Do You Know Someone Who May Soon Need Help Managing On Their Own?

We all dread the time when we may need some assistance due to not being able to manage on our own anymore.  It happens to others, but surely, not us.  We are never prepared when a loved one needs help, and then we find out how expensive such care is.   There seems to be no one place with all the information we need to formulate a plan.

Many family meetings occur in my office, trying to figure out how the family will care for Mom or Dad.  The usual questions include: will the VA provide any assistance?  Yes, perhaps, through a program called Aid and Attendance. It is a needs based program (meaning your assets must be somewhat limited) that can be available to veterans and even their spouses to help pay for care.

Medicaid is another possible assistance program.  It, however, requires strict impoverishment, spending down to very low asset and income levels and is a last resort.  There are things a family can do to protect some assets from this spend-down requirement, and this is often a topic of much interest.

If some funds are available from savings or home equity, there are some little known strategies to produce an income for life that requires far less of these assets than a typical life annuity.   When life expectancy is less than “average” for someone’s chronological age, this can seem like a miracle.  Being able to pay for the needed care and never running out of money is a very good thing indeed.

If you or someone you care about is going to need some help with day to day activities, and you have no idea where to start looking for help, call us at The Long Term Care Guy.  We are Wisconsin specialists based in Green Bay, but can help with questions no matter where you are.

Give us a call at (920) 884-3030 or (800) 219-9203 or send us an email at [email protected]

 

Posted in Assisted Living, Government Funding Cutbacks, Home Care, Long Term Care Costs, LTC Financing Strategies, Medicaid, Medicaid Planning, Protecting Money from Nursing Homes, Reverse Mortgages, Veteran's Benefits and tagged ,

You Still Can Help Your Client Once They Are Already IN the Nursing Home!

I met a couple this weekend at a farmer’s market who purchased LTCi from me years ago.  They thanked me and hoped they never have to use it.  They also told me of a friend who is now in a nursing home and I explained that I can often still protect some of their money once they are already in a care setting and spending down to Medicaid.
The client’s were amazed that I can still help once someone is already in a nursing home or other care setting.  They thought that once there it was too late to help.  Incorrect!
Even during the spend down, a person can set up irrevocable burial trusts for themselves as well as children, children’s spouses, siblings and even parents.  This way a significant amount of money can be moved to loved ones versus spent at the nursing home.  If you know of someone in this predicament, call me and let’s protect some of that money!
Posted in Long Term Care Costs, Long Term Care Insurance, LTC Financing Strategies, Uncategorized, When to Buy LTC and tagged , , , ,