This week, Diane shares three things we need to consider if we are designing a long term care plan with multiple policies purchased over multiple years.  Age, health and insurance industry and company changes could cause us to pay a lot more for coverage later.  Or we may end up not eligible to buy additional coverage when we want to.  However, if we absolutely have to build our plan in pieces, and if some event or industry change occurs that prevents us from doing so, at least we have some coverage in place that will help our family help us better.   Starting early and having your benefits grow over time is a safer way to plan.  Let me help you create meaningful benefits using the most efficient funding strategy. Ask me how at

Lately, we've been getting a lot of inquiries from adult children of parents who failed to plan for LTC needs.  These people are disappointed that their parents either thought they wouldn't live this long, or if they did, they wouldn't need help living through each day.  The kids are now considering that they may also live a long life and need help someday. Often, these kids want a quick quote for LTC insurance for themselves.  It's not that simple, as there are a lot of questions to work through as well as design and funding options to consider. This week, Diane shares several LTC planning solutions and who would be better off with certain solutions.  We share some limitations with each strategy as well. Thank you to BuddyIns for sharing your wealth of knowledge and resources to help with our research.

Suze Orman talked about annuities on Sunday, and she brought so much valuable info to her listeners.  You can listen and subscribe here - In addition to fixed and indexed annuities to create a future stream of income, you may be able to use an annuity to leverage LTC costs.  If you have that emergency fund that is turning into a long term care fund the older you get, you can deposit some of that savings into an annuity that includes enhanced or added benefits for extended care needs. Or if you own an annuity that you are not planning to use as income, we can reposition that money into an annuity with added LTC benefits. There are several options with this kind of planning.  The one I discuss this week has the potential to return 10 times (or more) the amount you deposit when you need help with things like eating, bathing, toileting, continence, transferring or dressing.  The annuity discussed here defers taxes on your gains  until you withdraw money.  Others provide tax-free income for LTC needs at two or three times the account value.  If you have several years of tax-deferred growth on your non-qualified annuity, you can move to a new annuity with tax-free LTC benefits and avoid paying taxes on that gain. These work well for people who are very heavy or have health concerns that prevent them from considering other LTC coverage options. Contact me at Let's work together to design a plan with meaningful benefits using the most efficient funding strategy for you.

Jeremy in Minnesota asked Diane to explain the phrase "protect assets equal to benefits paid".  This is referencing the federal LTC Partnership Protection Act, and Diane explains how this law works to protect the middle and upper middle class from financial destruction when an exhaustive extended care needs show up.  Partnership protection is approved in 44 states. In this episode, Diane shares how a Partnership qualified LTC policy protects assets and eases stress throughout the family. Jim & Holly don't own a plan, while Pete & Jan do.  Listen and learn how Pete's Partnership qualified plan allowed Jan to not deplete assets that Jan will need to continue living comfortably, while Holly must impoverish herself to get Medicaid help for Jim.

This week is chock full of questions we need to be asking to make sure our LTC plan is really going to work.  We say we want to stay home, but what are the deeper questions we need to address to be sure that will work?  The 3 parts to a plan are 1) where do we want to live? 2) who do we want to have with us? and 3) how will we pay for this?  We're digging deeper into what these questions and our answers really mean for us and for those around us.  You may not want or qualify for LTC insurance, but your family will still be thankful if you have a plan, write it down and share it with them.  If you would like insurance to help pay for your plan, that's where I can help.  Please ask for help and guidance

Do you own a life insurance policy that has built cash value over the years, and now your need for that coverage has lessened as your net worth and liquid assets have grown?  Listen and learn how you can 1035 exchange that plan for one that also includes LTC coverage.  If you never need extended care, a death benefit goes back to your estate, and the premiums are guaranteed to never increase

This episod is from April 2022, and Aaron in Ohio was seeking tax deductions for his corporation.  He brought me a quote to review, and we found that using the exact same premium amount, how three different tax deductions can be designed just by moving some variables.  There are multiple ways to design a plan to create different results.  When I work with my clients, I ask a lot of questions, and we work together to desing plans customized for each family's unique situation. During tax season, we are all seeking deductions.  Reach out to me at to learn how you can protect your family AND reduce your tax obligations!

As we are all working to file our business and personal income taxes by March or April, I thought I would bring this episode back as we are always seeking more tax deductions.  LTC insurance may be tax deductible, depending on how you file your taxes - as an individual and as a business. This episode is from July, 2020, when our tax deadline was moved to July due to COVID.  The numbers are from 2020, but the principle stands. in 2023, if you file as a w-2 employee, you 'll need to meet 7.5% of your adjusted gross income in medical expenses to deduct LTC premiums. If you own an S corporation or a partnership, there are age range caps that can be deducted.  The 2023 caps are  -  age

BuddyIns is holding a webinar on March 23rd at 1 PM eastern to discuss this very topic with LTC guru Phyllis Shelton.  Email me at , and I'll send you an invitation to register and attend.  If you register and can't attend, a link will be sent to you to listen at your convenience. There are many ways to reply to this question, and I may end up replying again over the next couple of weeks.  Today, we are talking about family. When we buy LTC insurance, we are not really buying it for us.  We buy it for our families - so they have the resources they need to be able to help us.  No one will be fighting over costs of care or arguing about why one person is doing so much more for mom than everyone else.  We'll have a plan in place for our needs, along with dedicated funds to pay for those needs.  Our kids can be our kids instead of being forced to be our nurses and diaper changers.

This eposide from May, 2022 is chock full of statistics.  When we're younger, it's more fun to use our money for travel, cars, and fun.  We don't want to think about paying for care needs that could be decades away, but we need to plan early to get the best rates and to have a higher liklihood to be approved.  The youngest person to ever file an LTC claim was 27.  The longest claim to date has paid over $2.6 million over 20+ years, and the client only paid in about $36,000 over 13 years bedore needing care. Also, check out htis article that discusses LTC workforce shortages that make it really important to have dedicated funds to pay for care and move quicly to the front of the line