Thanks, PA, but she has loads of assets. She also has a daughter who is schizophrenic. We are trying to get my MIL through her life without depleting her considerable assets. (She's FI and never worked outside the home, so she didn't exactly Retire Early, but close enough.) We are working on the assumption that we will need some of her estate to look after her daughter, DH's sister. Since we don't know what that will look like, we can't just check her into a swanky joint for the next dozen years without a care for her estate, or there will be nothing left for his sister. As for us, being FI means we don't have to worry about making her money last so we can inherit some, as we've got that covered. All of this underscores my earlier point. It's complicated and there are no easy answers, so good planning is essential. Buying an LTC policy is only a step in the process, it's not a complete answer, nor is it the only way.