New Ways To Help Pay For Assisted Living
Uncommon Sources To Use
Seniors who have worked their whole lives and managed to retire with a modest savings, still rely heavily on their social security to manage the bulk of their day to day living expenses. Then one day you have a fall in your home and you end up in the hospital. The physician tells you that it is not safe for you to return home and you will need the type of around the clock care found in an Assisted Living community.
The average monthly cost for assisted living in Texas is $3,515 or $42,180 per yearꝰ. Your individual costs for Assisted Living might be higher or lower dependent upon your actual care requirements. Assisted Living costs are not typically covered by Medicare or Medicare Replacement insurance policies. So this means tapping directly into your savings to cover the difference in your social security or pension, and the cost of your assisted living needs.
If you have been faithfully paying on a life insurance policy over the years, you may not realize that there are ways to tap into this benefit to offset some of the costs associated with assisted living. Below I have outlined a few, but you should consult your insurance representative or an elder law attorney to determine if this is the best course of action for you.
A Life or Viatical Settlement – Is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to a third party for more than its cash surrender value, but less than its net death benefit.
Long Term Care Conversion - Anyone in possession of an in-force life insurance policy may be able to transform that policy into a pre-funded financial account that will disburse a monthly benefit. A long-term care benefit plan account is a Medicaid qualified asset.
Long Term Care Rider – Review your current policy with your agent to determine if you have this rider. You may have selected the long-term care amount when you initially purchased your policy. Benefits are paid income tax-free after qualifying requirements are met.
Accelerated Death Benefit - An accelerated death benefit (ADB) is a benefit that can be attached to a life insurance policy that enables the policy holder to receive cash advances against the death benefit in the case of being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Each of these options has their own set of pro’s and con’s and should be carefully reviewed with either your insurance representative and or an elder law attorney prior to making a decision. However, it would be a mistake to let your life insurance premiums laps without taking full advantage of all of the benefits that may be available to you.
ꝰ CareScout – Cost of Care Survey – April 2016. Based on One Bedroom, Private Annual Rate Divided by 12 Months.