Cost of Long-Term Care

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Long-Term Care Insurance can be very expensive, although the premium is based on several factors including; your age at the time the policy is purchased, your health status, and the amount of coverage that is purchased. If you are considering investing in long-term care insurance, the sooner the better, as you can see from the different costs on the chart below:

Average Cost of Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums

Age	2-Year Policy	5-Year Policy
45	$500	$734
55-59	$892	$1,204
65-69	$1,849	$2,342
75+	$3,851	$5,274

Source: American Council of Life Insurance, 1998

Please note that these are average costs, and the premiums may vary from company to company. Since the average cost of nursing home care in 1997 was between $40,000 and $80,000 per year, the premiums don’t seem so costly. Since long-term care insurance is designed to protect one's assets and standard of living, provide freedom of choice, help a person remain independent, this insurance should be treated as an investment.

"Paying for long term care can easily exhaust your savings. Buying long term care can protect your savings." (1)

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Source:
1. http://www.opm.gov/insure/ltc/snippets.htm