Have you ever wondered….

Do you have questions about the cost of long term care?
Do you have questions about the cost of long term care?

Do you have questions about the cost of long term care?

Do you have questions about the cost of long term care?

Are your clients confused about the many options, how to choose coverage, or if it’s necessary for them?

I’m Romeo Raabe LUTCF, LTCP and I’m known as The Long Term Care Guy–in fact, my website is www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com and I work exclusively on Long Term Care (LTC) issues.  Some examples  include how to get the most from LTC insurance, how to start a claim, what to do if care is needed and there is no insurance—and much more!

I also offer insurance for LTC and have options most financial professionals are not even aware of.  For example, this week I put coverage in place for a couple ages 87 and 84 for less than $90/month a piece.

Even if someone is in care – even if already on Medicaid – I may still be able to help.  If you or your clients have questions, feel free to call me at (920) 884-3030.  I am here to help anyone dealing with or concerned about LTC.

Contact ROMEO RAABE about the cost of long term care!

PS: There can be huge differences in LTC insurance policies—I can help you understand the differences, and probably even set you up with other strategies most other advisors don’t know about!

What Can I Do About Long Term Care?

Long term care is very expensive!
Long term care is very expensive!

Long term care is very expensive. Few people are prepared for the cost when they determine they need care. 

Long term care is very expensive. Few people are prepared for the cost when they determine they need care.  Fortunately, there are ways to deal with the bills even if you do not have much money.

Medicaid requires beneficiaries to spend all savings and other assets down to impoverishment before they will pay for care. This includes a requirement that any life insurance with a value over $1,500 be cashed in—some people have life insurance so that there is money to pay for their funeral. If someone needs Medicaid to pay for their care, this insurance will need to be cashed in, leaving no money for final expenses as planned.  Medicaid does, however, let you set aside up to $15,000 to pay for final funeral expenses if this is done in an irrevocable burial trust.  I set these up for people at no cost.

Medicaid also allows you to set these irrevocable trusts up for the final funeral expenses for each of your children and their spouses in addition to the one set up for you.  This allows you to leave funds to family instead of spending it all on the costs of long-term care.

Few people know of these Medicaid rules and then leave nothing but the funeral bill for their children.

You have some savings in the bank, earning very little interest.  The irrevocable trusts also earn interest, cost nothing to open, and protect money from the Medicaid “spend down”.  No need to spend money to open these, other than the amount you want to place in the trust.

At TheLongTermCareGuy.com, we help people deal with the costs of long-term care.  We also offer alternatives to help those planning ahead to pay for long term so they don’t have to spend their assets down to impoverishment.  There is no charge to meet and explore options.  Call us at (920) 884-3030 to schedule a free consultation.

 

 

Happy Holidays – How is Grandma?

Happy Holidays! How is Grandma?
Happy Holidays! How is Grandma?

How is Grandma? Are bills piling up unpaid?  Is hygiene slipping? Are they not eating as well as they should, or is the house unkempt?

While your family was together at Thanksgiving, was there evidence that older family members are not taking care of themselves as well as they could be or used to?

Perhaps your loved one is not driving as much as before, or perhaps should not be driving at all. Are bills piling up unpaid?  Is hygiene slipping? Are they not eating as well as they should, or is the house unkempt?

It is never easy to meet with siblings and parents to talk about how and where they will be helped with future living arrangements.  Then you check into costs at senior living facilities and wonder how can this possibly work.

Hello! My name is Romeo Raabe, and I am a long-term care (LTC) planner at www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com.  I help families learn how to convert homes into income to pay for LTC facilities.

I help families navigate the federal Medicaid programs that can pay for LTC.  I even have ways to help protect the money for family, rather than all going toward LTC costs.

If this discussion has started, or is about to, call me at (920) 884-3030 and let’s schedule a time to visit and see if I can help you and yours.  It’s never too late and you don’t know what you don’t know.

 

 

 

Who is Going to Pay for Your Funeral?

Who is Going to Pay for Your Funeral?
Who is Going to Pay for Your Funeral?

Who is Going to Pay for Your Funeral?

Asking who is going to pay for your funeral might seem like a silly question–you probably have money in savings, a vehicle, a house, even life insurance.  There should be plenty of money to pay this bill, right?

The problem is, you are gone, so now who has access to your assets?

Your Power of Attorney ends at the moment of your death.  How your assets will be distributed and who has authority will all be determined in the probate process in the next few months. So, who will come up with the funds now to pay for the funeral?  Even life insurance does not pay out for some time once claim forms are submitted.

Just recently, I received a call from a La Crosse funeral home who wanted to know how to get in touch with the Wisconsin Funeral Trust. This is the organization that funeral directors set up to hold prepayments for funerals.  The association chose to invest the funds very aggressively and now only has money to pay out 65% of what people deposited. The funeral home that called me was caring for two individuals who had passed, and the home was trying to determine how much money the trust actually has for them.   They called me is because they found me in an internet search. (If you Google “funeral trust Wisconsin”, my website comes up.)  They hoped I could either help them or direct them to the correct place.

This shortcoming of the state funeral trust is important to those planning ahead for their end-of-life needs.  I am a long-term care planner and, as such, include protecting funds set aside for funerals as part of my work.  I help people set aside funds for their funeral using a licensed trust company who specializes in just this. The company that I use for this purpose is a licensed and bonded insurance company, required by law to retain adequate funds to cover claims. There is no cost to set up such a trust and the funds deposited earn interest.  These funds are available immediately at death, even before a death certificate has been produced, to pay all the bills in full.

There is another important reason to fund a funeral trust –many people need long term care in the years leading up to their death. This can cost as much as $50,000 to $90,000 per year or more.  If they did not plan in advance and purchase long-term care insurance to cover these bills, they may have to apply for a welfare program called Medicaid to pay for their care. Medicaid is a payer of last resort and will only cover long-term care expenses once you have spent down everything you own (house, car, checking, savings) to under $2000.  You must also cash in life insurance before Medicaid pays for long-term care.  This balance is not enough to pay for a funeral.

Medicaid does allow you to set aside money for funeral expenses, but only in an irrevocable burial trust account.  Setting these up for people who did not plan for long-term care expenses has become a large part of my work.

Death happens to everyone.  Don’t leave the bills for this to your children.  Make sure the money is there AND accessible to them when it is needed.

Long-term care happens to 70% of adults who make it to age 65. What is your plan to pay for this care when your health changes?

For answers to either of these predicaments, reach out to Romeo Raabe at www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com or call (920) 884-3030 to schedule a time to investigate solutions.  There is never a cost to investigate.

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral Expenses?

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?
Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral Expenses?

Seems like a silly question, doesn’t it?  You have money and other assets, as well as life insurance, so why worry about this.

Due to a recent personal experience I learned that there can be problems.  After a relative’s death, the estate was locked immediately and no withdrawals could be made from any accounts.  The power of attorney document is instantly null and void at death.  While it might be possible to try and withdraw funds from the deceased’s bank account after death, the penalties for this are quite severe and the date of withdrawal after the date of death could later invoke these penalties.

Life insurance proceeds often take 3 to 5 weeks to arrive due to waiting for a death certificate, obtaining the proper forms, filling them out, submitting them, waiting for processing and eventually receiving a check.

Thus someone will pay for the funeral and probably will be reimbursed later from your assets or life insurance.  Does this person, in your situation, have the money readily available in their checkbook?  Or will this create a hardship and a delay on paying their own bills until reimbursed later?

Some of us will not have a dime to our name at the time of death.  I am thinking of those of us who end up needing a nursing home or assisted living facility and must apply for Medicaid to pay for it.  Medicaid requires one to spend-down to $2000 of savings to get Medicaid and that $2000 goes back to the state at death.  You are also required to cash in any life insurance over $1500 before receiving Medicaid.  For the family of such a deceased person there will be no reimbursement later.

There is a solution for both situations.  Anyone can move some savings (up to a maximum of $15,000) into an irrevocable burial trust account that is immediately available at the time of death.  Even Medicaid rules allow this before all of your savings are spent-down to that $2000 limit.

This interest bearing account can pay for the funeral in full before the body has even been picked up.  Nobody has to come up with the cash for final expenses.  Nobody puts off their own bills or visits the payday loan store.  These are maintained by specialized trust companies who simply hold the finds, pay interest on them, and will wire transfer payment for funeral costs as soon as the funeral home faxes them the bill (which only happens once in your life).

The remainder is returned to the estate of the deceased, as the trust company does not sell caskets, vaults, flowers, headstones – your family chooses what to spend it on, how much or how little to spend, with the remainder going back to the deceased’s estate to be distributed through their will.

Since this is very often a long-term care issue with so many people who need LTC turning to Medicaid to pay the high costs of such care, we at TheLongTermCareGuy.com set up these trusts as a regular part of our business assisting folks needing LTC.

There is no cost to set up these trusts.  Medicaid even allows you to set them up for your children and their spouses, which is NOT a gift or divestment and is detailed in Medicaid’s rules. There is no cost for meeting with us to see how we can help you with LTC planning.

So, to learn more about this or other strategies we have to help with LTC planning, including LTC insurance, call TheLongTermCareGuy.com at (920) 884-3030 and schedule a time to visit and learn what you can do to protect your family from this burden.

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?
Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?

Who Will Pay For Your Funeral?

When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away recently, he left behind a huge legacy – and a huge financial fortune too. Since Jobs was one of the richest men in America, his family undoubtedly had no problem paying for his funeral and putting Jobs to rest.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case with many other Americans. It’s a sad reality that many families and individuals have to deal with, but the truth is that when many people pass away, their family members or close friends struggle to afford the funeral.

Knowing what to do when you can’t afford to bury a relative can help to relieve some of the stress and heartache of this difficult time.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the national average cost of a funeral with a vault was $7,775 in 2010. The cost of a burial without the casket was about $4,265 that same year. For many grieving families, paying thousands of dollars to bury a relative just isn’t economically feasible.

Review low-cost burial options

Cremating someone is usually less expensive than burying the individual in a casket or vault. If your state doesn’t require embalming the body, consider a “green burial” where you don’t have to pay for a vault, headstone or expensive caskets. You can also shop around to find an affordable casket online.

Consider getting a loan

If you have good credit and are comfortable with taking on a personal loan, consider applying for financing from a local bank or credit union in order to pay for the burial. Avoid taking out a cash advance on a credit card because you’ll be responsible for paying very high interest charges and could end up carrying that debt for several months, even years.

Ask other family members to chip in

You may not have to shoulder the responsibility of paying for the burial all by yourself. Consider asking family members to pitch in and help with the costs. Be specific and candid with relatives about how much the funeral costs; ask everyone involved how much they can reasonably contribute; and put together a cost sheet or budget to help you keep track of all of expenses.

A better plan

Since assets will probably be locked up for some time, and life insurance takes time to collect also, why not consider an irrevocable burial trust.  This is an account you can transfer anywhere from $1000 to $15,000 into.  It earns interest, about the same as a CD.  You do not pay income tax on the interest it earns.  The funds can be immediately available at death to cover expenses as they come up.

First you go to a funeral home (any funeral home) and arrange a funeral.  Once the plans are made simply show the trust document to the funeral director.  They will fax the bill to the trust company who will wire transfer funds directly to pay this bill in full within 24 hours.  Other final expenses like obituaries can be paid as well.  When all bills are paid, simply submit the death certificate to the trust company and remaining funds are refunded to the estate of the deceased.  Your family or loved ones are in full control of how and where this money will be spent.

We are all going to die sometime.  Why not make this easy for those left to deal with the arrangements?  Do your children have $4000 to $8000 or more sitting in their checkbook right now?  Mine probably don’t either.  If you have money sitting in the bank, where it will likely be locked up at death, why not make things easy for those you leave behind and transfer some to an irrevocable burial trust?

One more thing

For those who may need long term care and require Medicaid to pay for it, Medicaid requires complete impoverishment and the cashing in of life insurance over $1500 to get Medicaid funding for long term care.  You cannot give money away in the five years prior to applying for Medicaid. Medicaid allows the irrevocable burial trust as it can only be used for burial expenses.  The trust protects these funds from the Medicaid spend-down.

Since this is often a long term care issue, we at TheLongTermCareGuy.com can open your irrevocable burial trust account at no cost to you.  No fees of any kind.  Call us at (800) 219-9203 or locally in Wisconsin at (920) 884-3030.  We are here to help.