First Generation American asks:
What are you doing for end of life care planning if anything? Have you calculated how much you need or considered LTC insurance?
… not that much.
We have done our wills. We have life insurance until DC1 turns 25 (DC2 will be 20 and only have a little college left at that point), although even without it the kids would likely be ok at this point (we should probably change who DC2 lives with upon our deaths once my sister gets married, I dunno). We’ve signed the medical things you can sign in a lawyer’s office (though I punted and put that decision on DH). I buy the optional disability insurance through work. DH doesn’t have any so he hasn’t.
We have not calculated LTC insurance. We have not started siphoning money to our kids in order to let Medicaid take care of us.
Grumpy Nation, have you taken steps for end of life care planning or end of life planning more generally?
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
June 2, 2023 at 8:08 am
We’ve done pretty much what you’ve done, and not more. Well, I have explored and I have basically been advised/ascertained that LTC is not currently a good investment for people in our situation, i.e. buying in now would cost more than it’s likely to be worth (and we have some, though not infinite, other resources to address such needs).
I guess the one thing I’d add is that our home has an accessory apartment where we currently have one of our parents living (i.e. we are 3-generation household), and I have thought about how if that changes — if said parent passes away or moves to the continuing care retirement community that is their planned next step if needed — we might be able to use said apartment ourselves e.g. as a residence for a non-family member or a family member with some caregiving (and/or simply “checking in on,” I don’t minimize the tasks caregiving involves). Also while our house is not flawlessly accessible or safe, we’ve put some effort into making it better in those regards (improved lighting in the stairwell, for the safety bit, for example), and I anticipate we’ll continue to work on those kinds of changes over time.
Oh, and by virtue of said resident parent’s experiences and expertise, and also recounted tales of their friends’ experiences, I think I have a fairly good sense of what local skilled nursing, continuing care, etc. facilities offer — and how far ahead it’s necessary to plan to get into them. And we live really near 1 major hospital/health system, and within pretty close proximity to another. And have friends and family who work in each, if we need (and, to be fair, have time to obtain, as not all such situations allow for that) advice on what’s good/bad about what each has to offer.
June 2, 2023 at 10:14 am
24hr care 7 days a week running $7,000.00 through an agency if you are in your own housing in many regions. This is for people who are there in shifts so their housing and food is not provided. It would be $364,000 a year, over a million in 3 years.
This does not make LTD a better choice or a wiser decision but does explain why the idea of ‘aging in place’ does not always work out financially.
What happens if you cannot drive is one important question. How will you manage routine medical, dental, haircut appointments is part of the problem, can you still get to your friend’s homes, a place of worship, a walk in a park. What if you need a walker? What happens if you are, even temporarily, in a wheelchair? Uber/Lift/taxis aren’t set up for accommodating that and their drivers for insurance reasons are limited in the assistance that they can offer. And a LOT of facilities for ‘senior living’ do not really resolve these issues. Assisted living places often have a flat monthly fee but look at the add-on costs for assistance in dressing, pills, reminding for meals, ‘toileting aid’, feeding, …. and let’s not even think about locked memory care issues.
Aging is super expensive, and becomes quite complex. Our society erases……
June 2, 2023 at 12:59 pm
I took a half assed approach: Got LTC insurance for PiC and then dithered over getting it for myself because I can’t decide if it’s actually worth it or if we should invest that annual $1000 instead.
We chose this house with the vague idea that this is the place we’ll stay and age in place, but of course anything could change that in the future.
Our friend’s dad is retired in a managed community that allows him to age in place, and he really likes it because they provide all his meals, has amenities so that he doesn’t have to drive anywhere, or cook or clean, and can go swimming any day of the week. The catch is that it costs a million to buy in and some substantial amount per month after that. I don’t think we could afford to retire in that sort of place, but I wish that kind of community were more available for everyone.
June 3, 2023 at 2:10 pm
I’ve been paying for a LTC plan for more than 10 nows. Every year the cost goes up (of course) and I question if this is a worthwhile thing to keep. But since I don’t have any children to (possibly) help if I need it, I keep paying for it. This house is pretty good for aging in place. Only three steps to get into/out of the house, with everything else on one level.
The new addition has a very accessible bathroom (lots of room to move around with a walker or wheelchair) and bedroom. Having two full bathrooms in a two bedroom house means I may be able to have someone living here with me for some assistance, too.
I made a decision to move to a kinder climate for aging, although it does have some drawbacks. Wildfires happen every year and in some years the air quality is very bad because of that. Medical care is decent in my town, and world class medical facilities are only about an hour away.
Transportation is not stellar here. There is a bus stop about two houses down from me, but the bus service here is infrequent.
As for other financial planning, I keep thinking that I need to get a trust so I an leave any remaining assets to my niece and nephew, and to start doing more planning for who will make decisions for me if/when I’m unable to do so. But I push it off for “another day.” It just seems confusing and expensive to deal with. I’d love to be pointed to some reputable sources of info on the options or see a post about it. :-)
June 5, 2023 at 5:53 pm
I did not take a family vacation for 5 years because the cost of care for my mom would cost almost as much as the vacation. For us, it made more sense to take more frequent 3 person vacations than spending a fortune on round the clock care so we could all go somewhere together.
Aging once you lose your independence is very very expensive. End of life expenses scare me because they can last many many years and you can blow through a ton of cash pretty quickly.
LTC insurance seems like it covers less and less. That’s a no for us except, like you where it’s a benefit at my employer.
I have no good answer except to hope we have enough to self fund our care once the time comes. My godparents are in a great little place in Canada run by Ukrainian nuns. Maybe I need to go to another country when the time draws near. The US system seems expressly designed to drain exactly 100% of your life savings by the time you pass.