I looked into it for my parents twice, but the first time my mother's financial advisor convinced her that it was not worth the money, and because of that she didn't take me seriously the second time. The second time I looked into a program open to federal employees and their relatives, and it looked like the coverage was good (but the premium for my mom would have been $400 a month). Premiums increased substantially with age, so I suspect the key is figuring out a good age at which to sign up (not so young that you're paying premiums for such a long time that it cancels out the benefit, but not so old that premiums are beyond reach). I wish that my mom hadn't listened to her financial advisor, and that she'd been open to a LTC policy, because I know that I am the one who would end up filing the financial gap if one or both of them needed long term care at a level and length of time that would deplete their savings and investments. For the peace of mind, it would have been worth the high premiums, which I offered to pay myself. At her current age, 69, I doubt she'd qualify for anything that we could afford, and my dad wouldn't qualify at all because he has cancer. A LTC policy for my parents would ease my mind because I know how illnesses that require full time care over a long time period can eviscerate savings. My grandfather had alzheimers for 15 years, and spent the last 10 of them in an assisted living facility. My grandmother kept him at home as long as possible (longer than made sense, to be perfectly frank), but the reality is, given his strength, his diminished mental capacity, and later health complications, he needed the kind of care that only a LTC facility or a full time live-in nurse could provide. This was in the 80s and 90s but it cost thousands a month. Despite being hardworking, a saver, living a frugal lifestyle (to the point of growing their own produce in the summer and freezing and canning it for winter), and having a pension, paying for care for that many years took all of my grandmother's retirement savings. So once the money, inevitably, ran out, they had to go on medicaid and my mom helped with living expenses. I am very worried about facing a similar situation with my parents, particularly since costs are higher now, and I live in an area with an extremely high cost of living. Just think about stories you read about people who have a major illness with medical costs that cause bankruptcy, then multiply that financial impact across multiple years. Planning for an emergency, or even setting aside money for a comfortable retirement, is not going to cover full time care for years. As I understand the costs, it would be like sending a child to an elite private college --- and few people can afford that for more than 4 years even if they have been putting money aside since the child's infancy. Paying that annually, indefinitely, can make a mockery of even the best laid financial plans. The odds are that most people will not need that kind of care, but if you do the financial costs are devastating.

We purchased LTC insurance (separate policies) in our late 40's. Our program is sponsored by the state pension fund, so the carrier cannot leave the business until the pension managers find a replacement carrier. Class-wide premium increases are allowed, as they are on every policy and type of insurance. You always have a risk with individual insurance. Many homeowners have had whopping price increases and declination of new coverage whenever there's a major catastrophe. That's the downside of a public, competitive marketplace. LTC is no different. All I would say is, don't limit yourself to just your employer's offerings. There are several groups that specialize in LTC insurance, so Google and contact them if you're really interested. Yes, you may get stuck on a few mailing or call lists, but those aren't a big deal and easy to remove yourself from, or just toss the envelopes. Don't let it stop you. Genworth is good, I don't know anything about MedAmerica, and Northwestern Mutual is also a very solid company who has publicly announced they intend to remain in the LTC marketplace. Always contact your State Insurance Dept. - often the info is on the web - to look at the number of complaints a company has had to report. Also remember that it's worth investing WHO the company actually is - Conseco, one of the very worst LTC insurers ever, wrote LTC policies under six different subsidiaries. The Net can be your best friend, if you are willing to take the time to track info down to the source. Don't expect someone else to do all the work for you, and any time you talk to an agent, always rely on what is WRITTEN, not what you think someone said or implied. Verbal and phone assurances are worth the paper they are written on, and no more. Why did we buy this complex, risky product? Because our calculations determined that the extended disability of one spouse would quickly use up the assets of the survivor. And under no scenario would our assets cover BOTH of us being disabled and needing home health care, for longer than a year's time. When life expectancy continues to increase, and the ability of the medical profession to keep you alive but with a lousy quality of life also continues to progress, it was not a hard decision to buy sooner rather than later. We budgeted for price increases. If you understand how insurance actuarial stats work, it was clear to me that the Boomers would live longer, thus requiring care of which our current medical system does not cover the cost. The old "my family will take care of me" attitude is inadequate, especially when families are scattered around the globe, many Boomers (like us) chose not to have any children, and the Millennials are having a hard enough time surviving without having elderly Boomers hang around their necks like a 200-lb albatross, looking for charity. For very comprehensive policies - unlimited benefit period, 3 month elimination, 5% compounded inflation benefit, 50% home healthcare (for new policies it's now 100% of benefit), 2 ADL disability definition: Me, example #1: Age 48, female when policy was purchased. Premiums slightly over $1200/yr. Premiums are now $2K/yr, after two class premium increases. I used to pull LTC quotes as part of my job, working in a CFP's office. My best guess is that if I went to apply for a policy now, age 60, overweight and pre-diabetic, an equivalent new policy premium would be approx $3500. DH, example #2: Age 46, high BP under moderate treatment. Premium started at $800/yr, now $1700/yr. At age 50, when the policy was 4 yrs old, DH suffered a serious haemorrhagic stroke. Fortunately he has recovered almost totally. However, no insurer would have written ANY policy on him for at least 5 yrs after the stroke. And they would definitely rate him as Standard, not Preferred, possibly Class 2 or even Class 3 risk, for being (now) age 59, slightly overweight, pre-diabetic, previous stroke, family history of heart attacks and diabetes (every male in his family died of cardiac failure before age 70). My best guess is that his premium for an equivalent policy would now be in the $5K to $7K annual range. So was buying LTC insurance 11 yrs ago a smart decision? Yes, for us it was. The total of all premiums we have paid are still less than the cost for six months for ONE of us in a nicer licensed care facility. You might find the link below useful. I like SmartMoney, which is the magazine arm of the same holding company as the Wall St. Journal. Here is a link that might be useful: SmartMoney LTC calculators

Yes, but his information is accurate, so at least it lets Mary know a little bit more as she continues her research. I agree Mark has breached the terms of posting here, but sooner or later Mary's got to talk to an agent or broker to get some idea of whether she even qualifies for an LTC policy, aside from type and price. One can only go so far in continuing to post discussion threads. The trouble with LTC is that people talk about it and talk about it, but very few people actually do it. When people talk about financial planning, this is why I keep insisting that it has very little to do with ROI. True financial planning is mitigating your personal risks against not achieving the retirement lifestyle you want to have. If your LTC risk is high, as ours was, and you don't take steps to mitigate it, your financial planning was and is, inadequate. If you have a high risk of needing help with LTC and haven't budgeted properly for it - whether self-insuring or buying some type of LTC insurance - you are playing dice with your money and possibly involving some risk to those who would need to help take care of you. Mary's got the right idea - you want to deal with a company that is solid and reliable - but she's participated in many LTC discussions over the past four years, and still has yet to 'pull the trigger.' LTC insurance just keeps getting more expensive, and if one waits too long, sometimes the decision gets taken away, by a health issue that precludes getting any affordable LTC policy of any type. I have a sense of urgency about it, because I personally have friends/family who were offered LTC insurance in the last ten years and turned it down, and now that they're closer to retirement, honestly admit they regret not buying it. Now they're terrified, and rightly so...but it's too late for them. They're medically rateable, and can no longer afford it.

Alisande, the concern I have about not having children is that there will be no kids around to help take care of us if and when we get old. DH and I both helped our parents a lot in their later years which helped 2 out of 3 of them live in their own home until they passed away in their mid-80s. Of course there's no guarantee even if you do have kids that they will be willing or able to help you out when you are older but if you have none you KNOW they won't. My father died in his early 60s of heart disease - that could happen to me too of course. My LTC plan returns all the $ paid if I kick the bucket before age 65 and a portion of if I die before 75. Here are some other reasons I chose to go with the LTC insurance - along with the fact I'm pretty much of a planner by nature vs. someone who would just let the chips fall where they may as you say. Philosophically, DH and I want to take responsibility for our own care if at all possible rather than planning for taxpayers to fund our long term care through Medicaid. If we ultimately cannot afford our own care we will at least know we did our best to try to provide for ourselves. I know once I retire I'm going to be nervous about running out of money before I die. LTC insurance gives me some peace of mind about that, knowing that I would not be paying out of pocket to get help in my home if and when I need it. And I do want help in my home if possible rather than having to go to a nursing home - which is currently the requirement if your care is paid for by Medicaid. I have a lot of friends whose parents have been diagnosed with dementia/Alzheimers - some at a fairly young age. These folks are needing YEARS of LTC. The thought of this happening to one of us is very disconcerting - leaving the other person spending an exorbitant amount of money for care of the spouse - possibly not having enough left for their own needs. So we shall see what happens. I know I would not be able to get coverage on the open market if I hadn't had the open enrollment through my employer. I can afford the coverage now and hopefully will be able to in the future as well. Whatever the case at least I have all my options open at this point. If I had not signed up I may never have had the chance to get coverage again in the future. It is insurance though - and as such could be lots of money spent on something that's never used. If you live to a ripe old age and that's the case then that's a pretty good outcome in my opinion as long as the LTC coverage doesn't leave you "insurance poor".