Long Term Care Insurance
Sandy Nichols introduced Terry Merlo: She has three children, two twin grand children and has been with New York Life Insurance for ten years. She is a recently certified by the State of California Long Term Care Planning agent. She is an active member of the Club.
Nursing
home and care costs are very high and if needed will impact your retirement nest egg. It is important to maintain your wealth in order to sustain an acceptable life style, stay out of debt and/or have a legacy for your children.
People are living longer and longer these days. That's good news, but the flip side of that is there are more years in which there's a risk of serious health problems. And that could literally cost all of your remaining life's savings. Unfortunately, ordinary health insurance policies and Medicare usually do not pay for long-term care expenses.
Medicaid, a federal/state health insurance program, will only pay for long-term care if you've already spent most of your savings or other assets. So, there's long-term care insurance.
A policy also ensures that you can make your own choices about what long-term care services you receive and where you receive them. Your goals should be to protect your assets, minimize your dependence on other family members, and control where and how you receive long-term care services. Long-term care refers to the many services beyond medical care and nursing care used by people who have disabilities or chronic (long-lasting) illnesses. Long-term care insurance helps you pay for these services, which can be very expensive. The best time to buy long-term care insurance may be middle-age. It's the time when you have the highest likelihood of being eligible for a policy and, just as important, when premiums costs might be lower. Terry Merlo is available to answer your questions:
481-2810.