^{Long Term Care planning should be an integral part of retirement planning. Statistics have proven over time that our population in the United States is living longer due to advances in the treatment of illness and disease. Longer life has made our aging population more dependent on long term nursing and personal care services to help with tasks of daily living that can become difficult to manage independently as problems that affect mobility and memory continue to surface the longer a person lives.}

^{This is one of the greatest threats to a retired person’s nest egg. Especially if they are married and have a relatively healthy spouse who would have to depend on the retirement savings to support their lifestyle for what could be many years after the spouse needing care eventually passes away.}

^{The most utilized planning method to address this risk has been the purchase of a traditional LTC insurance policy, typically requiring ongoing premiums. The negative to this method is that coverage is very similar to homeowners insurance, i.e. that you don’t receive a benefit unless the house is damaged or destroyed. It can also be difficult to budget LTC insurance monthly premiums because the premiums for many contracts are not guaranteed and may rise substantially over time.}

^{There is an alternative that may be a better “fit” for those who have savings or investments set-aside which are not needed for retirement income, liquidity needs, or emergencies.}

^{This concept is often referred to as Asset Based Long Term Care. This planning method typically utilizes a one-time lump-sum portion of retirement assets to fund the policy, and therefore there are no required monthly or annual premiums. Asset Based LTC Protection links the benefits of life insurance and long-term care into a single policy.}

^{If the insured needs and qualifies for long term health care, the single premium has been leveraged to provide a certain amount of LTC benefits.*}

^{If the insured never uses the LTC benefits during his or her lifetime, the money that was paid into policy is leveraged and typically provides a larger tax-free death benefit* to the heirs.**}

^{If the insured needs money, there is a 100% principal money back guarantee.***}

* Policies are affected by state approvals, age, health conditions, interest rates and underwriting.  Generally this type of coverage pays a benefit when an insured’s health condition is at a defined level. Payment is not based on being confined in a nursing home or receiving care.  It is based on the insured’s health condition and often relates to how capable they are in performing the basic activities of daily living.

** Assumes a properly named beneficiary.

*** Assumes no prior withdrawals, loans, or benefits have been paid. Guarantees are based on the claims-paying abilities of the underlying insurance company.