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By Max Greenberg
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About this blog: I developed a special interest in helping seniors with their challenges and transitions when my dad had a stroke and I helped him through all the various stages of downsizing, packing, moving and finding an assisted living communi...
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About this blog: I developed a special interest in helping seniors with their challenges and transitions when my dad had a stroke and I helped him through all the various stages of downsizing, packing, moving and finding an assisted living community. I live in Palo Alto with my wife and we have three grown children, one still in college. I have been in the Bay Area since 1977 (except for seven years in Newton MA — just missed all that snow too much.) I've worked in sales and marketing in retirement communities for seven years, and have hired and managed home care workers for family members, and have a pretty good idea of how aging in place, or shopping for and selecting the right retirement community works. I now run my own business, Palo Alto Senior Living, providing real estate and senior transition services. This blog is designed to share my experiences, insight and knowledge with seniors and their baby boomer kids and provide useful information to help develop a roadmap for smooth transitions or aging in place. I welcome readers to share their experiences, both good and not-so-good, in the hope that we all can benefit from each other.
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Long Term Care Insurance - Friend or Foe?
Uploaded: Mar 15, 2016
I'm 62, near the upper limit age-wise of when someone would/should/could be buying long term care insurance. I'm on the fence. I can't decide. Should I spend approximately $5K/year on a premium that could provide 300K or so of in-home or nursing home care should I need it sometime down the road? So, let's say at age 85 I need the care: I'll have paid $115K in premiums over that 23 year time span. If I use the full 300K then it looks like it's a pretty good deal. If I don't, not so much, except it does mean my health remained relatively in good stead.
I would love to hear from anyone who has made the decision to buy LTC insurance, and especially from folks who have actually used it or have parents or friends who have. Any issues with the insurance company when it finally came time to use the benefit? Have you seen premium rate increases since you bought it? While you can buy "level" premium LTC insurance, there is some fine print that states there is always the possibility that the premiums could increase if the government approves the insurance company's request to do so. The company I'm looking at says they have had an increase and the rate was between 0-40%! How's that for a ballpark? Has an increase happened to anyone and how much was it for?
Please share your experiences based in fact as opposed to "I heard about this guy..."
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