honobob said:
Probably wouldn't make sense to drop it then either but if CalPERS was shaky then I can drop it. Way easier to stop it than to start it.
It sounds like your CalPERS program eliminates the biggest problem I'm having with the whole issue: finding a company I feel very, very secure will be there financially in the future and will operate with absolute integrity (no loopholes in the rules, etc.)
People forget that they are receiving the benefit NOW even tho the odds are low.
Agree. In fact, I am starting to look at LTC this way.......the value has to be there for this year when I pay this year's premium. That is, if I pay $5K for 2007, I must feel satisfied I'm getting $5K of value in 2007. Not, that I'm securing some future value such as lower premiums when I'm older, etc. That's how I buy home, auto and liability insurance and I think it should hold true for LTC insurance as well.
You have to think of what would happen to your portfolio if you needed to pull out $60K+ a year starting tomorrow and have a spouse to support.
I have and we could afford to self-insure under the scenario you describe without impoverishing the other. A nursing home stay of many years coupled with years of poor market performance could get a little taxing. That's part of what's making my decision so tough
Do you want your spouse spending time with you or in the financial office?
I'll disagree slightly on that premise. If I went to a nursing home because I was critically ill and having time together was an issue, that means we're talking about a few months or a couple years of nursing home care. DW would simply write a check. That would probably be less time spent in the finance office than with insurance where she'd have to understand the EOB's and make sure she was paying only her share. If I was going to be there for years, then she'd have plenty of time to work with the finance office........
Three of my dad's sisters have needed care for 4-8 years. Two were cared at home by their children. I don't have children but if I did I wouldn't want to put them in the position where THEY had to deal with my care when really the cost to me is not all that much.
I wonder why your dad's sisters weren't placed in a nursing home? If they had money, they could pay. If they didn't, it would be a medicaid issue. Perhaps upon investigation, nursing homes that accepted medicaid were crappy? Or the kids were trying to preserve mom's estate for their inheritance? Or because the kids felt they could provide a better quality of life for their parents than a nursing home (under their specific circumstances) and did so irregardless of cost.
Well...... It's a tough decision filled with factors that were relatively easy to sort out with life, home, auto and liability insurance but difficult to sort out with LTC insurance.
Thanks very much for all the inputs. This is a very interesting discussion.