Every day, I write and edit articles urging agents like you to talk to their clients about long term care insurance (LTCI). I listen to the stories producers tell me about clients who have lost everything because they didn't have coverage, or the triumphs agents have had when they did sell a policy in time, and they helped to protect a family's assets. And this entire time, I have sat idly by, knowing that I don't have LTCI myself. Just like 53 percent of clients*, I'm procrastinating to purchase a policy because I think I'm too young. Another part of me agrees with the 77 percent of people who think LTCI is just too expensive – I don't need an extra expense right now.
But recently my father was diagnosed with dementia. If I'm being honest, I'm not really surprised about it – the signs have been around for a long time. He would forget that we had already ordered when we went out to eat, or he would call me by my sister's name even though I'd reminded him more than once who I was. When we got the news, the first thing I started to wonder was how long it would be before he would need some sort of long term care? I mentioned this to my husband, who asked, "Doesn't he have insurance?"
I laughed.
My dad hasn't prepared for his retirement very well. His health isn't good, and he has almost no savings. He lives off Social Security and his pension, and gets health care from Medicare and the Department of Veteran's Affairs. If I could go back 30 years, I would buy an LTCI policy for him, just to make sure he had adequate coverage.
