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Addressing the potential threat of long-term care expenses may be one of the biggest financial challenges for individuals who are developing a retirement strategy.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 69% of people over age 65 can expect to need extended care services at some point in their lives. So, understanding the various types of long-term care services – and what those services may cost – is critical as you consider your retirement approach.1

What Is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care is not a single activity. It refers to a variety of medical and non-medical services needed by those who have a chronic illness or disability that is most commonly associated with aging.

Long-term care can include everything from assistance with activities of daily living – help dressing, bathing, using the bathroom, or even driving to the store – to more intensive therapeutic and medical care requiring the services of skilled medical personnel.

Long-term care may be provided at home, at a community center, in an assisted living facility, or in a skilled nursing home. And long-term care is not exclusively for the elderly; it is possible to need long-term care at any age.

How Much Does Long-Term Care Cost?

Long-term care costs vary state by state and region by region. The national average for care in a skilled care facility (semi-private in a nursing home) is $85,775 a year. The national average for care in an assisted living center is $45,000 a year. Home health aides cost a median $18,200 per year, but that rate may increase when a licensed nurse is required.

Individuals who would rather not burden their family and friends have two main options for covering the cost of long-term care: they can choose to self-insure or they can purchase long-term care insurance.

Many self-insure by default – simply because they haven’t made other arrangements. Those who self-insure may depend on personal savings and investments to fund any long-term care needs. The other approach is to consider purchasing long-term care insurance, which can cover all levels of care, from skilled care to custodial care to in-home assistance.

When it comes to addressing your long-term care needs, many look to select a strategy that may help them protect assets, preserve dignity, and maintain independence. If those concepts are important to you, consider your approach for long-term care.

▲Long-term care planning
At age 65, the lifetime likelihood of needing at least some care is nearly 70%. Most often, care will be at home although it may progress to other settings. Duration of care needs vary widely, with about 5 in 10 men and 4 in 10 women requiring significant care for zero – 90 days and 1 in 10 men and nearly 2 in 10 women needing significant care for 5 years or more. When planning for long-term care consider multiple solutions that may be utilized including family assistance, income, savings, home equity, life insurance for a surviving spouse, and insurance options that range from traditional long-term care insurance to combination products. (2)

Sources

1. fool.com/retirement/2018/09/02/5-long-term-care-stats-that-will-blow-you-away.aspx
2. https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/gim/protected/adv/insights/guide-to-retirement

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

Here’s why many people choose annuities for for retirement income, and what prospective annuity holders should consider.

Imagine an income stream you cannot outlive.

That sums up the appeal of an annuity. If you are interested in steady retirement income (and the potential to defer taxes), you might want to look at the potential offered by annuities. Before making the leap, however, you must understand how they work.

Just what is an annuity?

It is an income contract you arrange with an insurance company. You provide a lump sum or continuing contributions to fund the contract; in return, the insurer agrees to pay you a specific amount of money in the future, usually per month. If you are skittish about stocks and searching for a low-risk alternative, annuities may appear very attractive. While there are different kinds of annuities available with myriad riders and options that can be attached, the basic annuity choices are easily explained. (2)

Annuities can be either immediate or deferred.

With an immediate annuity, payments to you begin shortly after the inception of the income contract. With a deferred annuity, you make regular contributions to the annuity, which accumulate on a tax-deferred basis for a set number of years (called the accumulation phase) before the payments to you begin. (1,2)

Annuities can be fixed or variable.

Fixed annuities pay out a fixed amount on a recurring basis. With variable annuities, the payment can vary: these investments do essentially have a toe in the stock market. The insurer places some of the money that you direct into the annuity into Wall Street investments, attempting to capture some of the upside of the market, while promising to preserve your capital. Some variable annuities come with a guaranteed income benefit option: a pledge from the insurer to provide at least a certain level of income to you. (1,3)

In addition, some annuities are indexed.

These annuities can be either fixed or variable; they track the performance of a stock index (often, the S&P 500), and receive a credit linked to its performance. For example, if the linked index gains 8% in a year, the indexed annuity may return 4%. Why is the return less than the actual index return? It is because the insurer usually makes you a trade-off: it promises contractually that you will get at least a minimum guaranteed return during the early years of the annuity contract. (3)

Annuities require a long-term commitment.

Insurance companies expect annuity contracts to last for decades; they have built their business models with this presumption in mind. So, if you change your mind and decide to cancel an annuity contract a few years after it begins, you may have to pay a surrender charge – in effect, a penalty. (Most insurance companies will let you withdraw 10-15% of the money in your annuity without penalty in an emergency.) Federal tax law also discourages you from withdrawing money from an annuity – if the withdrawal happens before you are 59½, you are looking at a 10% early withdrawal penalty just like the ones for traditional IRAs and workplace retirement accounts. (1,3)

Annuities can have all kinds of “bells and whistles.”

Some offer options to help you pay for long-term care. Some set the length of the annuity contract, with a provision that if you die before the contract ends, the balance remaining in your annuity will go to your estate. In fact, some annuities work like joint-and-survivor pensions: when an annuity owner dies, payments continue to his or her spouse. (Generally, the more guarantees, riders, and options you attach to an annuity, the lower your income payments may be.) (1)

Deferred annuities offer you the potential for great tax savings.

The younger you are when you arrange a deferred annuity contract, the greater the possible tax savings. A deferred annuity has the quality of a tax shelter: its earnings grow without being taxed, they are only taxable once you draw an income stream from the annuity. If you start directing money into a deferred annuity when you are relatively young, that money can potentially enjoy many years of tax-free compounding. Also, your contributions to an annuity may lower your taxable income for the year(s) in which you make them. While annuity income is regular taxable income, you may find yourself in a lower tax bracket in retirement than when you worked. (1)

Please note that annuities come with minimums and fees.

The fee to create an annuity contract is often high when compared to the fees for establishing investment accounts – sometimes as high as 5-6%. Annuities typically call for a minimum investment of at least $5,000; realistically, an immediate annuity demands a five- or six-figure initial investment. (3)

No investment is risk free, but an annuity does offer an intriguing investment choice for the risk averse. If you are seeking an income-producing investment that attempts to either limit or minimize risk, annuities may be worth considering.

▲Understanding annuities: Which annuity may be right for you?

Annuities come in all shapes and sizes, which can often confuse investors. This chart helps to identify the type of annuity that aligns to specific income needs and tolerance for investment risk, and provides information about how the annuity growth and payout amounts are determined, as well as other key characteristics to know.

Sources

1. investopedia.com/articles/retirement/05/063005.asp
2. forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/01/04/annuities-explained-in-plain-english/#626afc215bd6
3. apps.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD012&SRCN=aoedetails&GnavID=20&SnavID=29&TnavID&AreasofExpertiseID=107
4. https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/gim/protected/adv/insights/guide-to-retirement

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.

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What are your options for insuring yourself prior to age 65?

If you retire before age 65, you must be prepared to address two insurance issues.

One, finding health coverage in the period before you can sign up for Medicare. Two, finding a way to pay for that coverage.

You know it will probably be expensive, but do you realize just how expensive?

A single retiree may pay as much as $500-1,000 per month for private health insurance. For a couple, the monthly premiums can surpass $2,000. These are ballpark figures; fortunately, seniors without pre-existing health conditions can locate some less expensive plans offering short-term coverage, albeit with high deductibles. (1,2)

If you find yourself in this situation, what are your options?

It is time to examine a few.

You could retire gradually or take a part-time job with access to a group health plan.

Ask your employer if a phased retirement is possible, so you can maintain the coverage you have a bit longer. Securing part-time work with health benefits elsewhere could be a tall order, as it may be much tougher to find a job in your early sixties; not all employers value experience as much as they should.

You could turn to the health insurance exchanges.

Purchasing your own coverage could be a first for you, and you may not be optimistic about your prospects at the Health Insurance Marketplace (healthcare.gov) or a state exchange. Your prospects could be better than you assume. As a Miami Herald article points out, a married couple younger than 65 earning around $65,000 could likely get a bronze plan for free through the Marketplace, thanks to federal government subsidies. A couple would be eligible for such aid with projected 2019 earnings in the range of $16,460-$65,840. For the record, the open enrollment period for buying 2019 coverage ends December 15. (2)

You could arrange COBRA coverage.

If you voluntarily or involuntarily retire from a company or organization that has 20 or more employees and a group health plan, that employer must give you the option of extending the health insurance you had while working for up to 18 months (or in some instances, up to 36 months). This is federal law, part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985. (There is a notable exception to this: an employer can legally choose not to offer you COBRA benefits if you were fired due to “gross misconduct,” though the law defines that term hazily.) COBRA coverage is expensive: you effectively pay your employer’s monthly premium as well as your own, plus a 2% administrative fee. If you miss a premium payment by more than 30 days, your COBRA benefits may be canceled. (3,4)

You might be lucky enough to secure retiree health insurance.

Some employers do offer this to retiring workers; if yours does not, your spouse’s employer might. It is not cheap by any means, but it may be worthwhile. (1)

As a last option, you could move to another country (or state).

You could relocate to a nation that has either a universal health care system or much cheaper health care costs than ours does, either temporarily or permanently. If you decide to stay in that nation for the long term, you will really need to think about whether or not you want to sign up for Medicare at 65. Alternately, another state may present you with a cheaper health care picture than your current state does; a little research may reveal some potential savings. (1)

Review these options before you retire.

See how the costs fit into your budget. Have a conversation about this topic with an insurance or financial professional, because you may end up leaving work years prior to age 65.

▲ Rising annual health care costs in retirement

This chart illustrates the current range of total out-of-pocket health care costs experienced by today’s 65-year-old, and how those costs may increase over time. These costs include traditional Medicare with a supplemental policy. Supplemental policies, called Medigap, fill in gaps in Medicare coverage such as co-pays and deductibles. Part D for prescription drugs and out-of-pocket expenses are also included. Median costs are about $5,210 per person. Median costs are projected to more than triple over 20 years for three reasons: 1) higher than average inflation for health care expenses; 2) increased use of health care at older ages; and 3) Medigap premiums that increase not only with inflation but also due to increased age. It is important to note that these costs do not include most long-term care expenses. (4)

Sources

1. forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/08/07/shopping-for-health-insurance-before-medicare-kicks-in
2. tinyurl.com/yccclxmc
3. bizfilings.com/toolkit/research-topics/office-hr/what-is-cobra-what-employers-need-to-know forbes.com/sites/heatherlocus/2018/10/21/what-you-need-to-know-about-3-key-options-for-health-insurance-after-divorce/
4. https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/gim/protected/adv/insights/guide-to-retirement

This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.