Preferably purchased prior to retirement at a younger age because the cost becomes almost prohibitive at older ages. My LTC pays s good portion of my expensive Assisted Living. I bought mine at age 60 for $90.00 USD monthly .The premium is currently being waived because I am receiving benefits.
You ae so right about the purchasing cost of long term care when you're older. I see that in the mailings I receive. The drawback on LTC at an earlier age is being too young to think or even consider it. I know I didn't back then not even as an investment for the future.
With all due respect, there are some, like me, who never want to live under long-term care conditions. Paying premiums on an LTC policy would be a waste of my money. When the time comes where I cannot cook my own meals, work on my own projects, bathe myself, clean house, change sheets, etc., then I'll be ready to leave this world.
Unfortunately some seniors don't realize they need care my mother was one of those cases she refused all offers of help her house was filthy she no longer had bowel control or able to bathe herself Alzheimer's had taken over now her golden years are spent in a covid restricted care home most of her time is spent asking when is my mother coming to get me I want to go home.
I haven't thought that yet but I suspect many have. I cared for my mother months before she died. It wasn't easy. If she had LTC I didn't know about it but I definitely would have made arrangements for her care.
$90/month at age 60 sounds awfully low to me. Investopedia says the average annual premiums are $2,700 ($250/month) with no mention of age. Their sample Mutual of Omaha quote is: That's an annual benefit of $25,000 to $50,000 with no mention of maximum lifetime benefit. Lots of policies (all of them?) have a lifetime cap on benefits. Some of those lifetime caps are pretty low. New York Life caps Total Lifetime Benefits from $50,000 to $250,000 for the best policy they offer. This article states: So that's $400/month premiums for a couple at age 55 to get a benefit that has an anticipated shortfall in expense coverage of over $100 per day! I don't know if that's a per-person shortfall. You gotta be careful.
We've touched on this before (and will likely circle back to it again.) I am of the same mind. At my current age, I've outlived my older brother by 14 years, my father by 12 years, and a younger brother by 7 years. I watched them all die of cancer. My sister-in-law is highly suspicious that my younger brother died in the hospital (the slow suffocation of lung cancer) long before anyone attend to him. That is not for me. On the other hand (as I've said before), I have no idea what tomorrow's state-of-mind and survival instinct realities might be for me. Sitting here on my couch, it's merely a concept.
If you can afford it, you simply pay for your own care. If you are indigent, you may rely on Medicaid to help provide care.
As Beth says, you can get assistance from the government. The quality of care may be minimal. And you have to show "need." This means folks must drain their own resources first. I bet most folks here have stories of couples divorcing so that the one needing care can be "indigent" and get state assistance, while the other one retains their home and other assets.