As Baby Boomers begin to retire and to think about life after retirement, many find that one of their primary concerns is that of long-term care. Some news sources seem to think that paying for long-term care is going to be a number one issue in the coming years, not only for elderly individuals and their families, but for our society as a whole.

“The cost of long-term-care itself is not trivial. Nursing homes cost on average $87,235 annually… One year in an assisted-living facility is now $41,724. Adult day services are $70 per day, and home health aides cost $21 per hour… How can the country deliver and finance long-term-care for its rapidly aging population?”

It is comforting to know that AARP takes a somewhat less dramatic view of the issue. While they do agree that most seniors will at some point face the need for long-term care—“even if you’re in good health today, there’s a good chance that you’ll eventually need some type of long-term care, at least for awhile”— they urge people to take a pragmatic approach… and to start planning as early as possible. “The cost goes up with age, but it’s still affordable for many people over age 65. Once you hit the mid-70s, though, the cost of a good long-term care policy becomes very expensive, and it may be difficult to qualify for [it].”

An elder law or estate planning attorney is another resource for seniors and their families who are trying to plan ahead for the possibility of paying for long-term care. We specialize in helping you sort through your options, get your financial ducks in a row (right now and years down the line), and apply for government benefits, if necessary.

Don’t let the need for long-term care catch you by surprise. Contact our office to start planning now.

Planning your retirement can seem fairly easy at first. As long as you’re careful to live within your means retirement can be a time of freedom, and the ability to explore interests you didn’t have time for before. But as this article in U.S. News and World Report reminds us, that freedom can eventually run out. “Most people retire when they are still healthy and can take care of themselves in their 60s, but you need to plan for a time when you might need more support.”

The article has some good suggestions about how older retirees can plan ahead to set up support systems when they need them. Some of the suggestions are time-honored solutions, such as living with family in a multi-generational household, but others are less obvious—although just as valuable.

One of these less obvious solutions is group living, or cohousing. “A cohousing building caters to community-minded residents who usually share many common rooms including a big communal kitchen, dining area, play room, and family room where residents can get together and socialize. This kind of community is much more close-knit and the neighbors will notice if you need help. . . Cohousing units generally have no staff and the residents take care of themselves and each other.”

Cohousing may be an ideal solution which offers freedom and support at the same time. But if you do decide that cohousing is the route you want to take, you may want to consult with your estate planner or elder law attorney ahead of time. Group living situations may require a buy-in or financial partnership and is not something to be entered into lightly. Any deeds or contracts should be reviewed by a legal professional before permanent steps are taken.

For more information about senior living options please contact our office. We are here to help.

There is good news today for senior citizens! According to this article in CNN Money, “Social Security recipients will receive a cost of living adjustment of 3.6% starting in January.” This will be the first “raise” recipients have seen in three years, and most welcome the increase. “Many seniors have felt squeezed since banks are paying virtually no interest on savings accounts and stock market declines has eroded their retirement accounts.”

Unfortunately, many seniors may not see a useful increase in their social security income thanks to a hike in Medicare premiums expected to be announced next month. “For the past two years when Social Security benefits stayed the same, many seniors were shielded from the increase in Medicare premiums because of a “hold harmless” provision that protects more than 70% of beneficiaries… However, high-income beneficiaries and new enrollees did see their benefits reduced because they are not covered under the provision.”

Even with the expected increase to Medicare premiums, most seniors are simply glad to see evidence that The-Powers-That-Be recognize the rising cost of living. While most recipients of Social Security do have an alternate form of income, with their SS benefits representing “about 41% of the elderly’s income”; there are some who “rely on the monthly checks for 90% of their income.”

For more complete information about the coming changes in Social Security please read the full article. For help understanding how this change may fit in with your other benefits, or may affect your estate planning, please contact our office.

Young adults are often urged to plan ahead and take control of their future; whether that means getting good grades and planning for college, searching for internships in their career area of interest, or saving money for the day when they are out on their own. Older adults, on the other hand (aside from being advised to save for retirement) may not know that there is one very important way to plan for their own future: choosing a guardian or conservator.

As the elderly population moves into their 70s, 80s and 90s it is not unusual to lose the ability to drive, manage their own finances, or even care for their own daily physical needs. When this happens, and the ability to care for yourself is lost, the courts will often give care over to a guardian or conservator—someone who will manage your money, medication, household tasks (or all of the above) for you.

If you have not taken steps ahead of time to name the person or people you trust to serve as your guardian or conservator then the courts will name one for you. Often the person named as guardian or conservator is the first person to petition the court for the job—although this may not be the person you would choose to manage your money or your care.

The best way to ensure that you have the right person managing your finances or your health care when the time comes is to plan ahead and execute a Nomination of Conservator, a Healthcare Directive, and a Durable Power of Attorney. Together these three documents let the courts know who you trust with your physical or medical care, and who you feel is qualified to properly manage your money without taking advantage. These three documents will help you take control of your own future, even at a time when losing some of that control may seem inevitable.

As senior issues and caregiver concerns get more media attention, more and more families are making the question of who becomes mom or dad’s primary caregiver a family decision. Although one sibling may still take on the role of “primary caregiver,” families are making the conscious decision to try to share caregiving responsibilities more equally. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but as this article from the Family Caregiver Alliance points out, there are still likely to be challenges.

Choosing a Primary Caregiver. The primary caregiver often ends up being the sibling who lives closest to mom or dad; it may start with a ride to the doctor here and there, but before you know it one sibling is shouldering almost all the responsibilities. Discussing the role of primary caregiver as a family can make everyone feel more involved and result in more support for mom or dad. The local sibling may still choose to care for parents’ daily needs, but out of town siblings may choose to take mom or dad on annual vacations or provide financial support.

Making Financial Decisions. Hopefully your parents have made arrangements for their long-term care expenses; but if not, you and your siblings may feel honor-bound to take care of the expenses yourselves. While the most logical route may seem to be an equal division of expenses between siblings, this may not be feasible or fair for every family. Siblings should take the time (and perhaps consult with an advisor) to discuss the various medical and care expenses, payment options, and financial strategies.

Living Arrangements and Long Term Care. Facing the reality that mom can no longer care for herself is a painful revelation for any family; making the decision to move a parent to a nursing home or long term care facility can be fraught with feelings of anger, guilt, or even denial, and siblings may be tempted to lash out at each other during this emotional time. Consulting with a Geriatric Care Manager or another trusted advisor at this time can help the entire family understand the situation, manage expectations, and keep emotions in check.

Making decisions as a committee can be difficult, especially when some members of the “committee” live far away, but when everyone is involved in the decision-making process then everyone is more likely to support a final outcome. Getting together with your sibling on a regular basis—even if it’s only by phone—to discuss the care of elderly parents can not only keep everyone on the same page and minimize disagreements, it can also provide a rare opportunity to grow closer as a family.

One of the primary concerns of the aging population is long-term care. As the life expectancy of Americans goes up so does the expectation that they will someday need some form of long-term care. You may not know whether that care will happen in a hospital, a nursing home, or in your own home, but you can be sure that it will be expensive.

How expensive will long term care be? It turns out the answer to this question depends a great deal on where you live. The AARP, The Commonwealth Fund, and The SCAN Foundation recently released a report which they call “The Long Term Scorecard,” which compares states and ranks them according to categories. The website Web MD has an article explaining how to use the scorecard and what it means.

The article in Web MD states that “Long-term care is unaffordable for middle income families, according to [The Long Term Scorecard report.] Even in states where nursing home care is most affordable, such care averages 171% of an older person’s household income. The national average is 241%.”

Some states, however, have been making the issue of long-term care a priority, and have been wrestling with questions such as how to make it more affordable to residents and how to provide support to family caregivers. According to the article in Web MD, they’ve broken down the information in “The Scorecard” to help readers understand which states provide the best support (either financial, social, emotional or legal) for the elderly and their caregivers.

The article “ranks states’ performance according to four categories: 1. Affordability and access, 2. Patient choice of both provider and setting, 3. Quality of life and care, and 4. Support for family caregivers.” The states ranked highest overall were Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Wisconsin; while the lowest ranking states turned out to be Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Indiana. (For more information on how the states were ranked and what each ranking means please read the article here.)

Perhaps the most important lesson to take from all this is that no matter where you live, or what your health is like right now, it is very likely that you will need some kind of long-term care in the future, and that that care will be expensive. Burying your head in the sand or choosing to “think about it when the time comes” will only make things worse for you and for your family. Call our office and let us help you prepare now for whatever the future may bring.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, many Baby Boomers are no longer worried about when they will be able to retire, but if they will be able to retire at all. In many cases the reason for this worry stems not so much from any kind of selfish inability to save, but from a tendency to be too generous.

In addition to a growing trend (hinted at in the WSJ article above) of Baby Boomers tapping their own retirement funds to help pay for the care of their elderly parents, this article in USA Today warns of the all-too-common danger of Boomers shorting their own retirements to pay for their children’s college educations.

“People are willing to go to extreme measures because they value a college education so highly… Among parents who are planning for their children’s college, 24% say that they tap their retirement accounts. And that doesn’t reflect people who reduce or halt retirement contributions [to make tuition payments.]”

One thing that both of these articles agree on is that when it comes to saving money, Boomers need to put their own needs first. While the immediate financial needs of an elderly parent or college-bound child may feel more pressing, it’s a very bad idea to short your own retirement account (and your future) to cover their costs. If you have an elderly parent in need, before you dip into your own savings contact a good elder law attorney who can help you review your (and your parent’s) options, and help navigate the VA Benefits or Medicaid system if applicable.

As far as college tuition goes, by neglecting your own retirement to pay for your children’s college education you may simply be perpetuating a dangerous cycle, putting your children in the position of having to pay for your expenses when your savings runs out in the future. Financial advisors, college admissions counselors, and the school’s financial services center may be able to help you explore your options for paying for tuition.

Last month saw some good news for seniors and their families in the state of New York. State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on his website that he “signed a law to create a statewide alert system for missing vulnerable adults, similar to the nationwide Amber Alert program, which will help authorities locate cognitively impaired persons who go missing.” By signing this law Governor Cuomo added New York to the growing list of states with similar programs in place to help find and protect seniors with Alzheimer’s who may wander away from their homes in confusion.

The first state-wide public notification system for vulnerable adults, sometimes called “Silver Alert” programs, was passed in Oklahoma in 2006. Since then 28 states have joined Oklahoma in passing Silver Alert legislation (or something similar) and five states have some kind of vulnerable adult alert legislation pending.

According to Governor Cuomo’s announcement, New York’s new Amber Alert for Seniors program “provides for the rapid public dissemination of information regarding adults with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other cognitive impairments who go missing. Under the new law, the same Amber Alert mechanisms used to find missing children will be activated for missing vulnerable adults, including the printing and distribution of photographs and posters, a toll-free twenty-four hour hotline, a curriculum for training law enforcement personnel, and assistance for returning missing vulnerable adults who are located out of state.”

New York’s program—and the similar programs in all participating states—are a comfort to the families of seniors afflicted with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Too often we read news stories about seniors who have wandered away from their homes and are not found until it’s too late. If you worry that your elderly relative may be at risk for wandering, check the laws of your state to find out which programs are available to you and how to enroll (if necessary).

If your state does NOT have a program in place you may want to consider enrolling your elderly loved one in the MedicAlert® + Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return® program. To learn more about this nation-wide emergency response service click here.

The “golden years” are supposed to be a time to retire and relax after a life of working hard for yourself and your family, but according to a recent story on NPR, Baby Boomers have some big financial concerns about the future, many of which involve how they will pay for health care in their golden years.

“The struggling economy, a longer life expectancy, ever-increasing health care costs and challenges facing Social Security are putting added pressure on the boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.”

An Associated Press LifeGoesStrong.org poll questioned almost 1,500 adults, over 1,000 of whom were Baby Boomers, and found that while ALL Boomers had some concerns about financial comfort and survival as they aged, the younger Boomers in particular (those born in the ‘60s) had the strongest—and the most all-encompassing—concerns.

This discrepancy in fear makes sense when you consider that “Many older boomers still have a defined benefit pension plan, probably some decent retiree medical insurance and Social Security,” whereas “the youngest boomers… face more uncertainty about their pensions, their Social Security, their housing and their medical care.”

The NPR article does not offer any easy fixes or instant comforts to these financial concerns—indeed there are no easy fixes—but it does offer a few suggestions to help Boomers ease their minds about those things that worry them the most:

* Push retirement back as long as you can to put off drawing on your savings until absolutely necessary.

* Start investing in long term care insurance, and do so as early as possible. “Costs for long-term care insurance can range from $1,000 to $8,000 a year, depending on age, health conditions, policy term and other factors.” As you get older the cost goes up—sometimes very steeply.

* Don’t neglect your estate planning. According to the poll, “Forty-percent of the boomers polled said they had a legal will to spell out how their possessions should be distributed after death,” and even fewer had health care directives, proxies, or living wills. A health care directive “allows people to document their wishes concerning medical treatment, and the proxy is a medical power of attorney that allows for the appointment of a trusted person to make medical decisions in case an individual is unable to do so.”

Our office can help you address any concerns you might have about your own (or a loved one’s) golden years. Don’t hesitate to contact us.

One of the services Elder Law and Estate Planning attorneys often provide is helping clients navigate the application procedures and bureaucratic systems for the various state and federal medical insurance programs; and one thing that remains a surprise throughout the years is how many people forget about the VA Aid and Attendance Program for war veterans.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs website, VA Aid and Attendance is “a benefit paid to wartime veterans [or their spouses] who have limited or no income, and who are age 65 or older, or, if under 65, who are permanently and totally disabled.” Unfortunately, too many veterans and their spouses are unaware that they qualify for this benefit, or even worse, have never been informed that the program exists.

An informative article in the Washington Post quotes the VA’s deputy undersecretary for disability assistance as saying that he believes they are only reaching “about one in four eligible veterans.” Part of the reason for this is that “there are a lot of veterans where it’s been 40 years or more since they’ve been on active duty. It just doesn’t occur to them there may be a benefit from the VA.”

If you are a war veteran over the age of 65 it is very likely that you and/or your spouse qualify for Aid and Attendance Benefits. Eligibility requirements include:

* You served at least 90 days of active military service 1 day of which was during a war time period. (If you entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally you must have served at least 24 months, or the full period for which called or ordered to active duty.)

* You were discharged from service under conditions other than dishonorable.

* Your countable family income is below a yearly limit set by law (The yearly limit on income is set by Congress.)

* You must need help with at least one activity of daily living: dressing, eating, walking, bathing, adjusting prosthetic devices or using the toilet. Those who are blind, living in nursing homes or require in-home care may also be eligible.

For many veterans and their families the financial assistance they receive from their VA Aid and Attendance benefits can be an incredible help. Unfortunately, the application process required to receive the benefits can be daunting. “It’s not a simple process. A&A applicants must mail the forms, copies of service records, marriage certificates, proof of insurance and medical records to the regional VA office. If a third party is making the application, an additional form, 21-22-a or 21-0845, must be completed.”

This is why many veterans ask a knowledgeable Elder Law or Estate Planning attorney to help with the application process. The right attorney can help you find and fill out the correct forms, gather the necessary records and materials, and keep track of progress throughout the entire process. If you think you may be eligible for VA Aid & Attendance Benefits please don’t hesitate to contact our office.