Believe it or not, there’s a very real possibility that you’ll need long-term care at some point in your life. In fact, some studies show that nearly 70% of individuals aged 65 and older will need some type of long-term care in the future. The costs associated with this care can be exorbitant, too, which can threaten to erode the wealth that you’ve accumulated and hoped to pass down to your loved ones.
The good news is that there are effective ways to plan for your long-term care needs. If you’re careful, you can reduce the costs of your care while shielding some of your assets, thereby allowing your loved ones to still enjoy them when the time comes. But the process requires thoughtful action, and you have to navigate the process with care. If you don’t, then you could commit an error that disrupts your plans and your vision of the future, proving costly to you, your estate and your loved ones’ futures.
Don’t make these slipups when planning for long-term care
There are a lot of different ways to plan for long-term care. While that flexibility can be an advantage, it can also create a lot of room for mistakes. Here are some pitfalls that you’ll want to try to avoid as you start thinking about your potential long-term care needs:
- Thinking that it won’t happen to you: A lot of older individuals know that long-term care is a risk, but they feel like they’re healthy enough that they won’t ever need long-term care. This is a mistake. Your health can take a turn for the worse in a snap, and you don’t want to be caught flat-footed when that happens. Therefore, the old adage “hope for the best, plan for the worst” is highly applicable in this situation. If nothing else, having a solid plan in place will at least give you peace of mind knowing that you’re covered if the need arises.
- Assuming you can rely on your family: You might think that your family is committed to providing you with in-home care themselves, or that they’ll cover any long-term care costs that you may accumulate, but that’s a bold assumption. Serving as a caretaker for an aging parent can be emotionally and psychological taxing, and it can be a drain on one’s own financial resources if they have to take time off work. And family members who are expected to pay for long-term care costs can quickly see their finances eaten away, leaving them unable to assist for as long as you need. All this pressure can stress your family can strain your relationship with your loved ones, too, which is something you’ll probably want to avoid.
- Neglecting to consider inflation: Even if you purchase a long-term care insurance policy or have other protections in place, you could still wind up in a difficult position if you don’t take inflation into account. In these circumstances, your hard work planning for your care needs could still fall short as care costs rise. So, be sure to review your plan and your policy, if you have one, to ensure that inflation adjustments are taken into account.
Have a solid plan in place to meet your potential long-term care needs
Thinking about long-term care planning can be stressful, but it’s necessary. If you procrastinate too long, then you could wind up facing more costs than you otherwise would, which might put you and your estate in a difficult position. To avoid a bad outcome and to protect your interests, then, be sure to work with your attorney to develop a sound estate and long-term care plan that suits your needs.