Long Island Elder Law & Estate Planning

The processRetirement Planning: Beyond the Active Years of retirement planning can actually be kind of fun if you have the financial ability to take incremental steps forward. You see your nest egg building, and as it does, you see possibilities. During your elder years, you can travel, cross things off your bucket list, enjoy golf and tennis, and spend quality time with your loved ones.

This is fantastic, and you can indeed enjoy your free time to the utmost if you have the financial underpinning to do so. At the same time, you should consider the twilight years that will inevitably follow your active retirement years.

We are not trying to paint a gloom and doom scenario by any means, but it is important to be aware of the eventualities that could come your way so that you can be properly prepared. The stark reality is that you will probably need long-term care at some point in time. The United States Department of Health and Human Services tells us that 70 percent of elders will someday need living assistance.

Some people can receive the help that they need in their own homes with the cooperation of family members and loved ones, but many people require nursing home or assisted living community care. These facilities are extremely expensive. Here in the Long Island area, the median charge for a year in a nursing home is over $160,000 according to Genworth Financial.

About 10 percent of people in nursing homes remain in the facilities for at least five years, and according to a study that was done by the government a few years ago, the average length of stay was over two years at that time.

Plan Ahead in Advance

When you combine all of this information together, you can see why you should look at retirement planning as a holistic endeavor that includes the absorption of long-term care costs. Though Medicare does not pay for long-term care, Medicaid will pay for help with your activities of daily living if you can gain eligibility.

You cannot qualify for Medicaid coverage if you have significant assets in your own name, but there are techniques that can be implemented to pass along assets to your loved ones at the ideal time.

If you take all the right steps, you can enjoy your active retirement years to the utmost as you brace yourself for possible long-term care costs.

Take a Closer Look

We do everything possible to share useful information here on our own blog, but we also contribute more in-depth content over at the highly respected financial website Forbes.com. If you would like to learn more about estate planning and elder law topics that are relevant to successful people, click this link: Forbes Contributor Mark Eghrari.

 

 

 

Latest posts by Eghrari Wealth Training Law Firm (see all)

About Eghrari Wealth Training Law Firm

Mark S. Eghrari is an attorney in private practice in Smithtown, New York. He has been in practice since 1988. Mark S. Eghrari provides extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and businesses. Mr. Eghrari’s primary focus is helping clients avoid probate, minimize or eliminate Federal and State Estate taxes and protect their assets from the high cost of nursing care, if they become ill.