Long-Term Care University Highlights You Don’t Want to Miss

For financial advisors, long-term care can be one of those topics that produces a groan followed by a dismissal. Anyone anywhere near the industry has heard of carriers, products and pricing changes. And the pandemic has forced a change in the way we sell as well. There’s a lot to know about how to help your clients plan successfully.

During our recent virtual LTC U, we covered a lot about LTC. We took a high-level look at the need for planning, and then got down to some of the nitty-gritty. Read on to discover some of the highlights of the series. And, if your interest is piqued, check out the replay on demand.

Why You Should Give LTC Planning Another Look

The need for a long-term care plan hasn’t diminished. In fact, if anything, it’s become something that more clients are asking for. It continues to be an emotional subject, and one that can seem overwhelming when clients really start looking into it. To help your clients plan starts with a conversation that is about embracing the emotional aspect, not about selling a policy.

Financial Impact

Clients sometimes object that they can self-insure. And, in fact, clients that haven’t planned will end up self-insuring, although unintentionally. But what matters more is whether self-insurance offers the best value. By thinking through the costs of self-insurance versus transferring the risk to the policy, you help your clients develop an intentional plan and avoid eating up in long-term care costs the wealth they want to leave for their children. Long-term care is probably the single largest risk to an otherwise thorough retirement plan.

Long-Term Care Is Not a Place

It’s an event. But when your clients hear long-term care, the first they think is nursing home. With a little education, you can show them all of the options available should a long-term care need occur. And, with people living longer, there’s a greater chance of needing care. One way to bring up the topic is to ask where they’d like to receive care if they needed it.

Designing a Plan

Once you and your client have discussed what they want to have happen, and that they are interested in transferring some of that risk to a carrier, it’s time to design a plan. It’s important to remember that long-term care is not a capital issue, but a cash flow issue, and assets need to be allocated to it.

For most clients, long-term care is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. They need time to make the decision. So, make yourself available, provide education and follow up, and allow them to move at their own pace.

In addition to your Ash LTC team, we have other resources to help:

• Cost of Care Survey to determine how much care costs in their area
• JourneyGuide Software, which will allow you to run different scenarios for your clients

And this is just the tip of the LTC U iceberg. If you’re ready to learn more, check out all three days of the replay. The most important takeaway is that you don’t have to be an expert when you have a team of experts behind you. Reach out to your LTC team, here to answer any questions. Just Ask.