There are two prevalent assumptions about the cost of living in retirement. One is that most retirees can live on 70% to 90% of their pre-retirement income. Another is that that percentage will decrease (net of inflation) as we grow older. Both offer some comfort when we look at the cost of a long retirement. … Read more
Quite a while back, I published a series of four articles about care in later life. In articles three and four, I touched on various insurance products you can purchase to cover long-term care (LTC) expenses: traditional LTC insurance (LTCI), cash value life insurance (whole or universal life), and annuities. I didn’t explore another category … Read more
This article is the fourth and final one in a series about long-term care (LTC). In the last article, I alluded to long-term care insurance (LTCI) as one of the ways to fund long-term care. In this article, we’ll look at LTCI in more detail—what it covers, what it costs, and whether you should buy … Read more
The potential need for an extended time in long-term care (LTC) is a crucial retirement stewardship concern because of its significant financial implications. We have looked at the types of care, how Medicare and Medicaid, and some other programs fit, and in this third article in a 4-part series, we will look at LTC costs … Read more
This article is the second in a 4-part series about long-term care. In the first, we looked at the various types of care, why and when they might be needed, and how to decide. In this article, we’ll discuss the part that Medicare and, most importantly, Medicaid play in the long-term care (LTC) planning and … Read more
We now know that older people are most susceptible to COVID-19 disease. We are also hearing about large numbers of deaths from COVID-19 in “nursing homes.” That is because the infection and mortality rate in such facilities is disproportionally high. My wife and I were discussing this, how tragic and sad that so many have died … Read more
