Preparing For Tomorrow podcast

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

It's football season! This week, Diane compares football to LTC planning. Every team needs a quarterback, position players and a strong defense. We also need depth - a back up plan in case something or someone isn't the right fit for our needs. We need strategies and gameplans so we are prepared for tomorrow. The most difficult part of LTC planing is we never know what we're going to need to defend against or when we need to be ready to defend. No one is sending a schedule in advance, so we need to prepare today to have the best plan we can obtain no matter who our opponent is. I'll be your coach and help you strengthen your strategies and your team so you can all be Prepared for Tomorrow. Email me at diane@preparing4tomorrow.com and I'll email you a Planning Guide to help you start thinking about how and where and with whom you would want to live if you can no longer live independently. Schedule a phone or zoom meeting wih me to start designing your gameplan here

This week, we're discussing worksite/group LTC plans, which have evolved a lot since group plans started being offered through employers. Jason Dutra with BuddyIns shares how they are committed to helping the 50+ million family caregivers in the U.S. today. He shares how today's worksite offerings differ from those offered in previous decades, including guaranteed premiums that never change. This was a big concern with past plans and has now been resolved. We discuss how worksite plans help both employers and employees prepare for tomorrow's industry and family needs. We also discuss why someone can benefit from having both a worksite and an individual plan. Listen and schedule some time with me here to plan for yourself. Schedule a 15 minute meeting here to see if a worksite solution can bring value to your company. View both current and projected future costs of care where you live here and be sure to use a 5% cost of living/inflation factor as that's what we've witnessed over the last three decades.

So many people want a long term care plan with all the bells and whistles. They want a plan that will pay for everything that could ever happen. These plans are often priced higher than a budget allows. Why do people state that they want no coverage if they can't get the best plan out there? We don't do this anywhere but with LTC insurance. Do we not own a car because we can't afford a Tesla? No. Do we not eat because we can't afford the steak? No. When I work wit you, we work together to determine how much risk is both acceptable and affordable. There are plans offered to people on a stricter budget. There are plans that accept medical concerns that other plans don't accept. There are plans offered to age 89 in some states. Listen and then scheudle some time to work through this together here

This week, Diane uses the Parable of the Sower to share different reactions to LTC planning that occur in the United States. Are you the hard soil? The rocky soil? The thorny soil? The fertile soil? After listening, you can schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to start planning to prepare for your family's tomorrow here

Many have been advised by a financial planner, estate planning attorney or other professional that they have enough assets to "self-insure" future LTC needs. The question is not "can I afford it?" but "Is this the best use of assets to fund future care needs?" This episode is full of questions you should be asking yourself and your advisors if they tell you you can afford to self-fund. Listen and schedule some time with me to consider the risk and search for the most cost-efficient ways to pay for extended care here View current and projected costs of care where you live here Learn what your state Medicaid system lets you keep here

This week, I'm sharing what I learned about public LTC funding in Germany and how it's managed. Their national/local public funding initiative is alreaday underfunded by taxes, and the aging population there is expected to increase by 37% over the next 30 years. This is miniscule as compared to our aging population in the U.S. We need to learn from our past mistakes as well as from what other countries are attempting in this arena. Thank you to the Center for LTC Reform for their articles https://www.dw.com/en/german-nursing-homes-see-cost-for-care-explode/a-73501150 and https://centerltc.com/bullets/archives2003/469.htm And please schedule some time to Prepare for Your Tomorrow today here

This week, we're describing who may consider different types of LTC planning strategies and why. Stand-alone/traditional LTC vs. Hybrid Life/LTC vs. Hybrid Annuity/LTC. All provide tax-free benefits for extended care needs. Thank you to https://buddyins.com/ team for creating easy to understand documents that agents can share with their clients. Listen and consider which category of coverage can fit your needs and financial structure best and let's talk. Schedule a free consultation to learn more here

In our third week with our couple in their 80s, we consider options to obtain the most LTC benefits from annuities. If you already own annuities, check for a Chronic Illness rider or LTC rider. If there is one, read it carefully as different rules apply to access enhanced benefits for care. If you need help understanding your rider, ask me for guidance here Some pay the LTC benefits tax-free and some don't. Some require your need to be permanent, some don't. Some will enhance benefits for both cognitive and physical needs, and some don't. If you own an annuity (non-IRA) with a good amount of earnings, it can be repositioned to an annuity that can pay potentially three times the account value of the annuity, or more, tax-free when used for care. This eliminates all the taxable gains your current annuity has earned over the years. If your annuity IS your LTC plan, there are wiser ways to use it than simply withdrawing the earnings and paying taxes on the gains. Schedule with me to learn more here

Last week, I shared how not having a plan can create chaos throughout the whole family when long term care is needed. This week, I used the same need and family but added LTC insurance as a tool to help pay for care expenses. Listen and learn how helpful even a small plan can work to make life a little less difficult during a very difficult time. Then schedule some time with me to design your plan here See current and projected costs of care (use 5% COLA to project here Learn what your state's Medicaid program let's you keep and qualify for help here

This week, Diane shares a story of what can happen when there is no plan for extended care or long term care. With cataract surgery adjustments today and super dialated eyes, rhis is all that can be said this week. Sorry for any typos, I can't see well at all. Listen sand schedule to design your family's plan here

We're getting bad news from what seems like every direction these days. Governments and media are all talking about wars and destruction. But this is not new. We've been through these kinds of events before, too many times, and we're still here and moving forward. We can't let panic, wars and market crashes control our choices. These thnigs happen without our input. We can control our clarity, courage and conviction to stay on course. If you've been considering planning for future extended care needs, or if you've been working on your plan, don't stop now. Too many find a reason to pause and then forget their reasons for planning in the first place. Then, 10 or 20 years go by, and something happens to them or someone close to them, and they restart their search. At that point, plans are much more expensive or not available due to age or health concerns. Let's work together to design your plan today and protect those you love most tomorrow. Schedule here

Hello all, I recently had cataract surgery in both eyes, and my eyes get tired if I look at the computer too long. I need to take breaks while recovering. Instead of discussing shared and individual LTC annuities this week, I need to share an episode that was aired last summer. This will remind you how LTC annuities can help both protect your family if you need extended care and also eliminate all those gains on your non-IRA annuities you've been holding on to because you don't want to pay more in taxes. LTC annuities have very few health questions and are more easily approved. Schedule with me here to learn how you can avoid sharing your annuity earnings with Uncle Sam.

After reviewing planning strategies for hybrid or linked benefit LTC plans, this week we are comparing shared and individual traditional or stand-alone LTC plans. Yes, there have been rate increases on these plans, but over the last 20 years or so, traditional LTC plans have gotten much healthier. Listen and learn how. When funding using income or on a budget, these plans can help families afford to get through an extended care need without bankrupting their loved ones. It's easy to see that there are several ways to design and fund your long term care plan. Schedule some time to start preparing for your tomorrow here Learn what your state Medicaid program lets you keep to qualify for state Medicaid benefits (not recommended by us) here View both current and projected costs of care here