“Needing long-term care in retirement one of Americans’ greatest fears, survey finds,” by Kathleen Steele Gaivin, McKnights Senior Living
Quote:
“Americans’ greatest fears about retirement include declining health that requires long-term care, according to a report released last week by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with Transamerica Institute. … In addition to future senior living and care needs, respondents’ worries included Social Security being reduced or ceasing to exist in the future, outliving their savings and investments, cognitive decline, dementia / Alzheimer’s disease, losing their independence and not being able to meet the basic financial needs of their family.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
So, what does Transamerica suggest?:
- “Learning about personal finance matters, such as managing money, investments, debt, risk and taxes
- Maintaining a budget
- Devising a retirement strategy.
- Speaking candidly about retirement savings and investments with family members and close friends
- Finding a professional financial adviser”
All worthwhile ideas none of which will resolve the real problem that this study and others like it ignore. Easy access to Medicaid LTC after care is needed while preserving wealth desensitized the public to LTC risk and cost leaving them increasingly dependent on entitlement programs that are on the brink of collapse. To make sense of what ails LTC, read the Paragon Health Institute’s “Long-Term Care: The Problem” and “Long-Term Care: The Solution” and watch this “virtual LTC event” featuring age wave visionary Ken Dychtwald and leading LTC researchers. To find ample private funds for LTC, check out “Medicaid’s $100+ Billion Leak.” For what not to do, see “Medi-Cal-amity: California’s Reckless Expansion of Medicaid Long-Term Care to the Affluent.” Much more on long-term care here.