Preparing For Tomorrow podcast

Many people inquire about LTC insurance and unfortunately get incorrect or incomplete information. This is why it's important to work with a LTC Planning Specialist, like me, who studies this continually. Years ago, there were a lot more companies offering LTC insurance, but all the plans looked and worked very similarly. Today, there are less companies offering this insurance, but these companies are each offering more unique ways to design and fund plans to meet more needs. Listen to these podcast episodes and arm yourself with the questions you need to ask when designing your plan. You deserve to understand why an advisor or insurance agent is or is not offering you a plan to protect your family, assets and choices. Reach out to me to schedule time to learn more and start to design your plan here Ask me a question by scheduling here

Providing care for a very sick, injured or elderly family member is hard! Especially without help. There are currently over 50 million family caregivers sacrificing their time, family, health and future to provide that care. LTC insurance is not designed to replace you; it's there to help you be able to help without hurting yourself or getting overwhelmed from doing it alone. Who is going to pay for those 7.8 million licensed care providers as the Baby Boomer generation reaches 80 this year and continues to age? It's either us, our family, or the government. Part of "us" is LTC insurance - so we won't force our famly members to exhaust themselves. You can view current (2024) and estimate future cost of care where you live here I recommend you use 5% COLA and not the 3% that defaults when you open the page. I said I would add a link to the site that discusses LTC reform and how Medicaid impacts the entire industry, but the link is not active today. I have LTC Bullets emailed to me weekly. Hopefully, it's up and running again soon. The link is here for when it is online again Schedule a meeting with me here

Jason Dutra with BuddyIns joins us this week to share a case study on worksite LTC benefits. There are companies that will offer guaranteed issue (no health questions) hybrid life/LTC plans to a company with as few as 3 employees. Listen and learn if this is a tool you would like to offer, or that you would like your employer to offer. Then schedule an introductory meeting with me to discuss options for your company here If you'd like to learn more first, use this link to research at BuddyIns https://buddyins.com/worksite You can schedule a meeting with Jason by submitting a referral at the top right of the page. Please remember to request me as your specialist. I look forward to helping you protect those you care about most.

Hello to all our new and returning listeners! Because we've had a large increase in listeners, I thought I'd share what we discuss during our initial consultation (which costs you only time). It's good for long time listeners to get a refresher as well. Our first meeting, via phone or Zoom and sometmes in person, is mostly educational. It's impossible to make a decision on something as important as preparing for futue extended care needs unless we understand what we are deciding. LTC insurance is not for everyone. It must fit in with the rest of your retirement plan in order to protect both your assets and your family. You can view current (2024) and projected costs of several types of care where you live here A 2025 update will be released in March, 2026. You can schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me here I look forward to meeting you and helping you to protect those you care about most.

Because we have so many new listeners, we decided to get back to the basics of long term care and LTC insurance. The best starting point is to learn current and future costs of home care, assisted living, and nursing home care. Use the cost of care website to find costs where you live at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Once we understand the risk we're up against if we suffer from dementia, a stroke or a severe car accident (for example), we need to decide where we would want to live when help is needed to get through our days. We need to consider who we want to have helping us, and we need to decide how we're going to pay for this care. Listen and learn how different types of insurance plans decide when and how claims are approved or declined. Learn which kinds of plans can be tax deductible and which can be paid using HSA funds. Get your current policies and proposals out and schedule time with me to evaluate them and learn if they best meet your needs. Schedule a phone or Zoom meeting here

Happy New Year! Let's make 2026 the year we design and fund our LTC plan without destroying our budget. This week, Diane shares ways to pay for long term care insurance with alternatives to simply using income to fund it. Listen and learn how to reduce the impact on the budget while preparing for that day when we do become more dependent on other people to help us get through our days. We're making sure to afford a plan today AND afford to provide for our needs then. Schedule a phone or zoom meeting to discover unique and creative ways to prepare for your family's tomorrow here If there is a topic you'd like me to discuss this year, email me here

We recorded "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" along with a few other classics about 15 years ago. My husband, Paul, is the guitar master, and I am playing flute. Please enjoy, and share with those you care about most as you gather to celebrate this week. As Christians, our family is celebrating the birth of our Savior. Whatever you celebrate this season, do so with love and joy in your hearts. If you're weary, lay still and hear the angels sing as they bring peace throughout the world. I pray for blessings over each of you today, and into 2026 (and beyond). Sending hugs to everyone. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!!

When discussing worksite LTC with employers, two question come up all the time - 1) How much work do I as an employer or HR director have to put in? 2) I heard LTC insurance is expensive. How much more will the company be spending to add this benefit? Jason Dutra clearly addresses both of these questions this week. For more info, reachout to me diane@preparing4tomorrow.com Or research first at https://buddyins.com/ Jason's email is jason@buddyins.com When asking him or the team for more info, be sure to let them know I sent you so we can connect that way.

That title is an oxymoron. Truthfully, if you'll never qualify for Medicaid, that means you'll pay for all of your long term care needs yourself. In this week's episode we're sharing things you need to consider today, long before care is needed. You need to prepare for tomorrow's needs today, whether you choose to own insurance or not. You need to create a roadmap for your caregivers to follow if you're unable ot unwilling to communicate your wishes when you need extended care. In today's episode, Diane shares what is involved in creating that roadmap. To help you prepare for where you'll be living when retired, use https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Be sure to use 5% inflation when looking at future costs as that is the inflation growth we've seen over the last three decades. Then, schedule some time with me to learn what kinds of plans can be available to help pay for your potential needs without breaking the bank. Schedule here

Diane received an email this week from a long time listener who received a notice of a 301% rate increase request from his LTC insurance company. This episode discusses the process of requesting and seeking approval for rate increases. This process is heavily regulated from multiple angles. It's definitely not a random insurance company tactic to create more profit or to force policy holders to cancel their policies. I know it seems like it sometimes. Rate increases cause a lot of headache and extra work and payroll expense to the insurance companies as well. They don't want to have to increase rates. I was going to post the link to the court decision here, but the header on the document says I can't. If you want to find it yourself, look up "New Jersey court prevents LTC rate increase". You'll find it. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) consists of Commissioners from all 50 states. They have a Rate Stability Rule you can read about here If you really like reading about this stuff, the American Association of Actuaries Compliance Guide can be found here Let's find time to have a converstion and determne if and wht kind of and amount of benefits can help your family when that need shows up. Schedule here

Thank you all who are listening to these podcasts and for the great feedback you've shared over the years. I can't believe we're in our sixth year already. I'm so thankful that these poscasts are helping so many people learn about long term care and all the strategies available to protect our families. Enjoy your family this Thanksgiving weekend, and always be thankful. If you're ready to plan for your family, schedule here

This week, Jason and Diane discuss UNUM's February 2026 ceasing of LTC group and employer sales. How should employers and employess react to this decision? What are the next decisions that must be made? What can employers now offer to newhires? Should current policyholders keep their policies? When you don't have answers, the best thing to do is talk with a long term care planning specialist like myself. I will help you determne what questions you should be asking as well as work through the answers with you. Each employee's family is unique and LTC needs are different for each family. If you have questions about UNUM or any other LTC plan ceasing sales, schedule some time to discuss this here

We need to recognize the contributions and sacrifices that family caregivers make to help those they love who can't provide for their own daily needs. The reason most people own LTC insurance is to help those caregivers to not feel alone and isolated. If you don't own LTC insurance and you want to protect your family, assets and choices, schedule time with me to plan here Below are many resources to help caregivers help their loved ones better. Administration for Community Living https://acl.gov/ Alzheimers Association https://www.alz.org/ American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging https://leadingage.org/ Aging Life Care Association https://www.aginglifecare.org/ National Council on Aging https://www.ncoa.org/ Senior Homes https://www.seniorhomes.com/ Assisted Living Foundation of America http://www.alfahousing.org/ National Center for Assisted living https://www.ahcancal.org/Assisted-Living/Pages/default.aspx Memory Care Facility Locator https://www.memorycarefacilities.net/ Today's Caregiver magazine https://caregiver.com/ National nursing home database https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/?redirect=true&providerType=NursingHome There are others, but this is a good start.

This week, I'm kind of on a soapbox. It seems that some people will keep asking about LTC insurance until someone tells them they don't need it. No one knows if we'll need help living at some point or not. We need to ask ourselves who the insurance is going to help. We're going to get care whether we plan or not. We need to ask oursleves who wil suffer the consequences of our failure to plan. It's the people helping us. We say we don't want to "burden our family", but by not discussing where we want to live, who we want helping us and how we will pay for care, by default, we are burdening them. Please review current and projected costs of care where you live here and please use at least a 4% annual increase in costs as we've seen that and more across the country over the last three decades. Then, schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to design your family's plan here

This week, we decided to answer some questions that we don't get as often as some others, but they're still very relevant. When plannng for long term care needs, we need to gather enough information to be able to decide what kind of plans will fit our needs best. We're here to help and to address those questions that you may not have thought to ask. Listen and then schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to design your plan to protect your family through an extended care need. Schedule here

It seems that with nearly every person or couple I work with, a version of this question comes up. Which plan do I recommend most often? Although all LTC plans are similar in how to qualify for benefits, each company and even each plan within a company carries unique attributes to that are attractive to various wants and needs of interested buyers.. This week, Diane shares different/unique characteristics offered inside hybrod life/LTC plans. The premiums can't be too high or too low compared to the competition, or one company will get far too many applicants (leading to many more future claims) than other carriers. The lopsidedness of the financial obligations would really mess up that company's future committments. So if premiums ar similar across the industry, each company needs its own way to attract the clients they want to attract. Listen and learn some of the unique ways companies diffrentiate themselves. Email me at diane@preparing4tomorrow.com and ask me for more info on hybrid LTC planning strategies. Then schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to design your plan here

This is the beginning of our 6th year!!! This week, Diane interviews Jason Dutra with BuddyIns again. We discuss tax-benefits of worksite LTC insurance and hybrid life/LTC worksite plans. How are these plan offerings different than other group benefits that employers offer? How can employers use group life/LTC plans to show how much they care about their employees? When employees know their employer cares about them and their families, they are more productive. Everyone is happier, and employee retention is strong. If you are a business owner with at least 3 employees, there are worksite LTC plans available for you to consider. These plans have guaranteed issue rights, so no medical questions to qualify. If you are an employee and have been declined for LTC, you can ask your employer if they would consider offering this benefit to some or all the people who work there. Schedule some time with me to explore options here

This week, after hearing from a client who wishes she would have bought more insurance a decade ago, Diane shares decisions that others have made in the past and now regret it. These people, if they had thought through their decisions before making them, could have ended up with much better outcomes. When planning to provide for ourselves and protect our families, we need to take action. And we need to not skip the small things. The small things in these stories would have made all the difference. We all have a plan for our own future long term care needs. Some will just let things happen and will end up being "put" somewhere. Those who proactively seek solutions end up with much better choices later on. You can view both current and projected costs of home care, assisted living, and nursing home care where you live or plan to live here I recommend you use 5% inflation on care as that's what we've seen for three decades. Then schedule a phone or zoom meeting to start designing your plan here Then you'll be Prepared for Tomorrow!!!

This week, we look at premiums of traditional, stand-alone LTC plans. Diane shares a plan that her clients designed 10 years ago when they were 49 and compares that to the same plan for a 49 year old couple today, a 59 year old couple today and a 69 year old couple today. Listen and learn how both premiums and benefits at each age (and time) differ. You'll be surprised when learning the total premiums paid at 49 and 69, and more importantly, the difference in benefits availabe at age 79 for each plan. View current and projected costs of care where you live here Be sure to use a 5% cost of living rate as that's the average cost of care increase over the last 30 years. Schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to start designing your plan here Let's wotk together so you and your favorite people are prepared for tomorrow!

This week, Diane compares 10 year hybrid Life/LTC plans with 10 year paid up funding for a couple age 50, age 60, and age 70 to share why it's so much better for everyone when we plan early. Even though we don't want to think about it, at age 50, we need to consider what our 70 year old self, our 80 year old self and even our 90 year old self may be like and what kind of help we may need. Genuinely see the older people around you - your family, people at the grocery store, people walking out to their mailbox to get the mail. Are they moving more slowly or unbalanced as compared to how they may have been able to move around 10, 20 or 30 years ago? Why would we really think we'll be different? By starting at age 50 onstead of 60, you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums over your lifetime, get your policies paid in full before you retire and then have 10 times what you paid in premiums to pay for care needs wherever you and your family and doctor sees as the best and safest place for you to live and get help living. You'll know you have a plan for when things don't go as planned. View current and projected costs od care where you live here and remember to use a 5% cost of living adjustment when considering future costs as that is the average rate of inflation on LTC services. Schedule a phome or zoom meetign to start designing your plan here