Last week, I shared with you the extended care experience of my immediate family. If you recall, the actual duration for care for both of my grandfathers surpassed the industry average by almost 5 years. And, the average duration of care for my grandmothers and aunts (excluding memory care) was about 9 years.
I am not including the relatives who required memory care for that comparison. As you can see, even without them – being average is dangerous.
Here is how “the average” stacks up to “the experience from my family”.
2.2 years versus 7 years of care for the men
3.8 years versus 9 years of care for the women (excluding memory care)
8 years versus 15 years of care for the memory care
None of this makes me comfortable for a few reasons.
My biggest fear is living long and losing my mind. Our genetic pool has the tendency to live long and linger. Along with that, we also have 2 of my aunts that had major cognitive issues that lasted a long time. (Yes, I have LTC insurance.)
From a planner’s perspective, think about what would have happened if we played the average game and bought 3 or 4 years of care then once the benefits ran out, we would be forced to play the liquidation game. (What kind of plan does that make you think of?)
Next, consider the typical linked benefit product recommendation where benefits are run only 6 years. The results would be the same – just a little later in life.
The cliff can be catastrophic. That is why planning using averages and not customizing a strategy to meet a client’s unique circumstances is dangerous.
Does everyone need an unlimited pool of benefits? Maybe not, but as someone said to me earlier this week,”it’s better to have the resources and not use them than to need the resources and not have them.”
Our new Asset Care Consumer Presentation can help demonstrate the consequences of a limited duration strategy when a claim extends beyond the scope of the policy. This link will take you back to my previous Fridays with Fisher post that discusses this particular scenario.
Here is a way to close the year on a strong note. Review your book of business and identify your clients who are over 75 and own annuities that are on the sideline and earmarked for an emergency. The share the story how that money can be transformed into a tax-free long term care insurance strategy. That is what the million dollar annuity strategy is all about. Learn more about it at https://fridayswithfisher.com/million-dollar-annuity/.
My “big ask” of you for the million dollar annuity strategy is to identify 3 or 4 annuity owners 75 or older who might be viable candidates for our leverage strategy then give us a call.
Fridays with Fisher 
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