Aging is one of the constants in all of our lives. Even those of us who will never mature still will age.
Very often with aging comes a decline in our functioning. The statistics on the number of people who will require some sort of long-term care during their lifetimes and the projected costs for that care are astounding.
Just a quick Google search reveals that the average cost of long-term care in Illinois is currently $178 per day. (We will take this as fact for the purposes of our example.) On average, that means a year in a long-term care facility in Illinois will cost around $65,000. The projections I have seen say that those costs could increase to anywhere between $10,000–$20,000 per month over the next several years.
So that begs the question: How will people cover these costs? Even if someone has accumulated a significant amount of wealth over the course of their lives, their assets could be exhausted quickly if the projections come to fruition. Basic economics seem to indicate that they probably will.
When planning for the payment of nursing home care, there are typically three groups of individuals: 1) Pre-planners—these are the folks who are hopefully many years ahead of the time when they may require long-term care; 2) Planners—these people have a strong likelihood that they will require long-term care within the next few years; and 3) Nursing facility residents—long-term care is necessary now.
Those who fall into the first two groups have more flexibility with planning, which means they can do more to preserve their assets for future generations. While the options are much more limited for the third group, they can still take steps to preserve their assets.
Long-term care planning is complex, and handling it yourself can cause unintended consequences. What I can guarantee is that, if you do nothing, the nest-egg you have worked hard to acquire could dwindle to almost nothing because of nursing home expenses. It's never too late to contact your attorney and other advisers to plan for your current or future needs.
