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Protect your retirement savings from potentially devastating costs
Long-term care represents one of the greatest threats to retirement security. Nursing home and home health care costs in Pennsylvania can run well into the tens of thousands of dollars per year. Without protection, these costs can decimate your life savings in just a few years, leaving you with nothing and potentially burdening your family.
At Paladin Retirement Advisors, we help you evaluate your long-term care risk and implement protection strategies that preserve your assets without over-insuring or over-paying. As part of our 15% Solution™, long-term care planning is a critical component of comprehensive retirement protection.
The statistics are sobering:
70% of people over age 65 will need some form of long-term care during their lifetime.
A multi-year nursing home stay can represent a substantial total cost.
Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care beyond very limited skilled nursing for specific conditions.
Medicaid only covers care after you’ve spent down assets to poverty levels, and it severely limits your choice of facilities.
Yet most people have no plan for these costs beyond hoping they won’t need care or planning to “use their savings.” This hope-for-the-best approach destroys families financially and emotionally.
Without protection, long-term care costs drain your retirement accounts, leaving nothing for your surviving spouse or heirs. We've seen couples with substantial savings see those assets significantly depleted when one spouse needed extended nursing home care.
With proper protection, you can choose where you receive care—whether at home with professional caregivers, in an assisted living community, or in a quality nursing home. Without protection, you're limited to whatever Medicaid facilities will accept you.
When one spouse needs care, costs can devastate the healthy spouse's financial security. Proper planning protects both spouses' interests and ensures the healthy spouse maintains adequate income and assets.
Adult children often become unpaid caregivers, sacrificing their own careers and health. Or they face agonizing decisions about paying for parents' care. Protection relieves families of these burdens.
Before recommending anything, we assess your full picture—health history, age, assets, income, family support, and care preferences—because not everyone needs the same level of protection. It’s how we tailor a plan to your situation.
We evaluate multiple approaches to long-term care protection:
Dedicated policies that pay benefits if you need care. Generally most affordable for younger, healthy individuals but can have premium increases.
Life insurance with long-term care riders that provide care benefits if needed or death benefits if not. No "use it or lose it" concern, and premiums typically guaranteed.
Single premium or limited-pay policies that guarantee coverage without ongoing premium risk. Good for those with lump sum assets to reposition.
For very high net worth individuals, self-insuring while implementing asset protection strategies and Medicaid planning may be appropriate.
Often the optimal approach combines limited insurance with strategic asset positioning and planning.
We show you exactly what different protection levels cost versus the risk you're insuring against. Our goal is appropriate protection without over-paying—typically allocating no more than your proportionate share of the 15% Solution™ to long-term care.
We help you apply for coverage, coordinate underwriting, implement the chosen strategy, and review your protection regularly as circumstances and products evolve.
The right long-term care plan does more than cover costs—it protects your savings, your spouse, and your family, while giving you real choice in how you’re cared for. Here’s what thoughtful planning can help you gain:
Preserve retirement savings from devastating long-term care costs that could wipe out everything you've worked for.
Maintain ability to choose where and how you receive care rather than being limited to Medicaid facilities.
Ensure your surviving spouse retains adequate income and assets if you need expensive care.
Eliminate burden on adult children who otherwise face difficult caregiving or financial decisions.
Remove the worry about long-term care costs that keeps many retirees up at night.
Avoid over-insuring or paying for more protection than you need while ensuring adequate coverage.
Traditional policies can be costly, but hybrid and asset-based options provide alternatives. We find solutions that fit your budget while providing meaningful protection.
With hybrid policies, you get your money back through death benefits if you don't use care benefits. No "use it or lose it" concern.
Some health conditions make traditional coverage difficult, but simplified underwriting hybrid policies may still be available. We work with multiple carriers to find options.
Generally, the younger and healthier you are, the more affordable coverage is and the more likely you are to qualify. Waiting often means higher costs or potential declines.
We analyze your specific situation considering your assets, income, family support, and risk tolerance to determine appropriate coverage amounts.
Our planning serves:
We positioned a client in his early sixties with a hybrid life insurance policy providing long-term care benefits. Three years later, he suffered a stroke requiring nursing home care. The policy covered several years of care without touching his retirement savings, helping preserve his IRA for his wife’s security. The premium had seemed expensive when purchased, but it ultimately spared his family significant financial and emotional strain. Results vary based on individual circumstances.
Long-term care planning is one of seven critical protections in our proprietary 15% Solution™. By allocating appropriate portions of your portfolio to address long-term care along with liability, final expenses, disability, estate taxes, legal documents, and Medicare gaps, you achieve comprehensive protection without over-insuring.
This balanced approach gives you the confidence to truly enjoy retirement, knowing you’re protected from the forces that derail other families’ plans.
The best time to plan is now—before health changes eliminate options or make coverage unaffordable.
Ideal time to explore options when premiums are most affordable and qualification is easier.
Still good opportunities for coverage, though costs increase with age and health changes.
Options become more limited and expensive, but asset-based solutions may still provide value.
Complete your protection strategy
Ensure assets transfer as intended
Understand what Medicare doesn't cover