Sunday, March 30, 2008

More Canadian couples living past age 85 - Are you and your partner financially prepared?

(NC)-The biggest surprise about long term care is how much it costs and how quickly retirement savings can be depleted, explains certified financial planner, Mark Halpern. "At current rates, the cost of private long term care can easily exceed $5,000 per person, per month - a significant burden to shoulder."

Many people think they can sell the house for the funds needed to cover care costs, if necessary; however, this usually isn't a viable option, according to Halpern. "Elderly couples may find that one partner requires facility care, while the other lives at home. So, shoring up needed funds for quality care by selling the house can be a problem."

Another option for care is to rely on provincially funded care facilities and programs, which can present challenges. For example, the partner who remains at home has little say in where his or her loved one will be placed and that could be in a facility a fair distance from their home. Sadly, that could mean the other partner could find coordinating travel to visit their partner very taxing, costly, and those visits potentially less frequent.

Preparing for future care costs in advance can help to ensure loved ones receive the best quality care available and relieve stress on family caregivers. A financial advisor can help prepare a retirement planning strategy that includes a plan to manage future long term care needs.

Beyond the financial aspects of planning for retirement and long term care, it's important to know if your current insurance policies provide any long term care coverage. Often, people assume long term care costs will be covered by an existing insurance policy, or through an employee group benefit plan - when this generally proves untrue.

If current insurance policies do not include long term care benefits, Canadians can purchase long term care insurance for added peace-of-mind.

There are a range of long term care insurance options available within Canada - some require you to submit receipts for reimbursement. Others, like Manulife Financial's LivingCare, provide a regular monthly income that can be used for care at home or in a facility, home modifications or medical equipment - all without receipts. With LivingCare the monthly benefit doubles once facility care is required. In addition to individual coverage, LivingCare offers the innovative option of Shared Coverage for couples. More information is available at: www.livingcare.ca.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

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