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Taking care of my mother and watching her money dwindle has me fearing the future. Just had a long term insurance agent here to talk about my husband and my plans. Do any of you have long term insurance for yourself? Do your folks have it? It would cost us $8000 a year. What a gamble. Us gambling we'll continue to be able to afford it - or my working to pay for it. And the insurance company gambling we'll pay for 20 years and die before we receive a dime.

What are others' thoughts on LTC? We have a house, assets, retirement and IRA's Does paying this kind of money on LTC really make sense or is it a scare tactic for the insurance companies?

Thanks for your opinions

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My mother bought a policy years ago and wisely put the payments on auto draft from her checking account. When she entered a nursing home about four years ago, the monthly payments stopped because of the way the policy was set up. It paid about 80% of her monthly nursing home bill which protected her investments and personal banking accounts very well and did not require her husband to pay anything since as her POA I paid the balance each month from her checking account. Long before she went to the nursing home, she made me joint owner with right of survivorship of her personal bank accounts, CDs, and investments. Her will left everything to me. She died on October 4, 2013 and left me as her only child quite an inheritance which I am very thankful for. My step-dad does not have such insurance and his three children have their hands full given how poor his health is now. In my opinion, a LTC policy is well worth the money.
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I like the concept of LTC insurance. I don't know if I would ever buy on because of my Mom's experience. she purchased a policy probably 20 years ago and paid the bill monthly until probably seven years ago when she stopped paying. I believe this was the start of her dementia whether she forgot to pay or decided she didn't want to pay it any longer, a bad early dementia decision. So, the policy lapsed. Sibling that was listed on the policy did not realize for about nine months, so she says. Called to see if it could be reinstated, naturally not. Whether this was forgotten or a conscious competent decision to stop paying is anybody's guess. But, it was a minimum of a $300,000.00 mistake. If you decide to purchase a policy you need to do something to make sure it continues to be paid in the event you may forget or make the decision to stop paying on it. I think there needs to be new legislation that if a person is diagnosed with dementia they should have the opportunity for a period of time to have it reinstated.
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My mother took out a LTC policy about 15 years ago. She is the 4th of her siblings to develop Alz as they aged into their 80's. She is now 85 incapacitated and in a great memory care community. Her LTC policy pays 100% for 4 years. Yes they are a gamble and the insurance hopes we don't use it. I took one out on myself about a year ago. My father also had Alz. I have no idea what my future holds for me regarding Alz but I don't want my hubs or children to change my diapers.
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The policy I have will pay 100% for 3 years. It is expensive but I am happy with my choice considering my family history with Alz.
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Glad-the policies vary from company to company. Mine pays for 3 years at 100%. It covers home care, respite care, and facility care. The older you are the more expensive they are. My mom was paying $350 a month. Her policy is like mine except it pays for 4 years. I am paying $150 less than my mom did. My brother's. Policy is very good too but he got his through the government as an employee so he pays only $100 a month. With mine and my mom's policy you continue to pay monthly premiums if you have home care but if you have facility care your premiums stop. My mom's policy pays a month behind so my sis has to pay the facility then the LTCP (long term care policy) reimburses us. I think they all have a limit of how long they will now because as someone said...many companies lost money and went bankrupt. I got my policy through State Farm Insurance and my mom's is through Genworth.
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We have it. Reasonably priced. Mine is very cheap through work. Hubby's is a bit over $100.00 a month. My mom's was almost a rip off, it paid for very little but she thought it had her totally covered thanks to the sales person.
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No one can predict the future, so you can say it's a gamble when you purchase this type of policy. As you can see at ltcoptions/long-term-care-insurance-costs/, long term care insurance cost is around $1,000 to $8,000 annually. Many people find this expensive including you, one of the reasons why people shy away from this insurance product. A lot of consumers don't want to shell out a huge chunk of money without a guarantee that they will benefit from this.

Consumers are not forced to buy long term care insurance, in fact they are encouraged to talk to a specialist first and have their needs assessed first. In this way, you'll have an idea how much coverage you'll buy and the most suitable policy type for you.
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There is an American Association for Long Term Care Insurance that has some good information. It's complicated. Not all the policies are the same.
http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/company-ratings.php
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Boy, if I could find it for $1200 per year verses $8000 per year, I might consider it, but it just doesn't seem to make sense. I also appreciate the comments about what happens if you stop paying the premiums. It never occurred to me! Then I remembered the salesman saying we'd pay until we die or start using it. If I can't afford it now how could I ever afford it on a fixed income after retirement (should we be so lucky). These policies sound like a great deal - for the insurance companies and the folks getting the commission checks, but not for the common person.
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