When asked whether they've known someone who needed long term care before, many will answer negatively because they've never had experience with a relative or family friend living in a nursing home. Unwittingly, these respondents have mistaken care for a place that it is provided. Unfortunately, this common response underscores a lack of understanding about this important retirement planning topic.
It's easy to understand long term care (LTC) because it is exactly what it sounds like: care provided for a long term of at least 90 days or longer to anyone with a prolonged illness, disability, chronic need, or cognitive impairment. Millions across American spanning all age groups are receiving this kind of assistance that may last several months, several years, or even a lifetime.
By definition, this specialized healthcare is custodial in nature and provides assistance with the basic activities of daily living. A doctor certifies the need for this kind of help when their patient requires assistance with at least 2 of the 6 activities of daily living including:
Eating
Bathing
Dressing
Toileting
Transferring (Walking)
Continence
These services may be provided almost anywhere, but they are most commonly provided in the comfort of ones home. Care may also be provided in respite care, adult day care, assisted living, nursing home, and hospice facilities.
Once consumers are educated about this, many will then admit experience of a family member who needed care. Perhaps a grandparent, uncle or aunt received assistance in their home from a spouse, child, or relative. Maybe a surviving spouse required care and moved in with a child for family support. Statistics bear the truth of these experiences out since half of all LTC services are provided in the home.
With medical advances in healthcare, increasing longevity, and a growing senior population, the need for long term care is greater today than ever before. The need is even greater for women since their risk is twice that of their male counterparts. Women are often younger than their marriage partners and have longer life expectancies, so it's common for them to outlive their spouses who will not be there to help when their widowed partners need care for themselves.
Today, anecdotal and statistical evidence argues that it's absolutely critical that seniors and retirees educate themselves about long term care and how to pay for it. For many, insurance is the most effective way to manage this greatest unfunded financial risk in retirement.
It's easy to understand long term care (LTC) because it is exactly what it sounds like: care provided for a long term of at least 90 days or longer to anyone with a prolonged illness, disability, chronic need, or cognitive impairment. Millions across American spanning all age groups are receiving this kind of assistance that may last several months, several years, or even a lifetime.
By definition, this specialized healthcare is custodial in nature and provides assistance with the basic activities of daily living. A doctor certifies the need for this kind of help when their patient requires assistance with at least 2 of the 6 activities of daily living including:
Eating
Bathing
Dressing
Toileting
Transferring (Walking)
Continence
These services may be provided almost anywhere, but they are most commonly provided in the comfort of ones home. Care may also be provided in respite care, adult day care, assisted living, nursing home, and hospice facilities.
Once consumers are educated about this, many will then admit experience of a family member who needed care. Perhaps a grandparent, uncle or aunt received assistance in their home from a spouse, child, or relative. Maybe a surviving spouse required care and moved in with a child for family support. Statistics bear the truth of these experiences out since half of all LTC services are provided in the home.
With medical advances in healthcare, increasing longevity, and a growing senior population, the need for long term care is greater today than ever before. The need is even greater for women since their risk is twice that of their male counterparts. Women are often younger than their marriage partners and have longer life expectancies, so it's common for them to outlive their spouses who will not be there to help when their widowed partners need care for themselves.
Today, anecdotal and statistical evidence argues that it's absolutely critical that seniors and retirees educate themselves about long term care and how to pay for it. For many, insurance is the most effective way to manage this greatest unfunded financial risk in retirement.
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