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This week, Rayna Neises, your host, talks with Victoria Lowell.  Victoria is a financial advisor, entrepreneur, podcaster, and motivational speaker. She is also the author of “Empower Your Worth: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Self-worth and Net-worth.”  Several years ago, she left Wall Street and followed her passion for helping women assert themselves financially.  She shares the following insights:

• Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance can help defray some of the costs associated with an illness that spans several years.  Most younger people do not think about purchasing LTC Insurance, but it can be extremely expensive at older ages.
• Not all LTC policies are created equal.  Talk with someone who has purchased a policy and ask:
  • What insurance do they have?
  • Who are they using?
  • How does the policy work?
  • Are they happy with it?
• When you prepare financially, you will have more care options and will be able to go where you want or get the help that you want.
• Caretaker Penalty Box (i.e., Mommy Penalty Box) happens when anyone leaves the workforce to care for family members and represents the money lost in salary and retirement savings not accumulating towards social security credits, 401K plans, and IRAs.  What to do to avoid the Penalty Box:
  • Save!
  • Plan for the gap in earnings
  • Maximize contributions to 401K while working
  •  Find a side hustle to do from home
• Decide who can make financial decisions for you and:
  • Draw up a Financial Power of Attorney
  •  Provide instructions for all accounts and provide passwords
• Have the financial and medical directive conversations with your parents so that their wishes are known to all family members making decisions easier.
• Children should meet their parent’s financial advisor to develop a relationship allowing for an easier transition when their parent is no longer able to make decisions.