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94 | SIGNATURE MONTANA FACTS ON FINANCE ARTICLE PROVIDED BY EDWARD JONES Like everyone, you'd like to enjoy a long, healthy, independent life. But the future is unknowable, so it's a good idea to prepare for a variety of outcomes – including the possible need for long-term care. Consider the following: • Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of eventually needing some type of long-term care service, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. • e median annual cost for a private room in a nursing home is about $105,000, and it's almost $55,000 for home health aide services, according to the insurance company Genworth. Medicare also may cover very few of these costs. Consequently, it's a good idea to include potential long-term care costs in your planning. While everyone's situation is different, you may want to budget for two to three years' worth of long-term care expenses. But how can you prepare for these costs? Essentially, you've got three options: • You could self-insure. If you would like to cover the costs of long- term care out of your own pocket, you'll need to consider a few issues: How will these potential costs affect your family? How might your other goals be affected, or even altered, by your decision to self-insure? Will you have to adjust your investment mix or designate certain investments to help achieve your self-funding objectives? None of these questions should dissuade you from trying to self-fund for long-term care, but they can help you clarify the significance of this choice within your overall financial strategy. • You could transfer the risk to an insurance company. You could purchase either long-term care insurance or a life insurance policy that provides long-term care benefits in addition to a death benefit. Before Be Prepared for Long-Term Care Costs FINANCIAL FOCUS

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