12 Reasons LTC Planning Matters to Women

In her monthly newsletter, Leni Webber, an LTC specialist with ACSIA Partners, identified 12 reasons. They can be divided into two areas: caregiving and longevity.

Caregiving

1. Women are the caregivers.
2. They tend to be the primary caregiver more often than men and, in many cases, spend as much as 50% more time providing care than male caregivers do.
3. Many are juggling caring for a family member along with full-time employment: 20% of women in the workforce are family caregivers.
4. This sacrifice ends up contributing to the long-term care needs of the female caregivers: One in four will develop health problems of her own.

Longevity

5. Women tend to live longer than men: They outlive men by about five years, on average.
6. Women at age 65 have a life expectancy of 23 more years. That means they can expect to live to age 88.
7. Although that extra longevity can be considered a bonus, it creates a greater risk for needing care.
8. Women spend an average of twice as many years in a disabled state than men do.
9. Have you been to a nursing home lately? More than 70% of residents are women.
10. What about assisted living? Over three-fourths of assisted living residents are women.
11. Most adults ages 65 and over who need long-term care are living in private homes. Without a spouse around to help, this puts an additional burden on women. Many turn to their adult children, and it's usually daughters who help.
12. Paying for care is expensive: Average annual home health care costs can run anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000, depending on where you live.

Does this mean that men shouldn't get long-term care insurance? No! They need long term care planning, too, and guess who tends to provide most of this care?

With a policy that has "shared" benefits, couples can share their benefits, allowing maximum flexibility, and providing for extra support for a spouse who's providing "informal care."

— Read Long-Distance Caregiving, Up Close: LTCI Insider, on ThinkAdvisor.

Margie Barrie, an agent with ACSIA, has been writing the LTC Insider column since 2000.