What You Should Know About Long-Term Care Insurance

Paying for in-home care or a nursing home can be pricey. Here are some tips to help you determine whether long-term care insurance is right for you.

These are your AARP
Top Tips for what you should
know about long-term
care insurance.

Can you afford to be
in a nursing home,
assistant living
or in-home care later in life?

Do you have the $140,000
it costs on average?

If not, you should know about
long-term care insurance.

Here are the basics.

Do you even need
long-term care insurance?

Think about your savings.

If you're spending less
than 4 percent of it each year
on living expenses,
you may not need
insurance at all.

You may already have plenty
of cushion to pay out of pocket
for any future care.

But if you're really
eating into your savings each year,
consider purchasing insurance.

Traditional long-term
care premiums cost $2,700
a year on average.

The premium can change
from year to year.

When the time comes
for care, you'll usually get
three years of coverage.

But this insurance is becoming
less common,
in favor of a different
kind of policy.

Hybrid LTC insurance
is more like life insurance —
if you need it to pay
for a nursing home
or other care,
you can use it.

But if you never use it,
it will return money
to your beneficiaries.

The premium doesn't change —
you lock it in at the start.

Hybrid LTC insurance
can be two to three times
more expensive than traditional
insurance.

Can you afford $5,000 to $8,000
a year for a policy
that can benefit your heirs?

Start looking in your 50s
or early 60s
for the best deals
in long-term care insurance.

The longer you wait,
the more expensive it will be.

Buy from an agent
who sells from multiple
companies so that you can
compare plans.

For more tips to plan
for life after work,