Nursing homes - Mom and Dad now in assisted living

[wildmaven]

My father’s health declined rapidly recently and they had to transfer him and my mom to a skilled nursing facility. 😢

Apparently 70% of the population will end up spending an average of 3 years in one, at the cost of 3k-5k dollars a month, just for meals and the room, not including the medical care. In total, it can cost in excess of 80k-100k per year. Long term care insurance is getting increasingly expensive, $500-1200/month, pushing it out of range for all but the wealthy. If a spouse goes in and spends a few years in one and dies, it usually leaves the other with nothing left. Medicare only pays for 20 days.

With me being 56 and Jim 67, this is extremely scary for us trying to figure out how to afford future care. 

Have you thought about how you’ll be cared for when you reach that point? 

[Shady]

Being in my 30s it’s not something I’ve thought about much, but since residential care funding is available in the UK (either means tested contributions from your local council, or NHS funding if the reasons are mostly based on a health condition and require medical care) I’m sure we’d work something out. I can’t imagine us ever having enough capital to pay full costs, as your house isn’t counted in the means testing unless you move permanently into residential care leaving no partner in your house. At least that’s how I understand it. If there was no one else living in my house, because my husband wasn’t around for example, then I wouldn’t really care if I was forced to sell it to pay for fees. I’m hopefully a long way off having to think about this too much.

Sorry to hear about your parents. I hope things improve for them.

[📚 Dianne 📚]

Sept 13, 2020 16:13:53 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

My father’s health declined rapidly recently and they had to transfer him and my mom to a skilled nursing facility. 😢

Apparently 70% of the population will end up spending an average of 3 years in one, at the cost of 3k-5k dollars a month, just for meals and the room, not including the medical care. In total, it can cost in excess of 80k-100k per year. Long term care insurance is getting increasingly expensive, $500-1200/month, pushing it out of range for all but the wealthy. If a spouse goes in and spends a few years in one and dies, it usually leaves the other with nothing left. Medicare only pays for 20 days.

With me being 56 and Jim 67, this is extremely scary for us trying to figure out how to afford future care. 

Have you thought about how you’ll be cared for when you reach that point? 

As I too am up there in age and I do think about what is going to happen -with no kids to help us make our decisions or to help us stay in our home,  I think Greg and I will be relying on Medicare and SS. As long as we have no assets, and we won't. Right now, though, I have 'other' plans though. I don't relish the idea of becoming incapacitated and relying on someone else for my care. Those plans may change though -who knows?

And let me tell you - in Connecticut even the crappiest place goes for about $3,500  a month.

 

[Retread]

Sept 13, 2020 16:13:53 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

With me being 56 and Jim 67, this is extremely scary for us trying to figure out how to afford future care.

This might be an appropriate time to talk with an attorney who specializes in estate planning. They may be able to assist you in protecting your assets, should one of you need long-term care.

[HoudiniDerek]

I have thought about it some, but not planned for it, no. I guess I'm young enough that I keep hoping things will have changed by the time I reach that age and that possible medical necessity. Of course, I'm hoping I don't end up needing any type of care like that though either.