It may be the ethical way of estate planning, but it also may not be the best choice. I helped my Mom get LTC insurance some years ago, and now it pays about half of her nursing home bill. Luckily she has good monthly income from pensions and social security, so her bank account balances only go down a little each month.
Mom had to be confined in the dementia unit a couple of years ago, because she kept walking away from the non-confinement assisted living unit she had been in. The dementia unit costs over $9K per month.
Most of the other patients in the dementia unit are there on Medicaid. They get EXACTLY the same treatment as my Mom does as a privately paid patient. EXCEPT for the fact that we have to pay for Mom"s adult diapers, medications and anything else she might need. The Medicaid patients all get those items paid for.
My parents lived frugally, worked hard and made good financial decisions, so that after my Dad died, Mom had a fair amount of money.
Some years ago, I helped Mom invest in LTC insurance. Over the years, we paid in $40k to $50k in premiums. Had Mom passed without ever going into a nursing home, the estate would have not recovered anything from the LTC policy.
As it is, Mom IS receiving some benefits. I would guess that we have exceeded the investment we made for the LTC insurance. The policy will pay for 5 years or a dollar payout figure, which I think was $500k, whichever comes first. After that we will be responsible for paying for her care.
Mom still has about $300k in the bank. We have no idea of how long she will continue to live and need to be in the nursing home.
If I had known then what I know now, I think we would have done things differently. I have 3 siblings, and we would have distributed the bulk of Mom"s money in the family, early enough so her net worth would have qualified her for Medicaid. As it is, I believe that her money WILL be used up paying for care that other families get essentially for free.
It galls me that the way things are, my Mom gets exactly the same (pretty good) treatment as the Medicaid patients get, except that I end up writing checks for about $9500 a month while their families pay nothing. That hardly seems fair.
It sure makes me wonder if "doing the right thing" is a stupid financial decision. An interesting comment on the time we live in.
Oh well, live and learn. I can"t change the decisions made years ago. Good luck!
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Sunday Drives - by Cowboy. Summer was finally upon us here in Northern Maine. We have two types of industry up here, one being "Forestry" (Wood Products) and the other "Farming" (Potatoes). There is no shortage of farm tractors and equipment around here! I have been restoring old Farm Tractors for the past 6 years, and have found it easier and less expensive to hit all the auctions and purchase whole tractors for parts needed. My wife who works at a local school, and only has weekends and summers off, while on t
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
1964 I-H 140 tractor with cultivators and sidedresser. Starts and runs good. Asking 2650. CALL RON AT 502-319-1952
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
