Is Whole Life Insurance Right for You?

Some New Yorkers are loaded and can afford to live as lavishly in retirement as they did when they were working. With or without selling their luxury condo in Manhattan, they can afford to move into one of those fancy “Boomer enrichment centers” where the staff distract them from the realities of their advancing age until they are so far gone that they no longer even realize that they are old. You are not one of those people. You have some retirement savings, which is more than a lot of people can say, but long-term care expenses are no joke, and if you eventually require long-term care for more than a few months, it can easily wipe out your savings, even if you sell your house and put the proceeds toward the long-term care expenses. Fortunately, not everyone who needs long-term care must pay for it out of pocket. If they did, then everyone except the wealthiest people would end up as Medicaid beneficiaries in nursing homes. To discuss your options regarding insurance policies that cover long-term care, contact a Bronx estate planning lawyer.

Insurance Is the Least Expensive Way to Pay for Long Term Care

Yes, your expenses get lower when you retire, because your mortgage is paid off, and you no longer have to spend money commuting to work. Best of all, Medicare pays some of your medical expenses, and it costs less than the employer-provided health insurance premiums you paid while you were working.

You still need insurance after you retire, though. Specifically, you need insurance that will cover your long-term care. To put it mildly, Medicare is less than generous when it comes to paying for nursing home stays. Medicaid will pay for nursing home care for people who cannot afford it by any other means, but in doing so, Medicaid helps itself to your Social Security check, and in exchange, you get an austere existence where it takes you months to save up to buy a package of cookies from the vending machine in your nursing home.

Therefore, you should buy insurance that will pay for long-term care. You have several options, but whole life insurance is the most comprehensive. It covers long-term care in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, as well as home health aide services, in addition to paying a death benefit to the designated beneficiary upon the death of the policyholder. Best of all, it comes with a savings account, where it deposits money every time you pay a premium. You can withdraw the money when you need cash or just let it grow. The cost of premiums starts at a little more than $200 per month for a 50-year-old woman with no substantial health risks.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can help you make practical decisions about choosing an insurance policy with long-term care benefits.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

cbsnews.com/news/should-seniors-buy-whole-life-insurance/