Is Long Term Care Insurance Right For Me?

Long term care insurance is a smart choice for many people, but is not for everyone.

According the the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, you should consider long term care insurance if you have assets of at least $30,000 (excluding your home) and/or you have income you want to protect. You may also want to consider long term care insurance if you want to choose where to receive long term care and/or you don’t want to burden your family with caring for you.

You should not consider long term care insurance if you can’t afford the premiums.  If you will be paying premiums with money received only from your own income, a rule of thumb is that you may not be able to afford this type of policy if the premiums will be more than 7% of your income.

If your sole income is from Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or if you’re struggling to meet your basic monthly living expenses, this coverage may not make sense for you. If you are buying this type of policy to protect your assets and your assets are less than 30,000, you may wish to consider other options for financing your long term care.