You may have a well-developed and thoughtfully conceived investment plan—and that plan could still fail. Its failure may have nothing to do with the investments themselves. The plan could fail because the family breadwinner dies prematurely and does not have sufficient life insurance to cover the surviving family members—just one possible scenario among many.
As such, an investment plan alone is not enough to ensure a stable financial future. Investment must be considered as part of a broader, integrative plan, one that also encompasses estate planning, tax planning, and risk management—or, as it is more commonly called, insurance.
In particular, investors are cautioned to consider one often-neglected risk management solution—long-term care insurance.
What is Long-Term Care Insurance?
Long-term care insurance may not be what you think it is. It is not just a variant of traditional health insurance, for instance. It does not cover medical needs per se, but rather it is designed to cover long-term living support services that so many elderly or disabled Americans need, including personal and custodial care.
Essentially, long-term care insurance reimburses the policyholder for expenses that might be related to those services that support daily living—bathing, dressing, eating, and so on.
The Need for Long-Term Care Insurance
Many investors overlook long-term care insurance, but shouldn’t. Here’s why. Contrary to popular opinion, most private health insurance programs do not pay for the majority of long-term care insurance. Medicare doesn’t cover these expenses, either—and year majority of Americans will, sooner or later, need these important daily support services, in some capacity or another.
These services are, of course, not free. In fact, the cost of long-term care insurance has only risen in recent years, and will likely continue to do so.
So what does that mean for you? You may have an investment strategy that will provide you with a decent income in your retirement years—but have you taken into account the significant cost of long-term care services, for you and/or your spouse? And what is an accident or medical occurrence leaves you in need of support services, long before you hit that retirement age?
Long-Term Care Insurance Can Provide Confidence
One way to protect your long-term financial plans—ensuring they are not compromised by unforeseen or unplanned-for living expenses—is to mitigate your risk with appropriate insurance coverage. Long-term care insurance is a potentially advantageous way to do just that—and for many investors, it is the strategic element that’s missing from an otherwise sound investment plan.
For more information about long term care insurance in Michigan and beyond, contact Stonepath Wealth Management today.
