Where Would I Want to Receive Care?
Who Would Provide It?
By planning for long-term care, you have the opportunity to help family and other loved ones understand your expectations for the future, ensuring both your needs, and theirs, are met. By delaying or not implementing a plan you risk,
- Leaving those you care about most exposed to the emotional, financial and physical stress that comes from trying to care for a family member needing extended care; and
- Putting loved ones in the difficult position of making decisions about your care, without guidance from you.
Not surprisingly, most people envision receiving their care at home. Going to a facility, including Assisted Living, Memory Care or a nursing facility is less desirable, though may be necessary at some point. Your ability to stay at home is dependent on many factors, including the proximity, capability and availability of loved ones and their ability to access professional help. To help you create a plan that is right for you, we encourage you to answer the questions in our Plan of Care Worksheet.
Long-term care represents the single largest financial risk faced by older adults and their families.7
60%
of older adults (approx. 24 million) face significant risk for economic insecurity because they could not afford more than two years of long-term care based on their financial assets.
50%
of people 65 years and older will have a significant need for help with two or more functional limitations or with dementia-related issues, and nearly one in six will need care for more than five years, incurring more than $260,000 in lifetime expenses.
7 Lauren Popham, PhD; Susan Silberman, PhD; and Liz Berke, PhD, National Council on AgingJane Tavares, PhD and Marc Cohen, PhD, LeadingAge LTSS Center @ UMass Boston, The True Scope of Financial Insecurity in Retirement (2020)
8 Washington Post, “A Crisis of Care: Senior Care is Crushingly expensive. Boomers Aren’t Ready”, March 20, 2023
