The Goad of Long Term Care

Paul, on the road to Damascus, was struck blind and Jesus said to him, "Why do you kick against the Goad?" Kicking against the goad causes pain. It is meant to train for discipline; you learn to not kick against it. Hans is a goad for retirement planning (especially for Robby). You have to stop pushing off these issues, and instead develop some discipline around getting your finances in order to finish well. The largest goad people kick against in this instance is long term care insurance.  

Before you need long term care insurance, you need a plan for long term care. The insurance is not the plan, it just makes the plan possible. What you really need is a plan for your family, because they are going to be caregivers, and they need the funding for your long term care plan.  

Medicare does not pay for long term care. As Robby brings up, they might pay a small amount, but not the large bulk of it. If you just need assistance with some of the Activities of Daily Living (Bathing, Dressing, Contince), which is what most people need toward the end of their life, Medicare will not pay for this, but long term care insurance will.  

Robby and Hans discuss both of their experiences trying to take care of their parents. It is much harder than most people think. Robby talks about one time he had to lift his father out of bed and it was almost impossible. He needed help.  

Hans talks about some clients that he has, who after initially using Cardinal for Medicare supplements, ended up using Cardinal for a plan for long term care. They really did not want to talk about it, but 6 years after meeting Cardinal, they decided that long term care insurance was something they needed, but only after developing some health issues since their first meeting. This made it much more complicated and expensive, but Cardinal was still able to get them issued. All this really developed from them kicking against the goad of long term care and not being trained to stop for many years.

Robby talks about his own situation. He does not have long term care insurance, or a plan for it. He wants the good feeling that comes from having everything taken care of. He is thinking about hybrid long term care insurance, so if he doesn't end up using the long term care benefit, his family gets a large lump of money when he passes.  

We want to help you figure out how to get long term care into your plan to finish well. Long term care is so important to have a plan for, and most people don't. If this is your goad, let us help you.  

Don't forget to get your copy of "The Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement" on Amazon or on CardinalGuide.com for free!

You can contact Hans and Cardinal by emailing hans@cardinalguide.com or calling 919-535-8261. Learn more at CardinalGuide.com.