I’m excited and pleased to present to you a Guest Article, by Hazel Bridges, Founder of AgingWellness.org!”How to Get a Game Plan Together for Long Term Care.” It’s full of great useful information we all could use, no matter your age! Enjoy…
How to Get a Game Plan Together for Long-Term Care
How do you plan to pay for long-term care? If your answer is Medicare, you may be surprised to know that Medicare does not cover these kinds of care costs. If your answer is “I won’t need long-term care costs,” you should know that the majority of older adults do, in fact, need long-term care at some point in their lives. So, how do you come up with a better answer? You can start by using the tips below to really plan for expenses related to long-term care.
Start with a Plan for Aging in Place at Home
The costs of long-term care can be staggering, especially when it comes to living in an assisted living or nursing home. One way you can offset some of these costs is to make some upgrades around your home that will help you age in place. For most seniors and older adults, that means ensuring that doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs to pass through and making sure that their home is well-lit. You should also consider putting fall preventative features in place around the home. Simple additions, like grab bars around the bathroom and sturdy support around stairs and steps, can help prevent falls as you get older. With falls being a major source of debilitating injury for older adults, making these safety upgrades ahead of time could maintain your independence longer. Plus, studies show that aging in place can also have further benefits for seniors, allowing them to live happier lives and have fewer long-term care costs as well.
Educate Yourself About the Costs of Care
Most younger adults barely give a thought to needing long-term care, and many people have no clue how much care should cost. The costs of long-term care can vary depending on the duration of care and level needed, but you can typically find some pretty good estimates online. At the very least, you can expect to pay around $20 to $25 per hour for a home health aide to assist in your own home, and upwards of $155,000 per year for the top-level skilled nursing homes in major metropolitan areas like New York City. You could possibly talk to loved ones about providing the care you need to save some costs, but often times, this kind of care requires more time than family members may have. Plus, caregivers will also need to find ways to supplement any lost income and get assistance from time to time.
Figure Out How You Can Pay for Your Care
For most people, especially in retirement, long-term care costs can exceed the income they would make in one year. That can leave you wondering how you can afford to pay for long-term care should you need it. By planning ahead, however, you can actually make sure that those long-term care costs do not cut into your income or that of your loved ones. If you are younger, you can look into long-term care insurance that will assist you with the costs when the time comes. Since this kind of coverage is not for everyone, there are also other ways to pay for care. You can leverage your home or other properties to pay for services by either selling them or getting a reverse mortgage. If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for VA benefits that can cover a majority of your care costs. So, take some time now to do your homework and come up with a solid plan to pay for long-term care.
Whether it’s long-term care or other health expenses, planning always pays off. Chances are, you will need some form of long-term care in the future, so putting together a good plan now will save you and your loved ones a lot of tension and unnecessary scrambling later. You will have so many more options for paying for care, and you will know what to do if and when the time comes. So, do yourself a favor and plan ahead for your long-term care needs.
Photo credits/Pixabay/Pexels.