Ep 27- Don't Leave It to Your Kids: The Long-Term Care Planning Episode That Changes Everything

Most people assume Medicare, Medicaid, or their family will handle their long term care. They won’t, at least not the way you're hoping.

In this episode, host Rich Leimgruber sits down with Ray Hickson, a 25-year long-term care planning specialist, to unpack one of the most financially devastating blind spots in retirement planning. From nursing home costs topping $180,000 a year in New York to the surprising other costs, even with Medicaid, this conversation will change how you think about your future, and your parents'.

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why Medicaid may not be an option — and what happens to your family when your savings runs out
• The difference between traditional and hybrid long-term care policies — and which one might actually leave money for your heirs
• When to start planning (hint: it's earlier than you think) — and the health event that could close the door on your options forever

Sources for statistics mentioned in this episode:
1. Will You Need Long-Term Care? Here’s What the Statistics Say
money.com/long-term-care-rising-needs/
2.Source: Long-term care statistics 2026
www.singlecare.com/blog/news/long-term-care-statistics/
3.How Much Care Will You Need?
acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/how-much-care-will-you-need

Filmed and recorded at Studio on the Avenue/LMC Media
Mamaroneck, NY
https://lmcmedia.org/
Produced and Edited by Vekterly
https://www.vekterly.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice, a recommendation for any specific investment, strategy, or financial decision, or legal advice. By engaging with this material, you acknowledge and agree with its intended purpose. Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Neither Rich Leimgruber, the EnRich Your Life Podcast, nor its representatives are advising or suggesting any specific action or decision. Before making any financial, legal, or tax decisions, individuals should consult their own financial advisor, accountant, legal professional, or other qualified professional before making financial decisions. All opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any affiliated financial institutions. The views shared may not be suitable for every individual or situation. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk. Please note that any strategies discussed may not be suitable for all investors, and the appropriateness of any specific investment or strategy will depend on individual circumstances.

Transcript

EnRich Your Life Podcast, Ep 27 – Longterm Care Planning

[00:00:11] Rich L: Hello and welcome to another episode of EnRich Your Life where I speak with financial professionals about many different topics. The idea is to provide you the listener with very valuable information that you might not get from public resources. I'm your host, Rich Leimgruber, and I have over 27 years experience helping clients and small business owners provide protection value and help them grow their assets.

[00:00:40] Making sure that all of their risks are covered. Today we're diving into one of the most important topics that are mostly overlooked. For any component of a financial plan, and that is long-term care planning. Many people assume it's [00:01:00] something that affects only older people or that Medicaid, Medicare or family members are gonna help them through the process of getting long-term care, but the reality is very different.

[00:01:14] The majority of Americans will need some sort of long-term care during their lifetime, and the financial impact can be significant, especially here in New York and across the Northeast where the care costs are among the highest in the country. The goal of today's conversation is simple education and empowerment.

[00:01:36] We want you to walk away with a clear understanding of the, real cost of care, the likelihood of needing it, and the different ways families can prepare, whether it's through personal savings, insurance strategies, or a combination of the both. Joining me today is Ray Hickson, who is a, certified for Long-Term Care, a regional vice president with advisors, insurance [00:02:00] brokers.

[00:02:01] Ray specializes in long-term care insurance planning and has guided countless individuals and families through the process of preparing for one of the most financially and emotionally significant events, and he's been doing it for over 25 years. Welcome, Ray. Good morning and thank you for joining me.

[00:02:19] I'm looking forward to helping our listeners better understand how to plan ahead with confidence,And if there's anybody that can help them do that, it's certainly you. Thank you. we've known each other for a long time. 

[00:02:30] Yeah. You know me longer than most people know me, so I gotta be on my best behavior as they say. Ray, you've worked with numerous insurance companies, including American Express, Assurance, GE Capital, Genworth, and even John Hancock.

[00:02:43] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:02:43] Rich L: And I'm sure you've seen more conversations about long-term care. Planning than most. Can you give us some background as to how you got to where you are here today? 

[00:02:53] Ray H: Sure. outta college I actually worked for a bank and I became a branch manager, but I started getting a little bored of [00:03:00] it and I started talking to my customers and one guy came in who worked for American Express and mentioned that.

[00:03:05] American Express was starting a long-term care division here in the state of New York. I mentioned to him, I'm trying to maybe get outta banking. Why do I want insurance? He basically said, well, you're the one looking for another career. But at that time I had a grandmother who was bedridden with strokes and seizures.

[00:03:20] So when he talked about long-term care, I kind of got the idea what he was talking about, but really wasn't sure. And I met an individual who took me through what long-term care planning is, what long-term care is, and decision that was made. 1990 to join at that time was American Express and long-term care planning.

[00:03:38] And then I called on hundreds of people over a course of a number of years and helping them plan what will occur with planning for long-term care. 

[00:03:46] Rich L: Right, And, and since then, we know that Americans are living much longer. 

[00:03:51] Ray H: Correct? 

[00:03:51] one of the difficulties we know we're gonna live into our eighties and the longer we live, the chances are greater.

[00:03:57] We're gonna need care because different ailments will [00:04:00] occur as we hit our eighties and nineties. 

[00:04:02] Rich L: Yeah, I always say with the advancement of medical care. They're basically keeping us alive for longer. But, what's the quality of life for that, right? 

[00:04:10] Ray H: Well, if you're in your nineties and doing everything you wanna be doing, absolutely fabulous.

[00:04:14] Sure. But clearly longevity plays a role with long-term care. If we're living into our eighties and nineties, the chances are we're gonna have some type of ailment. That creates a situation where we're gonna need help from somebody else. 

[00:04:25] Rich L: approximately 70% of adults, 65 years or older will need some sort of long-term care during their lifetime. Approximately seven out of 10 older adults will need some sort of help with their daily living activities. And we'll go into what those are. One in five Americans turning to 65 may face over $200,000 of long-term care costs 

[00:04:49] Ray H: before they pass away.

[00:04:51] Rich L: 24% of those need care for more than two years. So it's not just a short term thing. And then family caregivers provide a [00:05:00] majority of that care. 

[00:05:01] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:05:01] Rich L: And that's where there's a personal story there for me. when I was 12 years old, I went on cruise my entire family and my, wonderful grandma, grandma Betty, fell on the ship and, and got wedged in between the doorway and broke her hip.

[00:05:16] And she became bedridden and for the last several years of her life. I would come home from school and I would make sure that she was being taken care of because we didn't have the money at the time to help her. 

[00:05:28] Ray H: Wow. 

[00:05:28] Rich L: And there were times where we did have some help and there were times where the help didn't show up.

[00:05:33] And we were a middle class family living on Long Island, and I unfortunately had to help my grandmother. Wash, change bedpans and do these other things because we didn't prepare. And so I, I'm very familiar with it. if anybody out there is thinking that this is not gonna happen to me, it's the same situation with anything in life.

[00:05:52] It, it can happen to anybody, right? So the national average from 24 to 25 of nursing home private room care is [00:06:00] $127,000 a year. Assisted living is 70,000 a year, and home health aides are over 77,000 a year. here in New York and in Northeast it gets even worse.

[00:06:10] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:06:10] Rich L: New York nursing homes are anywhere from 150 to 180,000 a year. Assisted living is anywhere from 75,000 to 90,000 a year. So, when you live in a, very. Enriched place like New York or the East Coast, it's gonna cost you a little bit more to take care of your relatives.

[00:06:28] So let's get into some of the caveats of what is long-term care. 

[00:06:33] Ray H: Long-term care is basically a situation where an individual now no longer can take care of themselves, either physically or cognitively that may have something like Alzheimer's, Which represents about 50% of these situations.

[00:06:45] People needing care or physical where they need help with their activities of daily living. Maybe they've had a stroke. May have had an injury. Maybe something like your grandmother who breaks a hip and then doesn't heal and they're bedridden or simply can't get around and do things they wanna do.[00:07:00] 

[00:07:00] That's what long-term care is. Long is usually defined as someone needing care for at least 90 days. So someone may need help with activities of daily living if they've had hip surgery, but it's only going to need help for 30, 60 days 

[00:07:13] usually defined as someone needing care for more than 90 days and it's permanent.

[00:07:17] It could be a year, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

[00:07:19] Rich L: And so when we talk about what options are available for families who need to give that care. We have home-based care, right? We have adult daycare centers, independent living, assisted living, and then eventually skilled nursing home, right? Which is where the costs really get high because, Now if you need to take medicine, you need to have a certified nurse there, or a registered nurse who can administer those medications. So I, I guess the question to you is, for our listeners, when is the ideal time to start exploring.

[00:07:50] How to protect your family and, and really determine what costs you should protect against 

[00:07:55] Ray H: 

[00:07:55] So the most. People who need care is gonna be provided care by a [00:08:00] family member, So it's usually gonna be a spouse. Now, if the first person, first spouse, pass away, the second person's alive, and usually that person lives longer, then children get involved. But the challenges, if the children aren't local. If they live in New York City, you're living in Albany, New York. How kids help provide the care, 

[00:08:17] Rich L: right?

[00:08:17] Ray H: So they then go through the process of looking at home care. First they hire a home health agency. And depending on a person's care needs, that will change the cost factor. Some might need 24 hour care, some person might need only eight hours per day of care, 

[00:08:32] And that will change how much.

[00:08:33] A family's gonna have to adjust their either life or their finances. But clearly the best time to be looking at the topic, I feel is somewhere in the early to mid fifties and typically because an individual in their fifties has a parent who's already reached 80 and 85 and they start looking at the situation through their parents and then turn around and it's like, well, what's my plan going to be?

[00:08:56] So when should someone look at this pretty much in the mid fifties 

[00:08:59] Rich L: so you're saying I have a [00:09:00] couple of years left and now I gotta start looking into this. 

[00:09:02] Ray H: Well, the, the challenge also, as someone reaches 60 and 65, do they have a health change themselves that may exclude them from looking at insurance planning for their solution?

[00:09:15] They then get in a point where I can't get insurance, so what do I have to rely on? Family. 

[00:09:21] Rich L: Right. And as you get older, not only do you get older and insurance companies, if you're still in good health, are gonna charge you more 'cause they can't collect as many premiums. 

[00:09:30] Ray H: And anything to do with insurance usually is age based.

[00:09:33] So life insurance, long-term care, disability, age based. So older you are, it's gonna cost more. So from a financial point of view, looking at younger is a lot better financially. 

[00:09:42] when you meet families, what surprises them most about the risk of long-term care? well, the, the risk is simply, and you had identified some of those. probabilities. Most people think, well, it's not gonna happen to me. 

[00:09:57] Rich L: Yeah.

[00:09:57] Ray H: But I will contend if I talk to any couple who are [00:10:00] 55 years old and ask, what happened to your four parents? Or are they still alive? I will contend that one in four of their parents have needed care. And that goes right to your statistic, about 24% of people needing care for at least two years. So from that point of view, it's right on most people.

[00:10:20] We will have an experience of an immediate family member. Needing care if they reach into their fifties. 

[00:10:26] Rich L: And so a couple of years back, maybe 10 years back, New York State actually developed what was called a partnership plan. 

[00:10:33] Ray H: Yes. 

[00:10:33] Rich L: And since then they've stopped that. 

[00:10:35] Ray H: It became too expensive for carriers to promote the product.

[00:10:39] So right now, New York State does not have a partnership policy. I have one myself and my wife. 

[00:10:44] Rich L: That's great. 

[00:10:44] Ray H: But there's no carrier here in the state of New York that's now providing a partnership policy. Other states are. Not New York. 

[00:10:50] Rich L: Right. Okay. So that's good to know. And, obviously, we're seeing a large demand for long-term care insurance as the population ages here in New [00:11:00] York.

[00:11:00] do you see the cost of, of sending somebody to a long-term care facility? Going down. 

[00:11:09] Ray H: Never. 

[00:11:10] That will never happen. That's a guarantee. 

[00:11:12] Rich L: Yeah. And why do you think that is?

[00:11:15] 

[00:11:15] Ray H: well labor cost, so if you're hiring someone to provide care, either in a home environment or in a facility environment, salaries always increase the, the cost of employing someone just increases. You're providing health insurance for that employee who might be providing care. That increases 

[00:11:31] Rich L: 

[00:11:31] Ray H: cost of.

[00:11:32] Just doing business from real estate points of view to taxation points of view, it always increases. So the cost of care will never decrease and it probably increase rate of inflation maybe three or 4% each year. 

[00:11:46] Rich L: Yeah, a little bit higher than inflation, right. On average. 

[00:11:48] Ray H: Right. So we have inflation about 2%, two point a half percent.

[00:11:51] Cost of long-term care inflation is probably about three to 4% per year. 

[00:11:55] Rich L: Sure, Understanding how much long-term care costs is the first step to understanding [00:12:00] how to plan for those potential costs. So what mistakes do families make when estimating future costs? 

[00:12:05] Ray H: They just don't know.

[00:12:06] they'll know if they've had a family member go into an assisted living facility or nursing home. Home care is a different animal. They may have provided care themselves, so they don't. They're not aware of what the costs are for home care, but if they've hired a, home health aide for a family member, then they will have an idea.

[00:12:23] But if that was 20 years ago, they're gonna lose track of what the costs have increased over those period of, of years or decades, and they just simply don't plan on those costs. They think they have enough for retirement, but they don't, haven't planned anything about. Needing care and how much that may cost, and how long the cost may last.

[00:12:40] Rich L: I don't always recommend people covering every cost.

[00:12:43] Ray H: 'cause they will have retirement income. It could be social security, it could be pensions, it could be RMDs. So most individuals don't need to cover the entire cost of care, but they should have at least a good chunk of the, cost covered by insurance policy. 

[00:12:57] Rich L: So you can do a combination, right? 

[00:12:58] Ray H: And so let's go over what [00:13:00] ways you can pay for long-term care. You could pay with your local savings, 

[00:13:04] correct. 

[00:13:04] Rich L: Right. back 20 something years ago, one of my clients that I was working with, I'll never forget her. She, she passed away at 102 and right before she passed away, she redeemed her last amount of money out of her portfolio 

[00:13:18] To pay for her long-term 

[00:13:20] Ray H: And her family wound up getting absolutely nothing from, you're talking millions of dollars over the years. 

[00:13:25] Yep. No question about it. 

[00:13:26] Rich L: So you can use your savings. most people would say, well, our government's here, right. Medicaid will protect us. 

[00:13:32] Ray H: So there's Medicare and Medicaid.

[00:13:34] So Medicare is more associated with. hospitalization, doctor visits, things like that. Medicare, the maximum Medicare will ever pay for long-term care services is a hundred days. 

[00:13:44] Rich L: Yep. 

[00:13:45] Ray H: When a person may be on average need care for two or three years, Medicare isn't gonna do the job for them and it was never intended to.

[00:13:52] There's Medicaid, and that's for individuals who really don't have much in the way of assets to pay for care anyway. 

[00:13:58] Rich L: 

[00:13:58] Ray H: So a lot of people rely [00:14:00] on Medicaid again if they don't have much in the way in savings, and they're hitting their seventies and eighties, and how are they gonna pay for care? So a care provider will, bill Medicaid for taking care of an individual, either in a home environment, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home.

[00:14:14] Rich L: Right. And, and one of the things that I understand is that if somebody thinks Medicaid's gonna come in and, and save the day for them, the first thing they have to do is fill out an application. And in that application they're gonna ask about your assets. They're gonna ask about your sources of income.

[00:14:28] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:14:29] Rich L: And there's a spend down in, in New York anyway, you have to spend down almost all of your non-qualified assets up to 16,000 or something like that. 

[00:14:38] Ray H: Correct? Right. So the, they're not gonna be forced to sell. Or liquidate qualified assets, retirement assets. But if they're receiving income from those assets, that income has to be used against the cost of care, 

[00:14:50] So if their income their portfolio is a hundred thousand dollars a year, they're gonna be forced to use that a hundred thousand dollars to pay for care. 

[00:14:57] Rich L: I've even seen them come back and say, I know you're [00:15:00] taking your requirement distributions, but we want you to take more to help offset, the, the cost of it as well.

[00:15:07] Ray H: New York State used to the Social Security longevity table. Now they're going back to more life insurance longevity tables. Which is shorter, which is forcing an individual to provide more income against the care if they're using Medicaid dollars. 

[00:15:22] Rich L: Yep. Yeah. And then the, the other thing is, We gotta sell mom and dad's house because we have no money to pay for care. 

[00:15:28] Ray H: Sure. 

[00:15:28] And I, they're forced to, one of my biggest things is, no, don't do that. Well, if the individual's in the house, they can't be forced to sell the house.

[00:15:36] Rich L: Right? 

[00:15:36] Ray H: Right. But if they move out of the house, it becomes an asset that could be liquidated to pay for care. 

[00:15:41] Rich L: Correct. So if you sell that house and now becomes a liquid asset, Medicaid's gonna say, you gotta use that money. 

[00:15:46] Ray H: Correct 

[00:15:46] Rich L: before, so I always advise clients to, Hey, don't sell this and hold onto that house.

[00:15:52] 'cause you need a place for them to live, 

[00:15:54] Ray H: right? So, so something a reverse mortgage. I'm a believer in them. A lot of people are not. But if [00:16:00] someone is single living in a house and the house 500,000, $750,000. equity in their home without being forced to sell the home.

[00:16:08] Then can stay at home to pay for care. So that's, a, belief I have. 

[00:16:13] Rich L: Right. The last way to pay for long-term care is family support. Right. Children paying for their parents. 

[00:16:19] Ray H: Yeah. You don't really see that too much. I wish I could say I see that more, but most children aren't gonna be paying for mom and dad's care, either Mom and dad's money is being used.

[00:16:29] At some point they may enter Medicaid and the children are gonna allow the state and the federal government to pay for care. 

[00:16:35] Rich L: Right. So one of the things that we always say is, if you can always plan out for the future, nobody can anticipate what they're gonna need. We always talk about long-term care.

[00:16:44] And long-term care insurance. Right. 

[00:16:46] how buying long-term care insurance can help protect the family. There are all kinds of policies, right? Each policy can be designed based upon the needs of the insured. here in New York State, unfortunately, there's only one insurance company that's still selling [00:17:00] the, straight long-term care policy.

[00:17:02] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:17:02] Rich L: Mutual of Omaha, 

[00:17:03] Ray H: right. The traditional type of long-term 

[00:17:04] Rich L: care. Traditional. So let's talk about the traditional, policy versus the new hybrid long-term care life insurance policies. 

[00:17:13] Ray H: Sure. So the Mutual of Omaha, which is your standard company for providing traditional long-term care, just provides benefits for long-term care.

[00:17:23] Rich L: Right. 

[00:17:23] Ray H: Very flexible. They've been around for 30 and 40 years. That's still a product that is looked at by most people, but now we have these hybrid policies that incorporate life insurance, and it goes to the question of, well, if I never need care, but I bought this policy. What happens? Well, this type of hybrid policy says if you die and never needed care, there's a death benefit that goes to some type of beneficiary, a spouse, kids, grandkids, et cetera, 

[00:17:50] Rich L: versus a traditional policy.

[00:17:51] If you pass away and never need it, the insurance company keeps the premium 

[00:17:55] Ray H: right, which is true like most types of insurance. So you have homeowners insurance and car insurance. If you've [00:18:00] never filed a claim on your homeowners insurance policy, you live in your house of 40 years and you pass away or move outta the house.

[00:18:05] The insurance company's not sending any money back, but hybrid policy become a lot more.valuable. A lot more flexible and looked at by a lot more people because it answers a question of if I never need care, what happens? Right. Well, these hybrid policies will probably the death benefit for family members, 

[00:18:21] Rich L: let's get into both policies have. Similar, I guess phrase benefits and benefits, right? Correct. So there's a benefit amount, there's a duration of benefits, elimination periods, and then inflation riders So the, the main thing is if somebody has a long-term care policy or one of those hybrid life long-term care policies and they have a certain benefit, 

[00:18:41] All of a sudden mom's not doing so well. We're gonna need to look into that, that long-term care policy, First thing we need to do is we need to make sure that they cannot do two out of the six daily living activities. 

[00:18:54] Ray H: Activities of daily living. So any of these policies provide anything to do with long-term care.

[00:18:59] The individual's [00:19:00] gonna have to be certified by their physician or some medical professional that they need help with. Two of six activity daily living, which are like dressing, toileting eating So if you need help with two of those six, that will open up the policy for usage.

[00:19:13] Or if the person has a cognitive impairment, 

[00:19:15] Rich L: right? 

[00:19:16] Ray H: Then those policies have what's known as a monthly benefit. The policy pay $9,000 a month against the cost of care. The policy may last two and three and four years, depending on how much coverage they wanted at the beginning. Has inflation protection, meaning you bought the policy when you're 55, but you're not, don't need care until you're 90.

[00:19:33] The policy should hedge, itself against the cost of inflation. 

[00:19:37] Rich L: Right. 

[00:19:37] Ray H: And you said elimination period, which is a form of deductible, and that's usually expressed in number of days, 30 day deductible, 60 day deductible, or 90 day deductible. 

[00:19:45] Rich L: And usually most select, I would say 90 days. Because it, it reduces the cost.

[00:19:50] Right, 

[00:19:50] right. And Medicare, May cover up to a hundred days. So the idea, if you get Medicare coverage, you don't necessarily need to have your policy start from day [00:20:00] one, you do need to reach out to the insurance company, start the process, start that 90 day or 30 day or 60 day waiting period, 

[00:20:06] Ray H: correct.

[00:20:07] Rich L: Once it's certified by your physician and you're starting incurring costs, that starts that deductible period What if? What if somebody never contacted their insurance company, they've been using Medicare for the last 90 days and realize, oh my God, we forgot we had this policy.

[00:20:22] Is it retroactive based upon when the doctor wrote those notes? 

[00:20:25] Ray H: It can be 

[00:20:26] Rich L: 

[00:20:26] Ray H: Right. So if the family forgot mom or dad had a policy because they stuffed the policy in a safe deposit box. The insurance companies will go back in period of time and look at when individuals start first started needing care and the costs associated with it.

[00:20:40] Rich L: Is there any database out there that somebody. Can look at and say, Hey, did my parents ever have life insurance? Did my parents ever have long-term care? 

[00:20:49] Ray H: Not to my knowledge. 

[00:20:50] Rich L: Yeah. Maybe that's a new idea that we just came up with. 

[00:20:53] Ray H: Well, I'm a big believer in policy reviews for financial professionals yourself as your clients. What type of life insurance [00:21:00] policy you have, what type of long-term care policy you have, so everyone knows what they have. But also if you, if you purchase a policy, make sure your kids know you have a policy and don't put it in a safe deposit box.

[00:21:09] Rich L: Right. And pay your premiums. 

[00:21:10] Ray H: And pay your premiums is always valuable. 

[00:21:12] Rich L: 

[00:21:12] if, if somebody's been paying their premiums for 20 years and they, and they. Forget to make a payment. and the policy lapses, right?

[00:21:18] Ray H: Right. Well, most policies allow the individual to name a third person to be notified in case that policy's gonna lapse. 

[00:21:25] Rich L: Great. 

[00:21:26] Ray H: So that's one line of defense. Second is there'll be late notices that sent out to the individual two and three late notices.

[00:21:33] Sure. If they go. a year and a half forgotten to pay and they didn't have any type of cognitive impairment, then they may be outta luck. 

[00:21:41] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:21:41] Ray H: But policies also do allow, if the individual has a cognitive impairment to have an extended grace period up to nine months. 

[00:21:48] Rich L: Okay. 

[00:21:49] Ray H: If Alzheimer's and if you're gonna pay their premium, the insurance company can go back up to nine months.

[00:21:55] Get that payment made and then the individual can file a claim. 

[00:21:58] Rich L: Right? And so that's one [00:22:00] of the benefits of, working with an advisor who. Can actually take a, a list of all the, the benefits they have, all the protections they have, insurance, disability, whatever it might be.

[00:22:11] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:22:11] Rich L: And just create some sort of a list of here are the things that your parents have. 

[00:22:15] Ray H: Right? Also, if a financial advisor is agent, record on the policy, they may very well get a late notice for that client of theirs. 

[00:22:23] Rich L: When designing a policy, what do, most people typically? Look for, 

[00:22:31] Ray H: what I usually try come to the table and ask what type of finances the individual has to begin with. 'cause everyone can't necessarily afford the same amount as an insurance premium. clearly wealthier people can afford more and they, they can purchase more benefits.

[00:22:47] Someone with maybe not as much in the way of finances, but still need coverage. You have to tailor the coverage to really the financial ability to pay. Premium. 

[00:22:56] Rich L: Right. Making sure that you're gonna be able to not only start paying, but [00:23:00] continue to pay it and not run out of money. 

[00:23:01] Ray H: Exactly. Most individuals will know what they can afford and not afford, but a financial professional will help them and guide them saying This is what you can afford and what maybe what you can't afford.

[00:23:11] Rich L: Sometimes I see clients have an option through work benefits of a long-term care policy. 

[00:23:17] Ray H: Right. So there are group policies with, some employers out there. There used to be a lot more that you don't see 'em as much as you used to. Those policies typically are fairly basic, they can get a basic policy maybe through work and supplement with another more robust policy.

[00:23:31] Rich L: And if you do a group, a group policy, whether it's term insurance, long-term care, and all of a sudden you lose your job or you decide to move on. Those policies typically go away, 

[00:23:41] Ray H: right? Well, not necessarily. Let's say you bought a group policy, a long-term care group policy through work, and then now you retire.

[00:23:48] 'cause most people will retire at some point. So instead of that premium being deducted from their payroll, they're one direct bill and the individual get a, A premium is sent to their home. 

[00:23:57] Rich L: Okay. And so those policies don't, does the policy premium [00:24:00] pop up when you're no longer part of a group? 

[00:24:01] Ray H: No. 

[00:24:02] Rich L: No. It stays about the same.

[00:24:03] Ray H: Correct. 

[00:24:04] Rich L: That's great. Awesome. Which 70% chance of needing long-term care and cost exceeding over a hundred thousand annually. In many cases, planning early is crucial, 

[00:24:12] Ray H: no question. 

[00:24:13] Rich L: Without preparation, families often face rapid depletion of savings, limited access to quality care, and stressful decisions on loved ones.

[00:24:22] Planning ahead ensures more flexibility. Better choices and financial protection. Have the conversation with your parents, have the conversations with your siblings. Make sure that the most responsible person is involved in planning here. One of the things I've seen is siblings, when it comes time, mom and dad need help.

[00:24:44] Who's stepping up to the plate. 

[00:24:46] Ray H: That's always a challenge. If you have three kids, which kid is gonna be doing all the work. 

[00:24:50] Rich L: Right. 

[00:24:50] Ray H: Exactly. Now, that also leads a lot of people saying, well, I have three children. I don't necessarily want one child being burdened by our health. 

[00:24:59] Rich L: Right. 

[00:24:59] Ray H: So a [00:25:00] long-term care insurance policy of some sort, reduce the burden on the children.

[00:25:04] Rich L: And the conversation between those siblings and the family members, when should that be taking place? 

[00:25:11] Ray H: I'm gonna say most parents who are gonna be looking at coverage, their kids are gonna be in their twenties and thirties. 

[00:25:16] Rich L: Right. 

[00:25:17] Ray H: So the kids aren't really stepping up to have a conversation with mom and dad.

[00:25:22] And once those kids are maybe 50 years old, well the parents are now 80 and 85, the conversations are not happening. 

[00:25:28] Rich L: Great. And if the listeners today are sitting here and they're interested, in hearing more, tell us what is one action after hearing this episode? That you think they should take 

[00:25:39] Ray H: contact Rich?

[00:25:40] Rich L: Contact me. Contact me Or your financial advisor. Exactly. If you don't have one, ask friends. Ask family members who they use. Most of my referrals come from clients who, Who refer their friends who their family. what I would say is don't keep it a secret. I can [00:26:00] help people who want my help.

[00:26:01] I can't help people who don't call me. So you're absolutely right there. And how do people reach out to you, Ray, if somebody's interested in learning more about. The coverage that you can help them provide? 

[00:26:11] Ray H: Well, what I'll say there, rich, is they'll contact you.

[00:26:14] Then you can contact me and I can help you help them. 

[00:26:17] Rich L: There you go. That's awesome. Well, I really appreciate this information. anybody is listening and they have more questions, like Ray said, call your financial advisor. Call me. We're more than happy to give you all the information that you need and, and look to see what options you have.

[00:26:34] The sooner you can get started, the better And, I would like to thank you. Thank you for coming in today. And taking this time. I think it's a, a very important conversation that we should be having. And please, if anybody's listening to this and they think that. Somebody they know could, could really listen to this information, share our podcast with them.

[00:26:53] You can go to enrich life podcast.com. And we're also on all the other social media channels, like [00:27:00] TikTok, Facebook, as well as Instagram. And we're also on all podcasts. so if you listen to iHeartRadio, if you listen to Spotify. Amazon Music. We're on all of those podcast sites, so until next time, 

[00:27:15] And thank you for listening. Have a great day. 

[00:27:17] Ray H: Thank you very much. 

[00:27:18] Rich L: Thanks, Ray. 

[00:27:19]