How to Offset the Rising Costs of Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums, Ep # 100

On episode 100 I answer listener questions including what to do about the rising costs of long-term care insurance premiums, what to do with old annuities, and SIPC protection. Thanks to all of you listeners for 100 amazing episodes! I have learned so much alongside you all. Your questions and feedback on the show have gone a long way into making the show what is today. And I am humbled and encouraged by your kind words and support. Thank you all so much. I look forward to learning and growing with you over the next 100 episodes. Listen to this episode to learn the answers to all of those listener questions.

Thanks to all of you listeners for 100 amazing episodes! Click To Tweet

Outline of This Episode

[2:36] The results of the listener survey are in
[5:50] A long-term care insurance question
[14:02] LT has a question about an old annuity
[20:15] A concern about SIPC

The results from the listener survey are in

Each year we conduct a listener survey to help improve the show by tailoring it to our listeners’ needs. The results from the 2019 listener survey are in. Our listener base consists of people in their 50’s and 60’s which is impressive for a podcast. Your top concerns are when can you confidently retire and what is a sustainable spending amount in retirement. You all look forward to pursuing travel and hobbies in retirement. And the retire ready segment of the podcast is your favorite part of the show. I aim to use this data to improve the show and bring you the best content that I can.

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How to offset the rising costs of long-term care insurance

Michael sent in a voice question about long-term care insurance. He is concerned about the rising cost of his mother’s long-term care insurance. On average long-term care insurance has increased by 50%, his mother’s insurance recently increased by 80%.

We have touched on this question in a previous episode, click here to check out the episode from July 2018.

Both long-term care and long-term care insurance are extremely expensive. The insurance can cost several thousand dollars per year and the long-term care itself can be several thousand per month. Since Medicare doesn’t cover nursing home stays, you can either buy the insurance while you are young enough or spend the money out of your own pocket for a long-term care stay.

There are aways to decrease your long-term care insurance premiums if you have recently experienced an increase in your rates.

You can modify your daily or monthly benefits.
You can modify the benefit period.
You can change the rate of growth covered by the policy.
Stop paying premiums altogether an take advantage of non-forfeiture options.

How to deal with an old annuity

Once upon a time LT was young and bought into an annuity. After several years and moves, he has lost the information about the policy. He’s not sure where to go from here.

Good news LT, you get to go on a treasure hunt! It’s time to get on the phone and do some detective work. Once you figure out where the money is then you can decide what to do with it. You might be able to roll the annuity into something else, but you should be careful because if the money isn’t in a retirement account moving it might become a large taxable event. Do you have any old money lying around? Have you ever had to go on a treasure hunt to find it? What did you do with it?

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A concern about SIPC

Bill is concerned about having all of his money with one brokerage firm. He is concerned that SIPC protection is limited to $500,000. First off, let’s talk about what SIPC is. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) protects customers if their brokerage firm fails. Brokerage firm failures are rare, but if that happens SIPC protects the shares you own and the cash in your brokerage account up to $500,000. Technically if you want maximum protection you should split up the portfolios among several custodians. But before you do that you should check with your brokerage firm to see if they have additional protections.