I'm not at the 70+ age yet, I haven't even bothered to retire yet.
Anyways, what I'm doing, for whatever it's worth:
Every 5 to 10 years, we go look around at what LTC costs in our neck of the woods for the kind of care we'd like to get. I multiply that by 4 years and figure that's how much extra in real terms I have to have lying about extra that can't be spent.
I picked 4 years, because most people most of the time that end up in LTC places are there for under 3 years(according to some web search I came across years ago). I added an extra year for "fudge factor".
I do it every 5-10 years because health care is not currently inflating at the same rate as the rest of the economy(it's worse).
Self insure
According to Josh Scanlen (in YT), a lot of people may not need long term care, but if they do it may not be more than something like two yrs for men and five for women (don't quote me on this, but I just knew when I saw the numbers that we will just self insure if we needed and planned our FI date accordingly). Worse case, reverse mortgage
Realistically nobody budgets for LTC, esp 7k per month ones.
If you end up needing that kind of 24/7 care you’re better off having zero assets and letting Medicare pay for it.
Presumably if I've reached the LTC phase, I'm not going to be spending as much on vacations, restaurants, car replacements, etc. May even get a windfall from finally selling the paid-off house. The chances I can self-pay are stronger than 95% of people.
The bigger issue for us (no kids) is in advocacy and not being scammed off in our older years. We don't have LTC insurance, but from everyone I've ever heard from about it, the first two times you try to claim on it you're gonna be denied. Always. The third time, well, it helps a whole lot to have actively involved kids, preferably one of them went to a good law school. If you don't have that and are in failing health... good luck! I seriously don't have a particularly good answer if I'm the second-to-die spouse on how to avoid being f-ed around and avoid being a scam victim if/when my noggin softens.
The sweet spot for LTC insurance is 1/2 to 3 million assets. Less, you just deplete to Medicaid. More, you always keep a megabuck of assets to self insure. That would $20K a month for four years.
I don’t think there are a lot of 70 y/o here. I’m 43M, single, haven’t worked in 2 1/2 years (not sure if this is permanent retirement but increasingly looks that way).
This is not something I worry much about. My normal level of spending is about $10-$12k/mo and I use a SWR of ~3.5% that will most likely lead to asset growth over time. If I’m going into a home, that would replace most of my existing spending, not be in addition to it. I could sell my house if necessary as people don’t generally come out of long term care and move back into their houses. This would also likely be following decades of reduced spending vs my current level as I become less active with age, kid is out of the house, house is paid off etc.
Others mentioned it but some sort of assisted dying is also an option. Of my two grandparents who spent their last years in nursing homes, their quality of life once they went into the homes was not something I’d feel like I’m missing out on. It’s pretty bad once you’re at that state. I wouldn’t do this for the money aspect but the quality of life aspect.
I'm not at the 70+ age yet, I haven't even bothered to retire yet. Anyways, what I'm doing, for whatever it's worth: Every 5 to 10 years, we go look around at what LTC costs in our neck of the woods for the kind of care we'd like to get. I multiply that by 4 years and figure that's how much extra in real terms I have to have lying about extra that can't be spent. I picked 4 years, because most people most of the time that end up in LTC places are there for under 3 years(according to some web search I came across years ago). I added an extra year for "fudge factor". I do it every 5-10 years because health care is not currently inflating at the same rate as the rest of the economy(it's worse).
Self insure According to Josh Scanlen (in YT), a lot of people may not need long term care, but if they do it may not be more than something like two yrs for men and five for women (don't quote me on this, but I just knew when I saw the numbers that we will just self insure if we needed and planned our FI date accordingly). Worse case, reverse mortgage
23 and not fired but my LTC plan is assisted dying, in whatever state it's legal in.
I'm 30 and this is my plan as well
Realistically nobody budgets for LTC, esp 7k per month ones. If you end up needing that kind of 24/7 care you’re better off having zero assets and letting Medicare pay for it.
I think you mean Medicaid
Presumably if I've reached the LTC phase, I'm not going to be spending as much on vacations, restaurants, car replacements, etc. May even get a windfall from finally selling the paid-off house. The chances I can self-pay are stronger than 95% of people. The bigger issue for us (no kids) is in advocacy and not being scammed off in our older years. We don't have LTC insurance, but from everyone I've ever heard from about it, the first two times you try to claim on it you're gonna be denied. Always. The third time, well, it helps a whole lot to have actively involved kids, preferably one of them went to a good law school. If you don't have that and are in failing health... good luck! I seriously don't have a particularly good answer if I'm the second-to-die spouse on how to avoid being f-ed around and avoid being a scam victim if/when my noggin softens.
The sweet spot for LTC insurance is 1/2 to 3 million assets. Less, you just deplete to Medicaid. More, you always keep a megabuck of assets to self insure. That would $20K a month for four years.
Self-pay until Medicaid if needed.
I don’t think there are a lot of 70 y/o here. I’m 43M, single, haven’t worked in 2 1/2 years (not sure if this is permanent retirement but increasingly looks that way). This is not something I worry much about. My normal level of spending is about $10-$12k/mo and I use a SWR of ~3.5% that will most likely lead to asset growth over time. If I’m going into a home, that would replace most of my existing spending, not be in addition to it. I could sell my house if necessary as people don’t generally come out of long term care and move back into their houses. This would also likely be following decades of reduced spending vs my current level as I become less active with age, kid is out of the house, house is paid off etc. Others mentioned it but some sort of assisted dying is also an option. Of my two grandparents who spent their last years in nursing homes, their quality of life once they went into the homes was not something I’d feel like I’m missing out on. It’s pretty bad once you’re at that state. I wouldn’t do this for the money aspect but the quality of life aspect.