A Story I’ll Never Forget

An estate planning attorney once referred me to a couple who were in real distress about their future. The husband was using a walker and struggling with everyday tasks like dressing and bathing. They needed to cut expenses, and the wife was beginning to need some help too. They didn’t know where to turn.

I sat down with them, and we spent hours going through everything. When we reviewed their insurance policies, I discovered something they hadn’t fully realized: they both had long-term care insurance. Years earlier, someone had come to the husband’s workplace to talk about long-term care coverage, and he had decided to buy policies for them both.

That one decision changed everything.

First, we brought in home care to help him. Then, as their needs grew, I worked with a trusted placement specialist I partner with, an expert who helps families find the right new home for their loved ones and personally takes them on tours of assisted living and care communities. Together, we found a beautiful small care home on a river, a home for just three residents, where the couple could live together in a spacious master suite. Their long-term care insurance paid for it.

When her husband passed away, the wife’s policy alone couldn’t cover the suite. With the help of our placement specialist, we found her a lovely assisted living community, and her policy paid for that too. Then the community was hit by a tornado. Once again, we toured new options together and found her an even more beautiful community, and her long-term care insurance covered it.

For six years now, her policy has paid for her care, her room and board, her meals and the help she needs. She hasn’t had to worry about how she’ll pay for any of it.

Without that policy, her story would have been very different. Her savings would likely have run out long ago, and her choices would have been limited to whatever she could afford. Instead, she has had comfort, dignity, independence and choices, and a quality of life she never would have had without it.

Every policy is different, and benefits vary, which is why understanding your options matters.

I’ve seen the difference long-term care coverage makes, over and over again. That’s why I believe it’s one of the most important parts of preparing for aging.

Guided by Summer Jackson, Longevity Strategist & Certified Senior Advisor®