One topic that concerned her was long-term care. Let’s admit it; we will all need it at one point or another when we reach old age. It is a topic of interest for many clients of mine. They are often nervous of the process and cost. Going back, she came to my office for help. She applied for long-term care insurance, but she was declined due to pre-existing medical condition. Here’s what I told her:
Living longer does not come cheap, and in fact, it comes with more expenses due to medical reasons. Even if your income drops, long-term care expenses do not. This is a common case scenario among clients seeking help with Medi-Cal. Many of them failed to include long-term care cost in their retirement plan.
The cost of living in many nursing homes has risen to about 25 percent, within the last 5 years. One reason that I see, as an asset protection attorney, is that individuals over 65 commonly need long-term medical services. In totality, nursing home care may cost a yearly average of $84,000. Let’s take California, it cost between $9,000 and $12,000 cost of living per month in a nursing home or about $144,000 annually. Without even saying, long-term stay in a nursing home can make a family suffer financially.
In relation to it, a semi-private room in a nursing home averages about $75,000 yearly. On the other hand, those who choose to stay in an assisted living normally spend at least $40,000 per year. It is common that patients living there do not get the same level of care that others do living in a nursing home.
My intention is not to stress you, but to educate and promote pre-planning for these situations. You want to look into these matters while you are not “in the long-term care age,” you may want to talk things over with an estate planning lawyer in Irvine. Hope you enjoyed this informative blog, I’ll see you next week!