There was a time when buying long term care insurance was fairly easy and pretty cut and dry. Times have changed for this particular type of insurance and anyone considering buying it would do well to spend some time investigating carriers and coverage levels as well as premiums.
Generally speaking, the cost for a nursing home resident today is about $71,000 annually, which works out to around $200 a day. The cost for non-resident, assisted living comes in at around $32,000 a year, or $88 dollars a day. In both cases, that is a lot of money over the course of time.
The major reason people want to buy long term care policies is so they can protect their assets in the event they need to pay for nursing home occupancy, assisted living expenses, or home care expenses. Those who do not have this type of insurance are often forced to liquidate their assets in order to get the care they need. For many people this means selling the home, cashing in on retirement funds, and depleting savings accounts.
On average, if you have more than $300,000 in personal assets, you may want to look into long term care insurance as a means of protecting yourself.
The age in which you purchase these types of policies is important. A person who is fifty-years-old may pay $2,000 for a policy, while a seventy-year-old may end up paying as much as $8,000 or more for the same policy.
Your physical condition is also important. If you suffer from certain forms of mental conditions such as schizophrenia or dementia, or if you are wheelchair bound, you may not even be able to get coverage. All in all, the younger you are when you get the policy and the better your health, the lower your premiums will be.
The truth is there are fewer companies offering this type of insurance today than there were some years ago. At one time there were over one hundred companies offering long term care policies, now there are only five or six.
If you believe that you need this insurance, you should try to get coverage only with a well-established company that has a history of being in business for at least fifteen years and has faithfully served its long term care policyholders.
You will also need to check and make sure that the company has not had to raise its premiums drastically. These increases in premiums often occur when companies begin to pay out on policies that they wrote years ago and that they did not accurately price. Your state insurance commission can also help you in deciding what fair pricing is in your region as well as inform you on any current regulations that pertain to long term care insurance.
Researching what your options are in long term care insurance will take time, so the sooner you begin the better. You should not sign up for any plan until you have had time to look into several plans. As an added precaution, you may want to speak with a reputable financial planner to get some tips on how to best approach this time of life.
Tags: Assisted Living, Care Expenses, Care Policies, Coverage Levels, Dementia, Fifty Years, Insurance, Living Expenses, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Insurance, Lower Your Premiums, Nursing Home, Personal Assets, Retirement Funds, Savings Accounts, Schizophrenia, Term Care Insurance, Term Insurance, Truth, WheelchairRelated posts
How much insurance should you buy? Any insurance agent worthy of their salt will tell you that you should buy as much as you can afford. While this is a good rule of thumb, it’s about as useful as a stock broker’s tip to buy low and sell high. It might be sound logic but it doesn’t get you any closer to an educated decision. There are a few filters that need consideration in order to make that educated decision. First, what is the state required minimum coverage where you live? Second, what does the minimum cover? Third, what other coverage is available and can you afford it? And fourthly, what are you protecting?
What do the minimums cover?
Now that you know what your state requires, what are you actually covered for once you purchase the minimum? Using the coverage definitions that follow, find the types of coverage required and see what your state says is the accepted minimum.
Coverage Definitions
Bodily Injury Liability
Covers other people’s bodily injuries or death for which you are responsible. It also provides for a legal defense if another party in the accident files a lawsuit against you. Claims for bodily injury may be for such things as medical bills, loss of income or pain and suffering. In the event of a serious accident, you want enough insurance to cover a judgment against you in a lawsuit, without jeopardizing your personal assets. Bodily injury liability covers injury to people, not your vehicle. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have the same level of coverage for all of your cars. Bodily Injury Liability does NOT cover you or other people on your policy. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.
Comprehensive Physical Damage Coverage
Covers your vehicle, and sometimes other vehicles you may be driving for losses resulting from incidents other than collision. For example, comprehensive insurance covers damage to your car if it is stolen; or damaged by flood, fire, or animals. Pays to fix your vehicle less the deductible you choose. To keep your premiums low, select as high a deductible as you feel comfortable paying out of pocket. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.
Collision Coverage
Covers damage to your car when your car hits, or is hit by, another vehicle, or other object. Pays to fix your vehicle less the deductible you choose. To keep your premiums low, select as large a deductible as you feel comfortable paying out of pocket. For older cars, consider dropping this coverage, since coverage is normally limited to the cash value of your car. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.
Medical Payments
Covers medical expenses to you and your passengers injured in an accident. There may also be coverage if as a pedestrian a vehicle injures you. Does NOT matter who is at fault. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Covers bodily injuries to you and your passengers when the other person has no insurance or not enough insurance in a crash that is not your fault. In some states, there is also uninsured motorist coverage for damage to your vehicle. Given the large number of uninsured motorists, this is very important coverage to have, even in states with no-fault insurance. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy
Personal Injury Protection Coverage
Covers within the specified limits, the medical, hospital and funeral expenses of the insured, others in his vehicles and pedestrians struck by him. The basic coverage for the insured’s own injuries on a first-party basis, without regard to fault. It is only available in certain states.
Property Damage Liability
Covers you if your car damages someone else’s property. Usually it is their car, but it could be a fence, a house or any other property damaged in an accident. It also provides you with legal defense if another party files a lawsuit against you. It is a good idea to purchase enough of this insurance to cover the amount of damage your car might do to another vehicle or object. Coverage is limited to the terms and conditions contained in the policy.
Rental Car Reimbursement
Covers renting a car if your car isn’t drivable or while your car is being repaired because of a covered accident.
What else is available and can you afford it?
Did you come across a coverage and think, “I need that but it isn’t required by state law” when you were reviewing the coverage definitions? Chances are you did. Can your budget afford the additional expense of these protections? Or maybe more to the point; can you afford NOT to have these additional protections? At CarInsurance.com it’s easy to get multiple quotes all with a click of your mouse. And during the quoting process, it’s simple to add or remove coverage to see how additional coverage will affect your budget.
What are you protecting?
What assets need to be protected from being plucked away if you cause injury or damage?
A) Your car itself. If this is a significant asset, or at least the bank you owe money to thinks so, then you will need comprehensive and collision.
B) Your net worth. Do you have an enormous net worth to protect. If so, either get it out of your name and into a trust or buy all the insurance you can. If you have little or nothing to protect, then you can get by with less and still be financially responsible.
However, after you determine how much protection to get, always ask how much more it is for the next level higher. Very often, you can get significantly more coverage for very little cost.
Car insurance isn’t flashy. There is no “wow” factor and the opposite gender isn’t going to be impressed by the size of your policy. But not having enough can be the difference between financial stability and financial ruin. For what its worth, CarInsurance.com finds financial stability incredibly appealing.
Tags: Accident Insurance, Bodily Injuries, Bodily Injury Liability, Car Insurance, Comprehensive Insurance, Definitions, Flood, Insurance Agent, Judgment Against, Losses, Medical Bills, Minimum Coverage, Other Vehicles, Pain And Suffering, Personal Assets, Physical Damage Coverage, Policy Coverage, Rule Of Thumb, Sound Logic, Stock Broker