Long-Term Care Insurance
Helps pay for home care, assisted living, or nursing facilities — protecting your savings and quality of care.
Traditional long-term care policy for a healthy 55-year-old, $165,000 benefit pool with 3% annual inflation protection. Buying a few years earlier typically drops the premium meaningfully.
Middle-of-market range for illustration. Your actual rate depends on your age, health, and the specific product. Your Personalized Plan gives you Tom’s real recommendation with real numbers.
This coverage is personal for me. I've seen firsthand what happens when families wait too long — and what planning ahead makes possible.
My parents visited Arizona years ago and I suggested they look into long-term care coverage. I told them what I tell everyone: "You either die slow or you die fast." In modern healthcare, it's often slow — and that's where long-term care insurance matters. My parents declined. Years later, my brother was diagnosed with Frontal Temporal Dementia. His eight-year battle nearly bankrupted our family because there was no insurance. My father later developed dementia too, and my mother couldn't care for him alone. She wished they'd bought the coverage when I first offered it. These aren't hypotheticals. This is what happens without planning.
What Is Long-Term Care Insurance?
LTC insurance helps cover the costs of assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) — things like bathing, dressing, eating, and mobility. Coverage can include nursing home stays, assisted living, and in-home care.
Types of Long-Term Care Coverage
There are two main paths. Which is right for you depends on your age, health, and how you feel about the "use it or lose it" question.
Stand-Alone LTC Policies
Often the best value, especially when purchased younger. These are traditional, dedicated long-term care policies with no other purpose.
- Inflation protection available
- Elimination periods typically up to 90 days
- Premium can increase over time (unlike hybrid)
- Best value when bought in your 50s or early 60s
Hybrid Life + LTC Policies
Address the "use it or lose it" concern. If you never need long-term care, your beneficiaries receive a death benefit instead.
- May be easier to qualify for at older ages
- Elimination periods can be up to 2 years
- May reduce cash value or death benefit amounts
- One premium or limited-pay options available
How Benefits Are Triggered
ADL Trigger
Benefits begin when you cannot perform 2 or more Activities of Daily Living: bathing, dressing, eating, transferring, continence, and toileting.
Cognitive Trigger
Benefits also begin when a physician certifies cognitive impairment — such as Alzheimer's or dementia — that requires substantial supervision for safety.
Work with an independent agent who can compare policies across multiple carriers — that's exactly what I do. Stand-alone vs. hybrid depends on your age, health, and assets. Make sure in-home coverage is included.
Why Early Planning Matters
Common questions about Long-Term Care
Will Medicare cover long-term care?
Only in narrow situations — usually short-term skilled nursing right after a hospital stay. Medicare does not pay for extended home care, assisted living, or long nursing-home stays. That gap is exactly what long-term care insurance is built for.
When’s the best time to buy?
Your mid-50s to early 60s. You need to be healthy enough to qualify, and premiums climb meaningfully with every year you wait. Locking in at 55 often costs less than half of what the same benefit costs at 65.
What does long-term care insurance actually pay for?
Home health aides, adult day care, assisted living, memory care, and nursing-home care. Modern policies pay for any combination — most claims today start with home care so people can stay in their own homes as long as possible.
What if I never need long-term care?
Traditional LTC policies are use-it-or-lose-it, like home insurance. If that concerns you, hybrid policies (life insurance combined with LTC benefits) pay your beneficiaries a death benefit even if the care benefit is never used. Tom will walk you through both paths so you can pick what fits.
How much does long-term care actually cost?
National median: around $6,500/month for assisted living and over $10,000/month for a private nursing-home room. Most people underestimate how quickly even modest savings get drained — which is the point of planning for it in advance.
Ready to see your options?
Answer a few quick questions and Tom will come back to you with a recommendation that actually fits your situation — no pressure, no obligation.
Takes about 3–5 minutes · No obligation · Tom reviews every submission personally
Other ways I can help
Whole Life Insurance
Lifetime coverage that builds cash value. Premiums stay the same.
Learn moreTerm Life Insurance
Affordable protection for 10–30 years for your family.
Learn moreFixed Annuities
Safe, guaranteed growth and steady retirement income.
Learn moreFixed Indexed Annuities
Market-linked growth with downside protection.
Learn moreFinal Expense
Covers funeral and final costs for your loved ones.
Learn moreLet's have a conversation.
No pressure. No obligation. No jargon. Just an honest conversation about what makes sense for your situation.
You'll speak directly with Tom — not a call center, not a chatbot.