I'm 26 years old and healthy. I am debt-free, dependent-free, and spouse-free. LOL.
Are their any benefits to going ahead and getting LTC insurance coverage and/or life insurance now? Is it cheaper to get it now rather than wait until I am older?
Well, back around when I was your age (not too long ago!
), I actually wound up buying a life insurance product from a fraternal benefit society that I also bought a small annuity in (wanted to diversify my investments). To make a long story short, the 'agent' was just some rank and file member who didn't know squat about the policy, and who told me one thing yet said another...and I discovered that the policy wasn't quite as guaranteed as she initially claimed it was (let it lapse after 1 year).
I also looked at LTC policies. Probably should have bought one, since the industry was still very young, and I could have bought a guaranteed paid-for-life policy for (what today would be) peanuts. But I didn't know if it would be worth it in the long haul.
Your decision to look at disability policies is pretty good. Just be aware that your location you live in can be just as much of a factor as your age and health! How much longer are you looking to be out of the US? I don't know if your current location would be a plus or a negative. In this situation, it could be worth it to contact an agent who has some experience with different companies, and knows what they look for as factors.
Just remember to look at different variables for any policy (life/LTC/disability) that you shop for. With a decent emergency fund, if you switch to a longer waiting period (6 months, perhaps 12 months?) the premium difference might be substantial. Compared to LTC and Life, a disability policy will be much more expensive, since the insurance company will be more likely to pay out on a disability policy than LTC or life in your situation.
In LTC, it's cheaper when you're married, and cheaper when you're younger. The biggest thing about those policies is that very few have true "guaranteed" rates. They must file with the state's insurance commissioner, and must raise everyone in the policy (not just you), but many people have received 25%/50%/more periodic rate hikes over the years due to more people collecting, and the insurers under-pricing the policies in the early years due to lack of mis-pricing the product. A quoted premium that might make sense today could result in an unfavorable analysis 10 years from now when they hike your premiums 50%, and then another 25% hike 5 years later.