When to buy Long Term Care?
The older you are, the greater the chance you'll have a medical event that requires long-term care, or that you'll develop a health issue that will keep insurers from approving your policy application.
People typically buy long-term care insurance when they’re in their 50s or they are reviewing their retirement plan with their financial advisor. At that point in your life, you're old enough to think seriously about long-term care and there are advantages to making the decision at this time rather than putting it off until later. You're likely to pay less for the same amount of coverage than if you wait until you're older and you're less likely to have medical issues that disqualify you for coverage.
In addition to the risk of your health deteriorating as you age, the financial cost of waiting to purchase a policy should be considered as it will typically become more expensive to purchase the same amount of long-term care coverage each year you wait.
When do benefits begin?
Typically, you become eligible for your long-term care benefits when you can no longer perform 2 "ADLs," or Activities of Daily Living (e.g., eating, bathing, dressing) without help. Then, most policies have a waiting period ("elimination" or "deductible" period), during which you pay for your care separately from your policy until your waiting period is completed and you can start long-term care benefits.
In our next blogpost, we will discuss how much long term care coverage you need to buy.