So if things stay the same (I guess not guaranteed in these changing times), there is a Medicaid safety net. That allowed my grandfather to continue at his nursing home in 1990s (savings had been wiped out by grandmother’s nursing home care and a few years for him first in NY and then in CO). And last night we heard that a friend’s mother will be transitioning to Medicaid at her midwest facility this month, after being self-pay for a few years.
In my mind, it would be nice to never have to switch to Medicaid. (Heck, in the ideal world I never need care - realistically though do need to plan for the possibility). But… Medicaid in a facility would be much better than becoming a big burden to the kids.
No - MIL was able to keep her home, her SS, her pension; her DH was in skilled care and was on Medicaid. SS allowed a very small amount to be his ‘spending money’ for incidentals. I worked in skilled care/rehab in another state, and our facility had private pay but also a fair amount of Medicaid (once resources were spent down). MIL moved to skilled care a few weeks before she died, so she had the home and a few resources that went to her sons.
Key with initial skilled care placement is to get into the best facility available that will continue with care once the individual goes to Medicaid.
Some individuals end up at skilled care because they don’t have the resources to be at AL for very long, and then it is tough to potentially get a skilled care bed.
Many individuals come to rehab after hospitalization, but do not recover to be able to even go to AL - and many facilities have rehab and skilled care under one roof - and they possibly have the flexibility on their beds to have an individual be in a room that usually is designated as rehab. State licensing and regulated.
The advisor we were talking to at Fidelity mentioned average costs of about 120K a year.
The policy was a one-time payment of about 80K, with a death benefit of 120K (if unused). If used, the death benefit dropped to 20K. The policy would cover expenses to the tune of 10k per month, for a period of 5 years. I think those were the numbers, I should really double check the quote.
We could definitely self insure. I read somewhere that LTC is a nice-to-have benefit for those who can afford to self insure and I think that kind of describes us. I am on the fence about this - the comments about it being difficult to prove that you qualify are one of the main reasons. I’ve read that elsewhere too - if I am going to need LTC, I am definitely not going to be in any shape to follow through with the insurance company to ensure I get it. That will be a burden on the caregivers…
I spoke with a friend whose mother has a Cadillac LTC policy. The terms specifically stated that everything would be covered for five years only…and that did happen. The mother is now in year 2 after the LTC policy stopped paying anything. And the mother DID need a lot of services in those five years.
So keep that in mind too. Sometimes folks live longer than the policy will cover.
Dh and I were only going to pay taxes on a Roth conversion to fill the 12% and forgo funding our Roth IRAs as we unexpectedly paid cash for a new car when dh’s 13yo beater crapped out. We had the money set aside, just hadn’t planned to buy a car for a few years, so we are feeling a little less liquid than we expected to be. Anyway, last week while raging with fever I had an expected call with our FA and told him our plan, and he said that he’d prefer if we were only going to do one that we fund the Roths as dh will be quitting his PT job in a couple of years and it will no longer be an option. OK, makes sense. But he says that we have plenty of money to do both.
The thing he said that piqued my interest is that he considers our Roths liquid. I mean, we are older than 59.5 and meet the five-year rule so he’s correct that we could access that money with no effect on our taxes or IRMAA or whatever.
So my question: When you think of liquidity, do you count your Roth IRAs?
My Roths are for the heirs. But, they are also an Emergency Fund, should the need arise. However, I would spend down equity or tIRA’s before tapping the Roths. So, to answer yoru question, yes, they are Liquid, but so are my taxable capital gains.
Our Roths were done via conversion in recent years, so I thought we were are all still in 5 year limited period…. but doing a quick google search I think they are available because over age 59.5. Mostly a moot point because currently our priority is for spend-down on traditional IRA. It is nice to have Roth funds too, in case we want to have non-taxed withdrawals some year.
Seriously, yes. The Roths, though I hate to use them, are quite liquid. We keep buying forestry property and don’t want to go over the 24% tax rate, so we’re pulling some from those funds in order to not pay 32% on withdrawals. it is incredibly nice to have that pot of tax free money to use as desired. Our heirs will be fine with whatever we leave them.
It is hard to believe, actually. Before I retired, if I would have written a list of the top 100 things I’d be doing, becoming a forester would not be on that list. The reality is, we ended up with 33 acres a few years ago because my husband was disgusted at paying $159 for a Christmas tree and was just talking about having a Christmas tree farm. I love real estate, so I started looking and found a gorgeous property within commuting distance of Seattle. Then a few months ago, I couldn’t help myself and found ten acres in a suburb of Seattle. It is very hard to find large plots of land so close in.
Turns out, we both have a love for trees, these forests give us purpose after retirement, and being located so close to a high priced area, we don’t feel like we’re throwing money away, due to the potential for appreciation. There is great satisfaction taking care of beautiful forests, planting and watching our trees grow. But I need to stop looking online, because I don’t want to be compelled to buy another!
Eventually my husband’s plan is to sell them, but they’re only about a foot tall now and they are my babies, so I’m thinking I’ll only be able to bear to give them away to family/friends and military families in many years. But about 35 acres of our properties are mature trees, ready to harvest. We’ll probably just thin them down, we can’t stand the idea of a clear cut, though there’s far more money in that.
Same. I started here to research colleges. And then to read Parent Cafe and have “company” to help keep me awake during long work nights (when I needed to be available to monitor as needed at the other/work computer in the den). Now in retirement CC is my go-to source for info and for smiles.
All of us on this thread surely remember prices from earlier times, especially on an item like a Christmas tree. I just watched a movie from 2007 where at an airport a gal got a tall specialty coffee and a scone, and her total bill was $4.16.
I told my DH about the Christmas tree price from a few years ago. We only bought a cut tree for Christmas a few years - DH’s parents always had a cut tree and his brother up until a few years ago when they decided to go with artificial tree. In 1978, a Houston tree lot on Christmas Eve (our first Christmas after college) - DH ‘negotiated’ for a remaining tree; initially the $10 price was offered at half price; DH offered 50 cents and the guy said he would burn it first - I believe DH got it for $2.50. I had stayed in the car - I didn’t want to be part of witnessing the negotiations on the spot….
Growing up in our farm community, I remember when one could purchase a baker’s dozen (13) corn on the cob in season for 65 cents.
Sometimes I mention current prices of things to bring DH up to ‘current times’ - on his workshop and fix-it stuff, he is pretty well versed. He also likes to charge everything - it is something about removing cash from his wallet….
The reality is, we ended up with 33 acres a few years ago because my husband was disgusted at paying $159 for a Christmas tree and was just talking about having a Christmas tree farm. I love real estate, so I started looking and found a gorgeous property within commuting distance of Seattle. Then a few months ago, I couldn’t help myself and found ten acres in a suburb of Seattle. It is very hard to find large plots of land so close in.