Forbes reports on a new study that shows that most Americans don’t know much about long-term care insurance and are simply ignoring the realities of what long-term care will cost them should they ever need it.
“A newly-released survey shows just how conflicted Americans are about long-term care insurance,” Forbes says. “And how unrealistic they are about how much long-term care costs and how much insurance they can buy for what they are willing to spend.”
The study finds that:
- Most Americans want an insurance policy that covers their long-term care needs, but they don’t see it as a priority in their monthly budgets. Most policies cost more than people want to pay.
- Most Americans don’t have a strong sense of how extraordinarily expensive long-term care can be.
- When asked what they will do if they ever become disabled, most Americans simply say they’ll ask friends and family to help, and maybe make some simple modifications to their homes. Very few are willing to do what many seniors ultimately must — move to a nursing facility, hire in-home care, or cash in on the equity in their homes.
- Most respondents are conflicted as to whether long-term care insurance should be mandatory or if the government should have a role in providing it.
- Many adult respondents didn’t know enough about long-term care costs to even make a guess at how much it costs. Among those who did guess, as many as 85% were way off the mark (on the low side).
Essentially, there is a real lack of awareness out there, coupled with many contradictions and a lot of confusion. That’s a rather uncomfortable realization, given the reality of an ever-growing, ever-aging population and an ever-lengthening lifespan.
Forbes sums it up like this: “People want lifetime insurance coverage but don’t want to pay for it. They don’t want mandatory government insurance but do want government subsidized private insurance. And absent insurance, they have no real idea how to protect themselves against the risk of needing long-term care in old age.”
It doesn’t have to be that way. At O’Connell Law LLC, helping people with thinking through these issues is a big part of what we do. There are a lot of common-sense plans that you can put into action now — and the sooner you start them, the better.
We invite you to call our office and have a quick chat about how we can help.
