Long-Term Care-What's All the Fuss About?

It is universally agreed that no one wants to think about their parents or themselves in a situation where they are no longer able to do everything they used to do without any assistance. So, what’s all the fuss about? The fuss is about not wanting to think about nor make a plan for long-term care. Should we continue not thinking about it or put a long-term care plan in place that will be able to handle the situation when it arrives?

With a long-term care plan in place, we as children will be able to continue maintaining our roles as children rather than caregivers. We will continue our relationships with our parents by visiting, having family gatherings, outings and celebrations together. It also means that the chores of caregiving will be handled by the caregivers entrusted to care for our parents.

Parents usually do not want to burden their children with their long-term care, but still want their children involved in their lives. The physical and emotional side to caregiving is more than most can handle. When the roles are reversed with the child now caring for the parent, the family dynamics change drastically. Caregiving for our children is expected, but for our parents it is difficult. We look to our parents as mentors, advisors and reversing the role of child and parent has emotional consequences.

A Long-Term care insurance policy can help make an unpleasant situation more bearable by providing the finances to pay for caregiving in the home. Most people would like to stay at home to receive care. It is hard enough to admit that someone you love needs help with the activities of daily living such as bathing, grocery shopping household chores. However, keeping them in the familiar surroundings of their own home minimizes the trauma these events have on the families.

Your need for long-term care could not only deplete the inheritance you had planned on leaving to your children, it may also affect their financial security, career goals, as well as their personal lifestyle. To alleviate these problems, more and more parents and their grown children are putting both their heads and their money together to develop a long-term care plan.

Long-Term care insurance may offer security to both parents and children, by assuring that education, retirement income, and inheritance dollars will not be invaded to pay for care needed by an older parent. In some cases, children and parents are sharing in the cost of coverage. The emotional issue of inheritance, mixed with the stress of the potential need for long-term care provides the catalyst for grown children to consider paying for at least some of the Long-Term care insurance premium for their parents. This may also alleviate the potential problems that might arise among siblings once a parent requires long-term care.

Although inheritance and income protection are the rational reasons behind having the long-term care conversation with parents, the primary motivation for grown children to consider sharing in the premium with their parents is the peace of mind of knowing that their parents will have options for quality care-options that otherwise might not be available to them. Long-Term care insurance is purchased because the emotional and psychological benefits of knowing their parents will be well cared for outweigh the cost of the premiums.

If you haven’t had the conversation with your parents, the time is now. Planning for long-term care now when everyone is healthy and has good cognitive ability will make you say Long-term care…what’s all the fuss about?

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