Long-term care has been a popular topic in the financial advising and insurance worlds for some time now, however, not all financial advisors are familiar with how the need for long-term care can affect a family’s finances. (more…)
As individuals age, their lives may become much more complex. Whether it’s an increased need for medical care (and navigating bureaucratic barriers to access it), the necessity of estate planning, the challenge of caring for an ailing spouse, the search for affordable living assistance for themselves, the battle with various forms of ageism, or contending with other age-related variables that add complexity to their situations, seniors have unique needs. These needs are rarely simple and generally warrant specialized consideration and legal expertise. (more…)
The Administration for Community Living has issued their 2017 Profile of Older Americansreport, and the data indicate several interesting and important trends in our country’s population demographics. Unfortunately, these trends dovetail to create a concerning picture of the financial needs and preparedness of this group.
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Retirement may be sneaking up on you—or perhaps it’s already arrived. You think you have enough money, but you suspect there are potential pitfalls out there that can sabotage your years of hard work and diligence. You’re right to be concerned, but there are some easy things you can do to mitigate your worries. Here are 5 simple things you can do to protect your nest egg. (more…)
As a financial advisor who works with older clients, you’re likely familiar with elder financial abuse. Perhaps you’ve even helped a client through a financially abusive experience.
Whether or not you’ve seen this issue firsthand, you may be surprised to know just how rampant a problem it is. (more…)
So much of our adult lives is spent working to acquire money. We want to increase our income, improve our investment returns, add to our retirement accounts.
Once we’ve sent our children through college, reached our retirement funding goals, and accomplished what’s important to us, those of us who want to can shift to a new way of thinking. We can start deciding how we’re going to give our money away. (more…)
If you’re a financial planner who works with retirement-age clients, the topic of life settlements should be a regular part of planning conversations.
Life settlements allow a life insurance policyholder to sell their policy to an institutional buyer for more than the policy's cash surrender value, but less than the net death benefit. The purchaser of the policy assumes responsibility for all future premium payments and receives the death benefit when the insured passes away. (more…)
If you or a loved one has had to enter a hospital in the last several years, you’re undoubtedly familiar with this scene that was recently highlighted by the AARP.
The patient is lying in a hospital bed, either awaiting or recovering from a procedure. Suddenly, a staff person who isn’t a doctor or nurse enters the room and introduces themselves as a member of the billing team. They talk to the patient and any family members present about what the bill is expected to cost, and ask how they would like to pay it. (more…)
Sooner or later, given enough time, most elderly adults will require care assistance, with much of this assistance requiring long-term care. While 65% of those needing care rely exclusively on those close to them, another 30% will employ paid providers for supplemental assistance.
In contrast to men, women are significantly overrepresented as care providers and provide the majority of support in a complex system of long-term care. According to an article published by the National Center on Caregiving, Women and Caregiving: Facts and Figures, the informal care provided by women to aging parents, spouses, friends, neighbors, and so forth ranges from $148 billion to $188 billion annually.
