Updated May 27th, 2020
What Is Whole Life Insurance with Long Term Care?
Whole Life Insurance with Long Term Care is a relatively new product to help people with their Long Term Care needs. It has been gaining popularity over the last few years as the insurance industry adapts to rising long term care costs. The product is designed to accomplish multiple things at once:
- Give long term care benefits
- Provide a death benefit
- Provide living benefits (cash value, waiver of premium)
One of the more attractive features for clients is that it is not a “use it or lose it” product.
It may seem like a complicated product, but in this article, you will find and learn:
- Long Term Care Insurance Definition
- Whole Life Insurance Definition
- Why Whole Life with Long Term Care?
- Why with Life Insurance?
- Does Whole Life Make Sense For You?
- Universal Life Insurance with Long Term Care
Longer-Term Care Insurance Definition
Long Term Care is the service provided when you can’t perform 2 of the Activities of Daily Living (Bathing, Dressing, Using the Toilet, Getting out of Bed, Caring for Incontinence, and Eating). You will require professional assistance to help you in your life.
Here is a cool intro video too long term care planning:
To learn more about long term care visit: Long Term Care
Whole Life Insurance Definition
Whole Life insurance is permanent life insurance that has guarantees attach to it. The premiums are guaranteed, the death benefit is guaranteed, and there is cash value that can be accessed at any time. Also, there is a guaranteed cash value growth that helps the death benefit, and cash value increase over time.
Why Whole Life with Long Term Care?
The idea behind this blended product is that it covers you in case you need long term care, but if you don’t use the long term care, then there will be a death benefit to your beneficiaries. All blended policies work in the same way (Whole Life and Universal).
Why with Life Insurance?
Why in the world would insurance companies add life insurance to long term care? The answer is a risk. They want to protect themselves from paying someone for the rest of their life. Now, this can be a good thing for you, because it makes policies more affordable.
People live longer
People are living longer and longer. The average life expectancy is, according to Social Security, is :
- A 65-year-old male is 84
- A 65-year-old female is 86
Take a look at how average life expectancy has gone up over the last decades.
This trend causes more people to need help in their elder years with activities of daily living. According to the Social Security Administration, the average use for long term care is:
70% of people turning age 65 can expect to use some form of long-term care during their lives. There are a number of factors that affect the possibility that you will need care.
People live longer, which means that they are going to claim long term care for much longer than they used to.
Increasing rates for traditional Long Term Care
Many insurance companies are struggling to help clients with long term care because of the increase in costs. Genworth was a long term care leader for many years. However, they are having problems with their business model. And Genworth is not the only one that has had to increase rates and cut costs.
John Hancock, a leader in the early 2000s for long term care, has had many rates increases. Many companies have raised rates over the past decade. California has a list of some of the rate increases for long term care in-force policies. In-force means policies that are already in place!
Rate increases have caused that blended policies are more attractive to clients and insurance companies. Especially insurance companies, that way, they are not on the hook paying benefits for an extended period.
Does Whole Life Make Sense For You?
Traditional Long Term care is still the best bet to protect you from long term care risk. However, not everyone can afford or wants to pay for an LTC policy. Long term care is a costly risk. According to longtermcare.gov, here are some of the costs every month:
- $205 per day or $6,235 per month for a semi-private room in a nursing home
- $229 per day or $6,965 per month for a private room in a nursing home
- $3,293 per month for care in an assisted living facility (for a one-bedroom unit)
As you can see, the costs can be very high, and they can cripple anyone’s retirement, savings, or legacy.
Find out if blended life insurance with long term care makes sense for you, the best bet would be to speak to an agent. However, here is a list to help you determine if it is right for you:
- Use it or Lose it: You don’t want to lose your money if you don’t use the policy.
- You want to have options: You don’t want to be stuck paying for a policy forever.
- You may want to access the cash value: If you think you may access the cash in
The cost for whole life insurance will be similar to a traditional long term care policy.
How about Universal Life insurance with Long Term Care?
Unlike universal life insurance products with long term care, whole life insurance has solid guarantees. Whole life has a cash value that can be accessed without a high risk of lapsing the policy. You still have to be careful, but you can access the cash. All universal life policies with long term care if you access the cash, the policy “guarantee” period decreases dramatically, or the guarantees completely disappear. That being said, some people don’t need access to cash:
If you don’t see yourself ever touching the cash value under any circumstance or emergency then you should consider Universal Life with Long Term Care
Most people will need to use the long term care benefits far in the future, so you want to make sure your policy has strong guarantees associated with it in multiple scenarios and circumstances.
The main advantage that you will have with Universal Life policies is that the premium will be cheaper. However, make sure you understand the features; cheaper is not always better.
What companies offer Whole Life Insurance with Long Term Care?
Let’s go over which companies offer good whole life insurance with long term care. There aren’t that many competitive ones.
One America
A “new” company with a fantastic single premium whole life product with long term care. They are not a household name as some of the big mutuals, but they have an excellent product.
MassMutual
One of the old mutual players with a competitive product. MassMutual Whole Life Insurance with Long Term Care. You cannot go wrong with MassMutual. Check out our review at MassMutual whole life insurance review.
MetLife
MetLife also has a great whole life with a long term care rider. MetLife Whole Life Insurance with Long Term Care. MetLife is one of the best branded and most recognized names in the insurance business. Their whole life ranks among the top in multiple scenarios. Check out our MetLife whole life insurance review.
Guardian Life
Yes, they offer it. Good stable company with a competitive whole life, but when we stack them against the competition, they don’t perform as well. See our Guardian Whole Life Insurance Review.
Nationwide
Nope. They have Universal life insurance with long term care, but they do not have whole life insurance.
New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, and Ohio National
Nope. They all have whole life insurance, but no long term care rider with it.
Conclusion
Long term care costs are not going down, and protecting yourself is essential. Whole Life insurance with long term care can be a good solution for you. Please make sure you speak to your advisor about long term care, and if you would like a quote, contact us or leave a comment.
