Recover Your Long Term Care Costs

September 8, 2015Living Benefits, Long Term Care

Will your family be affected by the costs of caring for an aging loved one?

Statistics Canada states that over 350,000 Canadians 65 or older and 30% of those older than 85 will reside in long term care facilities. With increasing poor health and decreased return on investments, the fear of facing financial instability in your declining years is real.

How will this impact your family?

Caring for an aging parent or spouse takes its toll emotionally and financially. Adult children with families and job pressures of their own are often torn between their obligations to their parents, children and careers. This often results in three generations feeling the impact of this care.

Is it important to you to have control over your level of care?

Consider this:

The cost of providing for long term care is on the rise

While many Canadians assume that full-time care in a long term care facility will be fully paid by government health programs; this simply is not the case. In fact, only a small part (if at all) of the costs of a residential care facility will be paid by government health care programs

28% of all Canadians over the age of 15 provide care to someone with long term health issues

For the senior generation, the prospect of the failing health of a spouse puts both their retirement funds and their children’s or grandchildren’s inheritance at risk

Capital needed to provide $10,000 month benefit (care for both parents) for 10 years is $ 1,000,000 (if capital is invested at 4% after-tax)

Norman (age 64) and Barbara (age 61) have three children, aged 32-39. While still in good health the family does have a concern for their future care.

To safeguard against failing health it was decided that they purchase Long Term Care Policies to protect their quality of care and a Joint Last to Die Term 100 Life Insurance Policy to recover the costs.

The Long Term Care policies would pay a benefit for facility care in the amount of $1,250 per week for each parent. The monthly premium for $10,000 per month Long Term Care for both Norman and Barbara is $544.17.

The Premium for a Joint Last to Die Term to Age 100 policy with a death benefit of $250,000 is $354.83 per month.

Upon the death of both parents $250,000 is paid to the beneficiaries (children) tax free from the life insurance policy, returning most if not all of the premiums paid.

Advantages of the Long Term Care Back to Back Strategy

Shifts the financial risk of care to the insurance company
Allows for a comfortable risk free retirement
Preserves estate value for future generations

When is the best time to put this structure in place?

Remember, the older the insured, the higher the costs
Do it early while you are still insurable!

Please call me if you think your family would benefit from this strategy. Feel free to use the sharing icons below to forward this to someone who might find this of interest.

Should you wish to learn a little more about long term care, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has published a brochure which can be downloaded here

Recover Your Long Term Care Costs

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