Little did John know, it would be months before he would get a good night’s sleep again…
I met John and his Dad, Dr.X, when he called me out of the blue one afternoon…
He was asking questions about how to get help at home for his father…
His dad was 89 years old, confined to a wheel chair, and totally dependent on a caregiver to get through the day.
He told me that even though his dad had a pension…
And some moneys he’d saved while working as a practicing physician…
He didn’t want to touch his retirement nest egg.
He also mentioned that he knew Medicare would not cover for the kind of help he needed.
But everything was fine until the family member who was caring for him suddenly fell ill…
They didn’t have a plan B, so John, the son, had to step in…
John, a doctor himself… had a tight schedule, though flexible.
He had 2 weeks available to take from work to care for his dad, but that was it…
After the 2 weeks… he needed to get back to work.
Most friends and family lived out of town… so John was it.
Well…
Two and a half months had passed by the time he called me!
He was stressed, unhappy, and resentful…
On the verge of a major life changing event… and not for the better.
A real grim scenario for any family…
And not an uncommon one in my line of work.
At this point, he was about to start spending his Dad’s money for in-home care services…
He’d run out of options…
It wasn’t until our second conversation that I asked if he’d ever heard of Long Term Care Insurance…
He said no…
I told him that a lot of people in his Dad’s generation were big believers in life insurance, disability, and long term care insurance…
And that maybe his Dad had taken out a policy back in the day, but no one knew about it…
Right away John started looking through his Dad’s financial documents…
He also asked him if he remembered getting one, but nada…
No memory of ever buying one.
Then when all hope seemed lost…
John decided to ask his Dad’s attorney.
Nothing to lose at this point right!
He told me that when he asked the attorney, he smiled and said to him:
“John… Do you think your Dad’s not going to cover his ass for something like this?”
Buried deep in his estate plan…
He had a policy he purchased with one of the early leaders in long term care insurance -Unum Providence!
The rest is history…
The policy covered 90% of the help he needed…
We got him an awesome caregiver he liked a lot…
John went back to work after taking a much needed vacation…
And we serviced Dr. X for about 3 years before he passed away in the comfort of his own home and well cared for.
John and I still keep in touch.
And of course, he purchased a Long Term Care insurance policy for himself and his wife right away…
Moral of the story!
Make smart financial decisions NOW…
While you’re YOUNG and INSURABLE…
So that tomorrow you don’t have to fork out unnecessary cash $$ for things you’ll inevitably need … at a much higher cost.
Anyway… I owe you an apology!
I know I said that in part 2 of this email series…
- I’d quickly cover the finer points of LTC insurance…
- What to look for when shopping for one…
- And where to get the best one for you at an affordable price.
But instead I decided to share this story with you…
Again, I apologize if I disappointed you…
I’ll deliver on my promise in Part 3 of this series…
Scout’s honor!
Cheers,
Claudio ‘Insurable while young’ Alegre
P.S.
Here are Part-1 and Part-3 of this series!
- Will Medicaid Take My House To Pay Back Benefits? –Medicaid Myths vs. Facts About Your Primary Residence - February 2, 2024
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Avoid These 3 Common Mistakes as a Family Caregiver - January 19, 2024
- 6 Practical Tips For Managing Alzheimers and Dementia - December 29, 2023
