I am 65 years old and have money saved up. Can I give my family $15,000 each for years and not have it counted as spend down?

If you have the money for private pay in a nice nursing home of your choice why on earth would you choose a third rate one that accepts Medicaid. Do you want to sit in your poop for hours or wait a couple of hours for your call bell to be answered.
No keep what you have got in your own hot little hands for your own care.

Randy, perhaps this is a dumb question, but why would you not want to save your money for YOUR own future, leaving whatever remains at your death to your family then?

Maybe I am cheap---but ALL our money and investments are for US to use as we age. IF there's anything left over after we're both gone, the kids will then inherit equally. Not before.

Our "plan" is to live comfortably alone, then when one of us passes, the basement apartment will be used (if needed) as a caregiver's home. OR alternately, the remaining spouse will move to as nice an Assisted Living facility that we can afford.

My kids are ALL financially sound (better off that we are!!) and we have helped them all out over the years and in our dotage, we get to take care of us.

If you have plans (or even if you don’t) of applying for Medicaid at some time in the future, get the advice of an Elder Law Attorney on how to proceed. If you gift your kids money, they will have to pay Gift Tax and that can be brutal. Medicaid (and the Federal Government) is nothing to mess with. You can’t hide things from them and even if you have the best intentions for your kids it can come back to bite you (and them) in the end. With the advice of an attorney, you can determine how to legally portion out your money.

Randy444, yes, you can give each family member $15k which is the amount where the IRS will not ask for a "gift tax". If you have investments that give you a lot of dividends, then you can easily afford to give such monetary gifts for many years.

Personally, I wouldn't do the maximum amount, otherwise your family members may start to expect that money each year.

Now, if you have such money to give to give to your grown children, then you don't need to worry about "spending down" because you would be overqualified for Medicaid [which is different from Medicare]. Medicaid is used for people who are closer to living at poverty level, and cannot afford to pay for a nursing home. Or if they are a bit over the level, then they need to spend down, and the spend down is on themselves.

Be careful with the gifting. Assisted Living can cost around $7k per month [depending on location] or $84k a year. My Dad had caregivers, if he had them for a year it would have cost him $240k a year. Remember, you are only 65 years old, and I assume in good health.

Talk with an "Elder Law Attorney" to see if you would benefit from having a Revocable Trust.

I believe that if you needed Medicaid within 5 years of such gifting that it would be considering gifting and not spending down.

Be sure you are not giving away money that you will need for your own care. The government and other taxpayers do not want to pay for your care if you give away your money.

Definitely talk to a lawyer who understand Medicare and Medicaid before you give any money away. And if Medicaid thinks that you gave the money as a "gift" so that you can qualify for Medicaid, they could demand that the people who received the money to GIVE THE MONEY BACK before Medicaid will pay any benefits. So tell whomever is going to receive the money to NOT SPEND it, but to put it in savings or CD or something until Medicaid has made their decision.

I dont know how much youve saved. It sounds like a very healthy amount . Its nice of you to want to distribute some of it to your kids . However, dont under estimate the cost of medical bills or home health ( which medicare only does on a very limited bases) . Id speak to an elder care attorney and maybe an attorney that does wills and trusts etc . Hopefully together or one on the phone with everyone.

Alfred, thank you for the update. Oh well, looks like the super rich have benefited once again. Now our current President can pass on more of his estate and avoid estate taxes.