When should I buy long term care insurance?

Question

I am almost 51 years old. I've heard from various "experts" on when to get long term care insurance.

Anywhere from when one turns 55-60 years old.

When is the optimal time to start thinking about getting a long term care insurance?

Answer 1

The younger you are, the cheaper it is, just do the math, if you start now, how much will it cost you if you live to be, lets say 90, versus if you wait and start to pay for a more expensive rate till age 90.  in my case I already have mine, and I'm 41, I did the math and in the long run it was going to be cheaper by thousands of dollars, besides if I get sick now.. I'll be covered.

Works for me, might not work for you, just do the math and consider your health and family history, that's why I got mine early.

Michael...

Answer 2

There is no "optimal" time.  The younger you are, the cheaper it will be.  It can be used for anything dreamed long term, such as off work from a car accident for 6 months.  Not just nursing home or in home care.

Shop around, there are some good and a few great plans out there if you know where to look.  If you can afford it, get an unlimited plan.  Then you don't have to worry about running out of money in the plan.

Answer 3

I have met this kind of situation before,here is the place I found useful.http://insurance.free-onlinetip.info/ins...

Answer 4

Assuming you don't have something that runs in the family like Hunitngtons, Parkinson's, MS, Alzheimer's etc... that would warrant buying it when you're 45, then 55-60 is a good time.

If you buy it early enough you could consider doing what they call a 10-pay plan which pays up the policy in 10 years.  The advantage is when the company raises the rates 15 years later you wouldn't be affected.

If you've already decided that having long term care makes sense for you then waiting makes little to no sense.  There are exceptions..perhaps your mortgage would be paid off in 3 years, etc...  There's a risk to waiting but some times you have no choice.

If you assume your life expectancy was 30 years and you waited five years to buy a plan (and thus only paid for it over 25 years instead of 30), when you factor in the increased cost for the premium due to your age and the increased cost because you'd have to buy more coverage you'd end up paying the same amount over your life time.

In other words some people come up with these plans to put aside the premium for 5 or 10 years and then buy it using the savings.  But, when you do the math it's just a wash.  The BIG difference is you don't have the coverage if you need it and if you develop a condition that would keep you from getting it you'd be out of luck.

Even if something minor happens that could preclude you from getting a 'preferred' rate due to good health which could knock down the cost ~10%.

So, if you're going to get it....get it.

http://www.InsurancePickle.com  

Answer 5

The optimum time to buy any insurance is when you are healthy and when you are young.  Basically the best time to buy it is, when you don't need it becuase when you need it, it's too late and you can't buy it from anywhere at any price.

The younger you are, the cheaper it is.  Every year you wait, the more expensive it gets.  If you know you're going to need it eventually (and at your age, you will because all the baby boomers will be filling hospital beds until it becomes a bidding war at private care homes), why not buy it when it's cheaper.  In the long run it will very likely be cheaper to pay the extra couple years premium than wait and pay a higher premium the rest of your life.

If you are unhealthy chances are you won't be able to get the insurance at any age.

I would assume people are telling you between ages 55-60 are best because that's when the body begins to shut down on average.  What f you aren't average and you need the insurance prior to age 55 and can't get it?  I know several people in their 20s and 30s that are now uninsurable and can never purchase long term care insurance now.  Ask them when they think the optimum time to buy LTC insurance is...

Just my thoughts, but by it now.  I'm 29 and I've got lots of life insurance, and critical illness insurance (average age of critical illness diagnosis is 48, but I'm buying now, when it's $50 instead of paying $250 when I'm in the 40s).  I have applied for LTC insurance, but I'm currently un-insurable becuase of a pending knee surgery from a sports injury.  Depending on how the surgery goes, I may or may not become insurable for LTC again.