We all want to stay healthy and live independently throughout our retirement years. Unfortunately, that won’t be possible for some of us, so it’s a good idea to be prepared for health-related challenges — such as the need for longterm care.
As you may know, long-term care covers a variety of services, ranging from occasional visits from a home health aide to full-time residency in a nursing home. But while these types of care may vary in duration and intensity, they all have one thing in common — they’re expensive. Genworth, an insurance company, reports these median annual costs: Over $100,000 for a private room in a nursing home Over $60,000 for the services of a home health aide Furthermore, Medicare typically pays very few of these expenses, which means the burden of payment will likely fall on you — or, even worse, on your adult children if you can’t afford the care you need.
Of course, you could hope that you will avoid these costs simply by not requiring any type of assistance — but the odds aren’t necessarily in your favor. In fact, someone turning 65 today has an almost 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services in their remaining years, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
