ING Independent Networking Group - Newsletter

ING Networking - The Independent Networking Group

www.ingnetworking.org
Phone: 818.991.6293
Email: info@ingnetworking.org

Phone: 818.991.6293

Email: info@ingnetworking.org

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$Text Box: By Susan Laronge, CLTC, California Long Term Care Insurance Services The single greatest risk that your retirement assets face is that of a long-term care medical event. With medical costs skyrocketing, it is easy to see how a year in assisted living at an average of $75,000 a year in our area, can wipe out a lifetime of savings with are earmarked for travel, a second home, or even legacy planning for children or grandchildren. No one plans on having a stroke, a heart attack, or even a fall which results ina serious break or fracture. Yet even a few months of care given in a specialized facility, if you cannot perform even the simplest daily activities such as dressing or bathing yourself, can end up costing a considerable amount of money. At $20—$25 an hour for home health care assistance, we can expect to pay close to $200 a day. After age 65, statistically one out of every two of us will require some care. But the odds of one out of every ten of us developing a progressively degenerating condition such as Alzheimer’s brings home the “it can’t happen to me” myth in a very real way. Long-term care insurance is insurance that protects your retirement plans the way homeowner’s insurance protects against the potential loss incurred by a house fire or the damage caused by an auto collision. Health care coverage stops short of protecting you for the long-term. Long-term disability only covers you up to age 65. So far, we have been discussing loss in measurable terms. But with a long-term medical event, there is another type of loss—that of the human cost that cannot be measured as easily. The spouse who see her financial security vanishing, the children who grow resentful because their obligations to a parent interfere with their daily lives and work obligations, the sheer depletion of physical and emotional energy that ages a caregiver and sometimes costs them the ultimate price when they pass away as a result. With the proper planning, a long-term care insurance policy can save a family from facing a forced MediCal spend-down in order to go on public assistance. The State of California is a pioneer in offering the Partnership Plan, which matches dollar-for-dollar the monies placed into premiums for a policy with selected insurance companies. These companies must meet stringent requirements to sell the California Partnership Plan, and their agents must receive specialized training to represent the program. Premium increases are limited by the State and the Partnership. The policies must be what are referred to as comprehensive policies, i.e., both home care and facilities care are covered by the Partnership plan. Inflation protection, compounded at 5% a year, must be included to keep up with rising health care costs. The amount of assets you can protect increases each year you keep the policy because of the built-in asset protection. For example, let’s assume you have $70,000 in assets that you cover with your Partnership plan. You use all of your benefits in covering your medical care and still need more care. When you apply to MediCal, you forego the obligatory spending down of your assets to the required $2000 to receive government assistance because you have a plan with asset protection, which allows you to keep your $70,000 and continue to use it for future care. Without this protection, MediCal may be your only provision to meet the medical obligations you have incurred. You must also consider the prospect of using funds which were put away for other purposes—money which you worked most of your life to accumulate. A long-term care policy is medically underwritten, so it really is your good health that buys you this type of protection. Presumably, the younger you are, the less a policy will cost because you will be in better health as a younger person. But age should be no reason not to buy if your health is good, you are active and your medical history is acceptable to the underwriters. Even diabetics can be considered if their condition is controlled. We all need to realize that with 77 million retiring Baby Boomers hitting the current healthcare delivery system like a tsunami, we cannot expect Uncle Sam to shoulder the cost of our old age. We are living longer—good news for most of us—but that means we need to prepare for life’s inevitable surprises. With proper planning through the purchase of long-term care insurance, the surprises can be manageable and less life-altering, allowing us to age in place with dignity, have control of our finances and retain our independence and lifestyle.$

Long-term disability only covers you up to age 65.

ING NETWORKING

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ING, the Independent Networking Group, is a business networking group that meets in Agoura, CA. We have a great group of businesses including a financial planner, a mortgage broker, a realtor, a chiropractor, a gift service, a long term care insurance specialist, a holistic health business, an insurance agent, a business coach, a family law attorney, an estate law attorney, a car buying service, a bank, an interior designer, a personal assistant service.

If you are looking for a networking group and/or like-minded business owners please look no further than ING Networking. The fee free platform works for all budgets and there are no annual membership fees. There is a one-time $50 initiation fee that goes into a pot to cover small expenses. From then on you pay nothing, but for your meals.

Structured networking without being rigid. There are no fines and penalties associates with lack of referrals or missing meetings. ING Networking is a one business per group so please call ahead to check if there is an open spot.

Business locations to include: Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County. Coverage includes the Conejo Valley and all of the following cities: Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Westhills, Los Angeles, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Reseda, Hollywood and Malibu.