70% of Seniors Will Face These Huge Expenses – And Many Are Unprepared | Smart Change: Personal Finance

It’s no secret now that medical costs tend to increase with age. It is a fairly well-known fact that Medicare coverage is by no means free, so it is important that workers set aside money to cover their future medical bills either by way of filling 401(k)s and IRAs Or fund health savings accounts.

But there is a big misconception about Medicare is that the coverage is comprehensive. This is not the truth. It’s not just about Medicare Not Choose the tab for common services like eye exams and dental care, but they also won’t cover a major expense that can wreak havoc on seniors’ finances – long-term care. And the sooner you realize this, the sooner you’ll be able to make a plan so that you and your loved ones don’t run into the astonishingly high costs.

It is estimated that 70% of older adults will end up requiring some type of long-term care in their lifetime, and the costs can be enormous.

Last year, the average annual national cost for an assisted living facility was $54,000, according to Jenworth. But that’s just the average cost, and in some parts of the country, the subsidized cost of living is much more.

Then there is home elderly care. The national average annual cost for a private room last year was $108,405. And while home health aides come at a lower price, the average annual cost for that service last year was $61,776.

Now you might think that if you end up needing long-term care, you can simply look up your Medicare plan to pick up the tab. But it is important to know that Medicare will generally do so Not Cover the cost of long-term care, largely because it won’t pay for foster care or help with everyday life.

What Medicare may pay for is home care or nursing facility care after an accident or illness. But there’s a big difference between that and foster care – a difference that often leaves seniors and their loved ones in trouble for unusual bills.

Increasing your savings is one way to cover the cost of long-term care. But an equally important step is to explore your options for long-term care insurance.

Workers are usually advised to start applying for this insurance in their mid-50s. Delaying these applications often means that you get stuck with higher premium rates.

Now long-term care insurance isn’t ideal. Some policies offer only limited coverage, and there are significant expenses to be incurred in securing the policy. But when you look at the numbers above, it’s easy to prove that putting long-term care insurance in place is an essential step toward protecting yourself and your family financially.

In a recent survey by HGC Secure, only 10% of respondents said they had long-term care coverage. True, this was a limited survey of 402 people between the ages of 40 and 64, some of whom were too young to apply this type of insurance.

However, the point is that in the mid-1950s, long-term insurance should be on your radar. Although it’s an expense you might think you wouldn’t incur, the truth is that you’ll likely need some type of long-term care more than that.

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