Last week my Fridays with Fisher e-blast talked about your clients and averages. This goes along with the topic of the month for LTC Coffee Break of lifetime benefits and longevity during the benefits cycle. Check out our full LTC Coffee break episode.
A little bit of shameless self-promotion, join Michael and me every Tuesday morning for a new episode of LTC Coffee Break Espresso Shot where we share a quick idea leading into out full LTC Coffee Break episode that takes place on the first Tuesday of each month. To see the latest, go to LTCCoffeebreak.com
We talked about averages last week and how each client has a unique need that may or may not be met by using an average planning strategy. Simply, you win if you never need care or only require services up to the “plan cap”. You lose (and it could be big) if the cost of care is greater than the pool of benefits.
Let’s keep that in mind. You stand to lose in a big way financially when care exceeds that limited duration defined benefit pool. Some carriers like to point the picture that average is okay and, as I noted before, sometimes average is adequate.
What if those averages don’t hold up?
In a survey of the leading long term care insurers, five of the seven longest paying claims were for men – not women! And, those claims exceeded $1 million.
Planning for the average cost or duration in these cases would only pay a fraction of the costs associated with care. But, they would also leave a significant gap when those benefits ran out.
As my friend Michael Florio likes to say, “it’s like driving up a hill for 5 or 6 years then driving right off of a cliff. That cliff is the day that the benefits run out.”
Remember, long duration care needs like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s can pose significant financial challenges if the wrong strategy is selected. Only a lifetime benefit solution can continue to provide the necessary funds to meet the needs for the full duration of any claim.
Clients are not average and their long term care funding strategies shouldn’t be either.
Fridays with Fisher 
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