How to Plan for Future Care Costs with a Disability Without Added Hassle
Creating a financial plan for your future care can involve talking about difficult subjects, and it can be stressful. Discussing these subjects is essential for any comprehensive financial plan, and it’s especially crucial if you have loved ones who depend on you for support or if you are living with a disability. In terms of the latter, you need to be thoughtful about every aspect of your care, from present to future, to ensure your family will not be left struggling to cover any related expenses. However, planning for your care can be easier with these tips.
Be Open to Planning for Your End of Life
You can’t plan for the joys of life without also planning for the hardships, including your death. Creating a financial plan that covers all of the possible expenses that can arise around the end of a life is a step every adult should take, whether they are living with a disability or not. You can start drafting a will, but you also need to think about getting life insurance. This can be a complicated task to navigate, but when you are living with a disability, you may need to take some added precautions to avoid denials, delays, and higher premiums.
Be Mindful of Your Future Healthcare Expenses
Do you know how you will pay for your healthcare needs during your golden years? If not, this should be a top priority as you create a financial plan. The average cost of senior healthcare can be as high as $300,000, but if you are living with a disability, you may be part of the 1 percent of seniors who will shell out $600,000 or more for healthcare services over the course of retirement. Keep in mind that these figures do not fully account for Medicare coverage, but even Medicare is not always enough to offset health expenses when you have a variety of healthcare needs. If you are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, you may be able to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses even further, but navigating this sort of dual-eligibility can be tricky. For adults who are currently employed, factoring senior healthcare costs into their overall financial plans for retirement could be the best bet for keeping those expenses from draining their retirement income. You can also look for VA benefits or other ways to cover care costs.
Be Aware of Costs for Your Long-Term Care Needs
As someone who is living with a disability, you may have given some thought to long-term care costs. If not, you should know that not planning for long-term care is more common than you may think. Although the majority of people will need some sort of long-term care assistance, most folks forget to include this expense in their overall financial planning for retirement. It’s becoming a crisis among seniors, with all too many older adults struggling to find the means to pay for nursing homes, assisted living, and other types of dedicated care.
You can avoid that added stress by creating a plan to pay for care well ahead of time. Consider signing up for long-term care insurance, or if you sell your home, you can use that money to cover the costs. You can also look to government benefits like Medicare, Medicaid, or VA for assistance, depending on eligibility requirements.
Planning for future care is a financially responsible step that every adult should take. For adults who are living with disabilities, creating a financial roadmap for care can be even more important, but it doesn’t have to involve any additional hassle. You just need to take a few extra precautions here and there, but with a little work, you can ensure that your future is protected.
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