God bless you! I am afraid my children will definitely op out of taking care of me. I rarely see them as is.
So I'll still stuck with the dilemma of funding either LTCI or amassing lots of funds.
My premise here on this site is that many people are considering themselves FI when in fact they are very, very far from that. Without LTCI they are at risk.
Take MMM for example -- should he fall from that roof he always seems to be on, or get hit on that bike he is always riding he could easily be paralyzed or have a head injury. His family assets would quickly deplete with the cost of care and he would most likely eventually end up on Medicaid. I am assuming he does not have LTCI of course.
Christopher Reeves is an example of this. His cost of care far exceeded his assets and health insurance.
I work in the disability field and am aware that a fair percentage of people will end up needing long term care.
Still trying to figure out an option C?
So far it is A - LTCI or B -- have massive investment assets. If B is chosen it is unlikely I will ever amass assets enough to cover the risks.
I'm perfectly fine going without life insurance but should I be fine without LTCI?
It's so sad that the more affluent we get, that sometimes the family and community ties loosen.
A friend of mine commented that to me when she was trying to organize family and friends beach days close to where she lives. Both she and I are first generation Americans and we have been able to succeed here in the USA. When we were children, the families did not have a lot of money so our get togethers would be all day events at the beach with every family bringing some homemade food, the cousins playing football on the sand and generally goofing off all day in the water. Fast forward to now, and everyone is so busy with multiple activities, working, etc., that it's a struggle to get them to come over to the beach sometimes.
My friend's husband is actually an immigrant himself (and doing well with advanced degrees and such) and his family is a little closer to the norm when we grew up. Whenever she plans an event at the beach, they all show up, bring food, hang out the whole day and have a great time. Her family, on the other hand - she has to struggle to get them to at least pop in for a visit. Then she mentions to them the difference between the families.
We have a lot of conveniences that make our lives easier, but sometimes at the detriment of helping each other out. A small but relevant example is when I tried to get my brother to pick me up at the airport after a long trip. They had all wanted to get together that afternoon so I suggested they pick me up and we meet close to my house since I was returning from a long trip. They balked saying the airport drive was too out-of-the-way and I had to take a shuttle instead. "Back in the day" - these shuttles didn't exist and everyone helped each other out. So it's a good convenience, but it detracts from the sense of community we used to have. I don't mean to make my brother sound heartless and we do help each other out in many other ways, but that particular incident really annoyed me. We ended up not getting together that afternoon.
As far as LTC insurance - I agree that many younger people on these forums are looking at their current spending and assuming it will continue in to the future. But, I just don't think you can totally adequately prepare for some of these high costs. You have to balance mid-life you with senior you. If you just keep working until you are 70, then you will miss out on some pretty good years of FIRE.
I think someone else mentioned on this thread that the current system seems so unsustainable with health costs rising above inflation, that there is no way that can continue. I tend to agree with that. As it is, unless you are super rich or pay into an expensive LTC insurance plan, you won't be able to fund these costs. I am adding buffer in my budget, but am willing to take that risk if it comes to it.
