Why the long-term care conversation is so important
Global Atlantic Financial Group
A leading retirement and life insurance company.
As November draws to a close, we wanted to take one last opportunity to highlight its important role as Long-term Care Awareness Month. Preparing for eventual long-term care needs is something almost everyone can benefit from — someone turning 65 years old today has a 70% chance of needing some form of long-term care during the course of their life, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It's such an important piece of the retirement puzzle, we’ve dedicated a great deal of words to the topic. In this month’s email, we’re highlighting:
Preparing your clients for long-term care planning
The financial needs of the sandwich generation
How to navigate longevity risk
Why women need to consider long-term care coverage
Start the conversation
While there’s a need for long-term care, only about 30% of adults turning 65 have given it much thought. This is where financial professionals may be able to play an important role. Starting the long-term care conversation is key, but it can be difficult to broach such a weighty subject.
To help remove some of the apprehension surrounding long-term care planning, we spoke with Patrick Scanlon, Vice President, Global Atlantic Consulting and Jennifer Kropf, Certified Financial Education InstructorSM and founder of WealthyWomanFinance.com about some strategies financial professionals can use get the ball rolling.
The ‘sandwich generation’ factor
Long-term care can be complicated by the fact that many people planning for retirement are members of the ‘sandwich generation’: those who may be caring for both elderly parents and supporting adult children in some way.
As a financial professional, how do you address these challenges with your clients? There’s no one size fits all approach, but our conversations with experts focus on taking a holistic approach — which means bringing in your network to help tackle issues such as caregiving, estate planning, emotional support, and more.
Find out more about the financial needs of the sandwich generation.
The role of longevity risk
Longevity risk —the threat of outliving your savings — can also throw a wrench in long-term care planning. The prevalence of longevity risk may have risen in the public consciousness in recent years as life expectancies remain high. It can be especially difficult to manage because many people tend to underestimate their longevity and may not consider they could spend 40 years in retirement.
We spoke with Marguerita “Rita” M. Cheng, the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth about longevity risk and how financial professionals can help their clients navigate this important issue.
Women and long-term care
While long-term care is of concern to all retirees, Global Atlantic’s Carla Urbaszewski writes that it’s of even greater importance to women. Why? Women tend to live longer and are more likely to require assistance later on life as a result.
In this article, Carla breaks down the conversations financial professionals may want to have with their female clients about long-term care planning and potential solutions and tools.
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