts
of the U.S., listed by state at http://www.ltcfp.com.
"They're ready to help people compare
policies, from multiple carriers, that offer
varying feature sets and costs to fit all
budgets," says Smith. Online information and
free literature are also available.
Rapidly expanding, LTCFP has openings for
new agents in many regions. Information is
available athttp://www.ltcinsurancecareer.com.
For four years in a row, Inc. Magazine has
included LTCFP in its annual ranking of the
nation's 5000 fastest-growing companies.
