Preparing For Tomorrow podcast

Diane interviews Kelly Stuart Williams with Pegasos Public Relations and learns how her parent's LTC insurance helped Kelly and her kids manage two parents' needs with two different forms of dementia.  Without a plan, the family could have and would have been thrown into a medical, financial, physical and emotional catastrophe.  Dementia is a big problem already, and having financing and resources from their insurance helped to lessen some of the negative impact of these needs.  Kelly knows her parents loved her, and that they prepared so she could build and grow her marketing business while raising her kids to become three amazing young adults.

The best Valentine's gift you can give your family is a plan for when you need extended care.  The National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP recently published "Caregiving in the U.S. 2020", and Diane shares some of their statistics on unpaid caregivers. When you own LTC insurance, you are helping your family to be care managers rather than care providers.  Let paid workers do the work while your kids and family can continue their lives and careers while overseeing your care needs.  Love IS being Prepared for Tomorrow!

Marilyn in New York thinks she knows what amount of LTC benefits she wants, but she's not sure.  She's also concerned that the company she wants won't accept her.  She wants to know what people do when in this predicament.  What steps can we take to ensure we have the right amount of benefits with a company that is most likely to approve our application?  Diane shares her insight and experice in these situations.

Diane interviews Judy Kane, Psych-K facilitator and author of "Your 4 Truths: How beliefs Impact Your Life".  Judy coaches her clients to quickly recognize and adjust false beliefs and to perceive new truths that can help them to make better every day and life decisions.  When planning for future LTC needs, it's sometimes difficult to make decisions about things we don't want to happen.  We learn from Judy how to see what is preventing us from making decisions about our own future while we design a roadmap for our family to follow.

This week, Erin can't qualify for traditional or hybrid LTC insurance due to health.  We share her background and financial position as well as the solution we designed together to help cover potential long term care needs.  All the numbers shared are hypothetical as there is no way to predict actual future returns. If you've been declined for LTC insurance, alternative options may be available

We're making some changes.  We'll still answer one question each month, and in the following three weeks, Diane will share case samples of client's she has helped, how LTC insurance is really not for us but for our families - to help them navigate our LTC crisis, and we'll bring back one guest in a related field each month.  This week, Carla was declined by a company recommended by her bank and wants to know if every company will now decline her.  Please listen, like, share and subscribe.  And check out Podnods to hear more valuable podcasts that they are helping to promote.

This week, I want to thank all our listeners for your support and especially for the great questions you asked all year long.  It's because of you that this podcast is helping families to learn how to prepare for the enormous risk of needing extended care from an accident or illness, or when we simply live long enough to get old.  The best gift you can give your family is a plan to protect them when life doesn't go as planned.  I'm thankful the God led me to be able to help design these plans.  Merry Christmas and happy holidays!  We'll meet again next year!

This week, Diane shares that assets don't pay for LTC needs; income pays this as LTC services create a bill, or invoice that must be paid weekly or monthly.  If we don't have enough income, we need to sell assets to create income.  Diane shares some of the financial consequences when we rapidly start selling assets to fund an extended care need.

This week, Diane discusses why covering the "average" 2.5 year LTC need may not be enough to protect your family.  500,000 families will be hit by Alzheimer's disease in the next 12 months, turning their whole family upside downin an instant.  People with Alzheimer's live anywhere between 3-11 years, and sometimes for 20 years or more.  Today, dementia care can cost more than $10,000/month.  How long can our families support this need?  The time for planning is before something happens!

This week, Susan in Minnesota wants to know how the Alternate Plan of Care clause works in a long term care policy.  Diane first shares what a Plan of Care is and then shares some examples of when the alternate plan of care clause helps both the carriers and the policy holders.  Some contracts include this clause and some don't.  It depends on what type of plan you have and when it was placed in force.  Read your policy.  Ask me for help if you don't understand what it says.

It's been a rough couple of weeks since Paul's mum went to be with the Lord, but we're both getting through this and getting from this season.  Diane shares how the last several months have been and how having a long term care insurance plan in place helped the whole family as we worked to honor Doreen's desire to live at home to the end...it almost happened because she had a plan and two goals - to not burden her son and to leave him her legacy. Today, we cry and smile through treasured memories.

We're having a rough time this week, and likely for several weeks or longer as Paul's mom died last Thursday.  She made it to 90, and thanks to her LTC plan she was able to live at home with help until the last month or so.  Don't know how long this funk will last, but my goal is to be back to answering your questions next week.  Thank you for listening and for your commitment to learn how to protect your family through an extended care need.

LTC insurance is not like any other insurance as we need to work with so much uncertainty when designing a plan.  With property insurance, we assess and insure the value of the property.  Health insurers have tremendous negotiating power to keep costs down when we go to the hospital.  LTC insures and pays what we as individuals have contracted them to pay.  Diane shares what decisions go into planning so each family can obtain coverage that is meaningful to their unique needs, usually 20-40 years from the date of purchase.

Welcome to season 3!!!!  Steven in New Jersey asked about contingent non-forfeiture.  He wants to know if every LTC plan has it.  Diane shares what both the contingent NF rider is as well as the optional NF rider that you can add to a traditional Tax-Qualified LTC plan.  Hybrid or linked benefit plans have a cash surrender value rather than non-forfeiture.  Listen and learn how they differ, and how this all works when used.

Although Maria's husband has used over $393,0000 on LTC benefits over the last 5 years, it wasn't enough.  He still needs help with dementia, and they will need to start spending down assets until he qualifies for Medicaid.  With Alzheimer's disease in his family, they know now that spending another $40,000 on LTC insurance would have saved them not only $100K+ today, but also would give them more control over where he will recveive care for the rest of his life.  Learn from their mistake so you and your family can be Prepared for Tomorrow.

There are optinal benefits with many  LTC plans.  How do they work and which are more useful and useble than others?  Diane shares optional benefit options that used to be offered and also which ones to consider seriously if you are planning today.  Please join us on Thursday, Sept 9th at 10 AM pst/1 PM est for a Zoom webinar "Women and Long Term Care"  we will be addressing many questions that women have about LTC and LTC insurance.  Register here

Nicole wants to know how using the LTC benefit will affect the death benefit in a life/LTC combo product.  Diane shares some different ways the insurance companies design these plans and how they pay.  Plans and benefits need to match the goals of the policy owner and their family.  Let's discuss what kind of plan will work best for you.

I'm amazed at how many people in the last week have told me they wish they would have taken the new Washington tax, or WA Cares Act more seriously sooner, when more options were available from insurers.  Today, in Washington, there are only a few companies offering limited LTC coverage options.  Other states are watching to see if the WA plan will work, and several are already developing drafts for their own state as every state is working to figure out how to afford to provide for those who can't or won't plan for themselves.  Don't wait until your state throws everyone into a panic to "hurry up" and buy LTC insurance without first educating yourself, and then designing a plan that meets your family's needs.

After last week's episode on tax deductibility of LTC insurance premiums, we received multiple inquiries about taxes and C corporations paying for LTC insurance for some key employees.  This is apparently a HOT TOPIC!!!  Yes, corporations can often deduct premiums paid for employees, the employees receive LTC coverage with tax free benefits, and the employee's gross income is not increased by this employer benefit.  Listen and learn how this strategy works and ask us to help you decide if this can be offered to your employees.

Maggie wants to know if she can place assets into a trust and qualify for Medicaid to pay for LTC needs.  That is a complex question, and Diane shares how that strategy compares to using LTC insurance to pay.  Every strategy has advantages and disadvantages, and we need to carefully consider each when making these important decisions that can protect our family, assets and choices.