Here's What Really Scares Retirees the Most

Taxes

Lincoln put long-term care costs on a list of retirement challenges that also included estate taxes, income taxes, longevity risk, medical expenses, overall living expenses and the rising cost of living — long-term care costs were the clear winner.

Many of the survey questions focused on taxes and tax planning.

The survey team found, for example, that 52% of the survey participants said they expected to receive a tax refund this year, and that 14% of the participants said they would add any tax refunds they received to their retirement savings.

Insurers' Fears

Many U.S. life insurers are leery of assuming long-term care risk because they sold poorly designed, mispriced long-term care insurance policies from the 1970s through the 1990s and are still coping with the financial fallout.

A few insurers still have stand-alone long-term care insurance policies.

Others offer life-LTC hybrids, annuities, short-term care insurance policies or other arrangements, in an effort to balance their fear of assuming long-term care risk with consumers' need for protection against long-term care risk.

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