When you are sitting in your office looking out the window and taking a moment to dream about the future, your active retirement years can seem like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you are like most individuals, while you’re working you have limited free time and much of the time that you have has been devoted to raising your family. So your golden years are a stage of your life when you have the opportunity to do all the things that you have always wanted to do when your time finally becomes your own.
This is all as it should be, but when you’re planning for your retirement years from a financial perspective it is important to recognize the fact that the period of time after your active retirement years can come along with some significant expenses. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services seven out of every 10 people who reach the age of 65 are going to need long-term care at some point in time, and the costs associated with long-term care are considerable.
The MetLife Mature Market Institute publishes a study each year examining long-term care costs. They found that in 2010 the average annual cost for a private room in a nursing home in the United States was around $83,500. People who resided in assisted-living communities paid an average of nearly $40,000. The average length of stay for a woman is 3.7 years, and for a man it is 2.2 years. If you do the math you will be looking at a pretty big number, and industry analysts expect long-term care costs to rise in the coming years.
These potential expenses are something to take into consideration when you are planning for the future. To learn how to address them, simply arrange for a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney.
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