Long Term Care Planning, Already?

This week, I attended two of three classes provided by a financial planner who specializes in retirement and estate planning. I've learned A LOT!!! And "A LOT" doesn't do justice to the wealth of information I've gained. In this post, I'll share a few of my favorite bits of information from the long term care insurance presentation:

• Long term care (LTC) insurance is purchased to cover expenses related to care in home, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living and nursing homes.
• The majority of long term care is paid for from Medicaid,  followed by out of pocket expenses from the customer and/or their family.
• Medicare and Medigap (health care for people age 65+ (and younger, in some cases, ex. disabled persons)) does NOT cover long-term care expenses.
• Medicaid (health insurance for the impoverished) does cover LTC expenses. For a single person (1-person household) aged 65+ years (someone who is considered to be "aged"), to be eligible in my state of residence, you cannot have assets valued at more than $2,500 and a monthly income no greater than $350.
• Policies can be purchased based on the amount of money a person's care would be on a daily basis and for how many years such care would. Additional features -such as inflation protection, age and health at time of purchase, individual and shared plans, restoration of benefits- impact the cost of a policy.
• The Federal government will enact the CLASS Act (beginning late 2012 or early 2013) to help Americans prepare for the expense of long term care. Here's a summary of the the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act from AARP.
• Some states have "partnership programs" that incentivize the purchase of long term care policies.

I'm so fired up about this topic! I'm interested in learning more about this product so I can discuss it with my parents as they prepare for full retirement.

Have you heard about long-term care insurance? 

Have you talked about it with your parents/loved ones?

Do you know someone who has purchased a LTC policy? 

What was the experience like?

What Do Your Expenses Say about Your Health?

If you believe that a snapshot of your spending is a good indicator of your health, then I would be among the 2/3rds of Americans who are overweight or obese. Since March 18th, I've spent more than $100 on food. Approximately 70% of it has been on eating out...which wouldn't be so bad if it was healthy. Instead, I've been stuffing my face with french fries, sausage biscuit sandwiches, donuts, and 290+ calorie macadamia coconut mocha drinks. In other words, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, and Caribou coffee (and a French bakery,  [cheese] steak shop, Panera Bread, and Subway). 

Frankly, my spending is more reflective of a recent bout of laziness than my general health status. I haven't been waking up early enough to eat breakfast at home (which doesn't make since, really, once you consider the time it takes to wait in line for someone to take my money and give me something fried and super salty). Moreover, I haven't made any time to pack lunch: mornings are out (see abovementioned excuse) and since I've been getting home considerably late, recently, I focus more on showering and sleeping once I get in the door (no packing lunch here). I know if I keep up with this habit of eating out excessively (without making adjustments to other areas of my spending plan) that I'm setting myself up for financial failure.....and high blood pressure and jiggly body parts. Instead, I'll commit to doing better the next time around =)

Fortunately, I'm a healthy weight for my height and my BMI is less than 20 =) Hooray for exercise!

What would your most recent expenses (let's say, the past two weeks) 

tell us about YOUR health?