Working in the aging field, John knew how important it was to plan for his long-term care. Over the years, John had the opportunity to learn about many different long-term care financing options. After speaking with his financial advisor, he decided that a long-term care annuity was the best option for him and his wife. While John was still working, his financial advisor helped him allocate money from his income and other investments into an annuity that will be segregated for use for long-term care.
In June 2011, John retired at the age of 66. He has chosen not to begin receiving payments. Instead, he and his wife are still adding money into the annuity from consulting and retirement payments, social security and other investments. Their goal is to create an account that would equate to the amount a two to three year long-term care insurance policy would pay or about $150,000. They do not plan to draw from the annuity unless absolutely necessary.
When John and his wife do decide to begin drawing from the annuity, they plan to use the money to pay for home maintenance or modification, care consultation and other services that will help them age at home.
What I like about this approach is that you can be totally consumer-directed, said John. You can use the money from your annuity to purchase help from family, friends and neighbors and you can use all formal and informal community-based options. It gives you total flexibility.
When planning for the future, John advises others to think about what is important to you as you age. From there, you can consider which financing options will best suit your needs and begin setting a plan for your long-term care.
