When You’re the “One”

Posted by Aaron Bert, CFP®, AIF®

The one incident that could change your entire future

Whenever you read about important topics like long-term care, health care or retirement, you’re likely inundated with facts and numbers. The cost of care, the likelihood you’ll experience various diseases, how much you’ll need in retirement to live and pay for care — these are some facts you typically come across.

But how much do these statistics matter? After all, you are not a number. You are a not a faceless fact, but a person with a full, complex life.

So when you’re learning about important subjects, it’s important to evaluate the truth behind the numbers. Below, you can take a closer look at key data and its relevance to you.

Protecting your assets, protecting your future

Think for a moment about the most valuable things you own: your home, automobiles, other vehicles, jewelry. Each has monetary or sentimental value — or both — which you protect by purchasing insurance. If anything happens to an item, the insurance company helps you recover from the loss. With insurance, you limit your exposure.

While you don’t necessarily love paying premiums, you’re aware of common risks like these:

• 1 in 335 homes catch fire every year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.¹
• 1 in 52 cars are in an accident per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.²

In each statistic, the “one” is always a real person — a busy working mom whose car is totaled at the intersection near home, or the retired owner of a suburban home that’s nearly destroyed by lightning. When accidents happen, the “one” is grateful for insurance to help minimize losses.

Now consider another risk:

• 1 in 1.4 people older than 65 will need long-term care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.³

Stated another way, 70 percent of all older adults will need care — at an average annual cost, per the HHS, of $83,580 in a nursing home.

Where the money is

Odds are, you’ll be among the 70 percent of adults who need long-term care. If you are the “one,” how will you pay the cost? You may think you can cover the bill out of your savings, or you assume government programs cover your expenses. Maybe you’ll rely on family to help.

Or will you risk your future security by hoping you’ll be in the slim minority?

Fortunately, you have options that help you protect your future in the same way you protect your other valuables. Asset-based long-term care protection is one option.

With this type of long-term care protection, benefits can pay for care at home, in an assisted-living facility or in a nursing home. People who purchase this protection reduce the risk of becoming a burden to the ones they love most. And their benefits allow them to select and arrange for the care they want in the setting they most prefer. Some Asset-based long-term care policies can protect the individual and spouse; some even offer money back if the policy is canceled.

What is your future worth?

Your future has great value to you and those who love you. Why not take care of it the way you protect your other assets?  Asset-based long-term care can help you protect your retirement and secure your future.

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1. 1. Ahrens, Marty. National Fire Protection Association. “Home Structure Fires.” Sept.2015
2. U.S Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Quick Facts 2014.” March 2016
3. U.S Department of Health and Human services. 2016, June 24. “Who needs care?” http://longtermcare.gov/the-basics/who-needs-care/.