It’s inevitable, all of us will grow older and the day will come if we’re graced with longevity to require somebody to care for us. The majority of us busy moms and dads are too consumed with all the hustle and bustle of everyday tasks to contemplate preparing for long term care. Nevertheless, you don’t want to leave this kind of stressful, financial, and significant ultimate decision to members of the family. It’s not too early to begin planning for the future! Personally, I don’t desire to burden my kids with choosing the type of care environment that is the best for me as I’m certain you don’t as well. Not to mention, I’m not confident I would be capable of trusting my daughter’s choice of care, given that she’d almost certainly be satisfied having me reside in a cardboard box and eating out of cat food cans. I love her dearly, but she’s not really the nurturing sort of individual you’d want making these kinds of life decisions. My little princess is only 15 and I’m praying she will grow beyond her teenaged selfishness. But one never knows!
Predicting The Future
Predicting the future isn’t feasible, unless of course you’re a world renowned psychic. However, I can just about guarantee most of you are not. Which means, you won’t know your state of health when preparing for those years in advance and deciding the proper care you would like while sill being strong and healthy can be challenging. My suggestion is to consider the best and worse case scenarios, then base your selection on those two determinations. Be sure you write your plan of actions down and put them some place your family members are aware of in case you end up suffering from some sort of cognitive impairment.
Know Your Options
The first step in determining the correct care for an elderly parent, grandparent, or yourself is to know the options. Basically, there are four common care providers: Home Health Care, Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes, and Adult Daycare Centers. Each care provider differs in caregiving costs and services. Educate yourself on knowing what each environment has to offer and weigh your choices.
Safeguard Your Retirement
I’m not endeavoring to frighten you, but the price of any assisted living environment is incredibly expensive and it’s rising! Should you have a parent who’s nearing those golden years and they didn’t plan in advance by getting long term care insurance it could be financially crippling to you and other family members who have to take on the responsibility. The typical daily rate for a private room in a nursing home is $222 per day, which equates to to $81,030 annually. OUCH! This is the reason it’s extremely imperative that you protect the ones you love from dealing with such financial nightmares! If you’re close to 5 to 10 years from retirement it’s time to start considering a long term insurance policy to help safeguard your retirement savings and family assets. Don’t wait until it’s too late. The sooner the better, due to the fact you are more likely to get a better rate when you’re younger and healthier!
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Control Over My Well Being
My hubby and I are not even close to retirement living right now, but as we grow nearer to those ripe old years when we might need some assisted care I want to ensure that the kids have zero worries about financially taking care of us or burdening them with difficult caregiver decisions. Preparing for the future and understanding my options provides me with a piece of mind and some control over my well being. I’ll definitely be purchasing long term insurance coverage when the time comes and documenting my advance care directives! How about you?
This is so sad but true. We are all getting older. I am not sure what is happening with our health system but I believe there should be a program to keep the elderly and disabled in their homes for as long as possible. Sometimes for some reason this cost more money that going to a home the way our system is set up! I could write a book on this subject! Thanks for the great ideas and thoughts!