Long Term Care Daily

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) is making strides in their quest to become an educational resource for Seniors beyond just Reverse Mortgages.  Today they released their guide on Medicaid and the National Aging Services Network.  I haven’t seen a copy yet, but I imagine it is pretty comprehensive as they are using if for education of Reverse Mortgage Brokers and their senior clients.

The guide is available for download at http://www.nrmla.org/digitalassets/Catalog.aspx.  It’s located on the bottom of the page under all their other audio downloads.  All the other downloads are Reverse Mortgage specific, but I think that this guide might be interesting to the readers of this blog since it gives a "comprehensive overview of the many Medicaid and the National Aging Services Network services" which are "available to seniors through federal and state government agencies".

An article out of USA Today highlighted the problems of retiring in an ailing economy.  The usual culprits of decreasing values of retirement funds, decreasing homes values and rising prices of consumables were the big three for this article.  “Americans need to face a sobering fact: They’re not likely to have as much money for retirement as they’d projected. Which means that many of us will have to save more, expect less and work longer than we’d planned.” 

With that said, the article continues by saying that most Americans are sorely behind in their savings for retirement.  The statistics they reported indicated that 36% of working Americans over the age of 55 have less than $25,000 in retirement savings.  Not enough to retire on let alone if there is a major health event.   Health care costs rise faster than even inflation does.  So this means that even if inflation has been taken into account for retirement plans, a major health event could still suck those savings and retirement funds faster than planned.

The article was even more pessimistic when it talked about Reverse Mortgages as an option for retirement.  It mentioned Yale economist, Robert Shiller, as beleiving that home prices could possibly decline by 30%.  Wit this scale of decline, there is no equity left to do a Reverse Mortgage.  Downsizing is all that is left…

This artilce seemed all doom and gloom.  We all see the problems out there…has anyone seen someone with solutions?

Today, World Alliance Financial (f/k/a Vertical Lend and d/b/a Lender Lead Solutions), a Reverse Mortgage Lead generator (you may have seen their Robert Wagner advertisements) and Reverse Mortgage wholesale lender sent out an email announcement to their clients that they are holding National Senior Independent Living Month.  Their press release can be found on their World Alliance Financial website but they have posted nothing on their Lender Lead website (not even on their media page).  The Lender Lead email that went out did mention that they have marketing materials on the user side of their site.

I think that this is a great way to promote ways for Seniors to live independently, but I have a few questions about how they are doing it.  Senior Independent Living Month isn’t in a month for them, it runs from May 15th to June 15th.  That seems like half of two months - why not just pick a month like every other cause out there?  They are promoting this by partnering with the National Association of Homebuilders, Rebuild Together,  and the National Committee of Grandparents for Children’s Rights (NCGCR) for different publicity events.  These are some GREAT organizations and they should have some good success with them, but I find it VERY interesting that they aren’t trying to partner with National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC) who has their own annual event in October called National Aging in Place Week.

I guess if they can bring more publicity to the issues of long term care, who is going to provide it and who is going to pay for it, I’m all for it.  We’ll see what kind of press they get…

The old story is that women are so busy taking care of others, they forget or don’t have time to take care of themselves.  I came across an interesting press release from insurance lawyer Frank N. Darras on the different types of insurance and what women should know.  I thought it was a great little piece because it was simple, informative and had some good advice.  Even though the release was written as "What Women Need to Know," it would be beneficial for men to read as well. 

There was only one line that I would take contention with though.  He writes that "If you are under 59, you are too young to shop for long-term care."   So many factors go into whether or not you will need Long Term Care that the decision to "shop" for it really needs to be on a case by case basis.  It never hurts to be informed in your 40’s or 30’s for that matter…especially if your family history indicates you may need Long Term Care earlier than your 60’s.

But with that said, Darras breaks down different types of insurance nicely (directly from his press release):

LIFE INSURANCE

• Leaves our loved ones financially secure, in the event of a tragedy
• May not be necessary if no one depends on you for income, financial support and you have enough money for burial and funeral expenses
• Have a reliable second party listed on your policy so they can be notified if you miss paying a premium
• Make sure you have ‘waiver of premium’

DISABILITY INSURANCE

• Get disability coverage when you’re young
• Consider "own occupation" policies
• Beware clauses limiting coverage to 24 months, after that, requirements change and you could be denied coverage
• Understand the ‘limitation on benefits’
• Group disability coverage from work does not protect you and it’s taxable

LONG-TERM CARE

• If you are under 59, you are too young to shop for long-term care
• If you are older, understand what services long-term care policies cover and who provides the care
• Make sure the policy allows for care: in your home, by a family member or friend, in the home of a family member, in an adult care service facility, in an assisted living facility, a hospice facility or in a nursing home
• Understand the terms: custodial, intermediate and skilled care