I agree that the costs of long-term care can wipe out a family's fortune in just a few short years (or even months for some).
I work in healthcare and see the effect that long-term nursing home stays have on families. I'm still relatively young (38), but I am already planning for long-term care costs in the form of my HSA account. I max out my HSA account every year, and use very little of those funds throughout the year, thus protecting the balance of the account. I have the funds invested in a Vanguard fund and will allow it to grow through the remainder of my life.
Under current IRS rules, you are allowed to use your HSA account to purchase long-term care insurance. If I am able to continue to keep my HSA (who knows what healthcare will look over the next 22 years), then I will purchase a 5-year long-term care insurance policy at age 60 and use my HSA funds to pay for it. If I need additional care after the 5-year policy is exhausted or if I need care not covered under the LTC policy, I will have the funds in my HSA to cover those expenses as well.
I just used HSA Bank's online calculator to see what the balance of my HSA account would be in 25 years if I had no existing HSA savings and started fully-funding an HSA account each year over the next 25 years (using the current contribution limit of $3,350.00 per year for an individual). Assuming an 8% annual rate of return, that account would look as follows:
Net Contributions: $83,750.00
Net Contributions Per Year: $3,350.00
Tax Savings on Contributions (Assuming Federal Tax Rate of 28%): $23,450.00
Tax Savings on Tax-Deferred Growth: $45,123.37
Future Value: $244,904.90
I'm sure long-term care will be even more expensive in 25 years from now, but $245K will go a long way in covering those costs, especially if you pair it with a Long-Term Care policy. With people living longer lives (but not necessarily higher-quality lives), it seems like it's never too early to prepare for long-term care.