Life Insurance, Disability and Long-Term Care

Life insurance has several purposes. Its most important function is to replace the earnings that would cease at the death of the insured. It's also used to pay potential estate taxes.

If you die during your earning years, your family could suffer a severe economic loss as a result of losing your current and future income. Unfortunately, your family would still have to pay its regular bills, the mortgage, outstanding debts, and perhaps even continue saving for college and retirement. Unless you're independently wealthy, achieving these goals may be virtually impossible for your family with the loss of your steady income. Life insurance offers a way for your family to continue living comfortably and without worry. For businesses, life insurance is a way to protect key employees and the business itself.

Your income is the foundation upon which your financial plan is built. How can you ensure that your goals will be met if your ability to produce income is diminished? We’ll assist you in determining your needs for income in the event of an untimely illness or injury, assess the assets you may already have personally or through work benefits, and implement income protection so that there would be enough to protect your loved ones.

When people consider the subject of long-term care, they often think about nursing homes. In fact long-term care has little to do with nursing homes. Understanding the difference can help you protect your family and finances. If you need on-going, custodial care, chances are it will be delivered in the community, not in a nursing home. Every study conducted finds that care is overwhelmingly provided at home. The key question, of course, is who is going to pay for it?

Long-term care encompasses the care, services, and housing you will need when you live a long life. Think back 25 years ago. If you had cancer or a stroke, you simply died. Few ever heard of Alzheimer's, but today it is one of the leading causes for long-term care services. The longer you live, the more likely you are to need care. The question is not who will take care of you, because your family will most often, but rather what providing that care will do to your family and finances.

The use of long-term care insurance has become an important part of planning for disability resulting from living a long life. The coverage serves to both keep families and care providers healthy, and allows your retirement portfolio to be used for the purpose for which it was intended, namely retirement. Medicare, the primary health care program for retirees, pays only for skilled, medically oriented or rehabilitative care, not custodial care in any venue.

For more information on Life, Disability or Long-Term Care Insurance please contact:

Janice Berner, CPA, MBA, CLTC, CDFA 781-876-4111