Most of us have heard of long term care insurance  But how many of us have it?

With people living longer and longer and the cost of care on the rise, the answer is clear — not enough of us. But is it too late? It all depends.

When you’re young and healthy, nursing home care is the farthest thing from your mind. You’re invincible – and even if something did happen, it’s a long time from now.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the next time the subject comes up is when you need to assisted living or nursing home care. Or maybe it’s this economy – when you notice that your retirement fund has shrunk. In fact, according to Forbes Magazine, the top fear of retirees is the possibility of running out of money.

So if you’re lucky enough to think about long term care insurance when your own parents are facing the situation, time may still be on your side.

The best advice, then, is to get long term care insurance before you need it. That’s easier said than done, I know, but here’s the breakdown. According to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, the average yearly cost of long term care (LTC) insurance is only $641 if you start playing at age 40. With an average life expectancy of about 42 years, your total cost would only come to $27,343. At age 50, your annual cost would be $849. Still not that bad. But by age 65, the yearly cost of LTC insurance more than doubles to $1,726.

Since chances are good that either you or your spouse will need long term care at some time (60% of Americans do), it’s just a matter of when you need to get an LTC policy. No one wants to “waste” money on premiums for ten years, but it may be better than having an unexpected stroke or early-onset dementia when you’re unprepared.

If you have between $200,000 and $400,000 set aside for long term care, you can stop reading now – you probably won’t need insurance. And if you have a very low income and no real assets, the cost of premiums would be a strain and you’ll most likely qualify for Medicaid.

For everyone else, it might be time to look into your options. The cost of long-term care insurance is based on your age and your health. Other factors are benefit amount (how much the insurance will pay for each day of your care) and benefit term (how long you’ll be covered). Obviously the greater the amount covered per diem and the longer the term of care, the higher the premiums.

Some people may be turned down for LTC insurance based on their health, but no one is typically turned down because of their age as long as they are willing to pay the premiums. Even though annual premiums of $5,821 might sound like a lot of money compared to the $641 paid by a younger person, it’s still a lot less than paying $5,821 every single month to a facility for your care.

So when is it too late to get long term care insurance? You decide.

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