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A long-form walkthrough · 12 minutes · Eight calculators

You probably think you don't need this.
Let's actually find out.

Most pages on Long Term Care Insurance try to scare you into buying. This one doesn't. Eight calculators, a few honest questions, and the actual math behind the decision — by the end you'll know exactly where you stand. Including whether to walk away from it entirely. Promise.

No email required to readNo sales pop-upsWritten by an independent broker, 28 years in business
Americans 65+ who need care
7 in 10
HHS data
Median private room nursing home
$9,277
per month, 2024 Genworth
Medicare covers for custodial care
0%
day one, day ten thousand
Premium increase per year you wait
3–5%
every birthday, for life
01 — Three numbers worth knowing

The three facts most retirement plans miss.

Tap each card. Government data, not insurance industry data. These three numbers are the entire reason this product category exists.

Why this section matters
People plan retirement around investment returns and Social Security. The numbers above describe a fourth variable — the one that quietly destroys plans built on the other three.
02 — Picture a morning ten years out

Imagine a morning fifteen years from now.

Pick a scenario. We'll walk through what care actually looks like — not a brochure version. Then we'll talk about who pays.

↑ Pick one. It only takes a tap.
03 — The four places the money comes from

If care happened tomorrow, who actually pays?

There are only four answers. Let's stress-test each one. Spoiler: three of the four don't hold up under scrutiny.

Option 1 — Family takes care of you
What would it actually cost your daughter?
Most adult children who become caregivers cut back at work or quit entirely. Drag the slider — see what they'd give up.
Months stepped back from work18 mo
Lost wages
$97K
Lost 401(k) match
$6K
Career drag
$39K
Total cost to your daughter
$142K
Plus the emotional cost, which doesn't fit on a calculator.
Food for thought: 61% of family caregivers report depression. 1 in 3 deplete their own savings. The “free” option isn't free — it's just charged to someone else.
Option 2 — Medicare covers it
The most expensive misunderstanding in retirement.
About 6 in 10 Americans believe Medicare covers long term care. It doesn't. Click each myth to see what's actually covered.
Option 3 — Qualify for Medicaid
First, you have to be broke.
Medicaid is the largest payer of long term care in America. To qualify in most states, an individual can have no more than about $2,000 in countable assets. Move the slider to see what you'd spend down first.
Your countable assets today$750,000
5-year look-back on gifts and transfers
Estate recovery — state claws back from your estate after you die
Medicaid facility choice — fewer beds, often longer waits
Your spouse's standard of living often cut significantly
You'd spend down
$748K
before Medicaid pays a dollar. Then Medicaid picks the facility.
Option 4 — Self-insure
How long would your savings actually last?
Many people assume the nest egg will cover it. The math is sobering — and this doesn't include taxes on retirement withdrawals or what your spouse needs to live on.
Your investable assets$500,000
Annual care cost in your area$110,000
Your runway
4.5
years before $0
Then what? The average dementia patient needs care for 8–10 years. One in five Americans needs long term care for 5+ years.
The takeaway
Of the four self-funded options, three force impossible trade-offs: burning out the people you love, accepting Medicaid's limits on choice, or watching the nest egg evaporate. Long Term Care Insurance is the only path that protects the rest of the plan.
04 — Three protected walls, one open

You already insure three of the four big risks.

A broker named Brad showed me this diagram on a napkin in 1998. It's still the clearest way to see why this conversation exists. Tap each risk.

YOURSAVINGS
The four risks
Honest question #1
05 — The math that changes minds

What if you only used the interest, never the principle?

This is the back-of-the-napkin argument that gets clients off the fence. Move your savings, your typical return, and your age. The math does the rest.

Your investable assets$500,000
Your typical average return5.0%
Your age today62 yrs
Premiums shown are illustrative averages for a partnered policy with a 36-month benefit, 90-day elimination period, and 3% compound inflation. Real quotes vary by health, state, and carrier.
Annual interest / return
$25,000
On $500K earning 5.0%
Annual LTC premium
$3,222
At age 62, illustrative
What just happened
You'd redirect 12.9% of your annual interest to cover the one risk you can't otherwise insure. Your $500K in principle stays intact, still earning, with $22K left over to keep reinvesting each year.
The back-of-the-napkin pitch
You're not paying for the policy out of your savings. You're paying for it out of the interest on your savings. The principle never moves.
Honest questions #2, #3, #4
06 — Every birthday costs more

Why waiting almost never works.

Two things happen every birthday: premiums go up, and the odds of being declined for health reasons go up too. Slide your age and see.

Your age today62
Premium at 62
$3,222/yr
Premium at 67 (if you wait)
$5,406/yr
+$2,184/yr, or +68% more, every year for life.
The other risk: roughly 1 in 3 applicants get declined for health reasons. Diabetes, MS, memory issues, recent cancer, certain heart conditions — the list is long. The best time was five years ago. The next best is today, while you can still qualify.
07 — Build your own benefit pool

A policy is a pool, not a paycheck.

A Long Term Care Insurance policy isn't a check every month — it's a benefit pool you draw from however and wherever you need care. Drag to build.

Monthly benefit cap$6,000/mo
Benefit duration3 yrs
Shared pool with my spouse
3% compound inflation protection
Base pool
$216K
$6,000/mo × 36 months
Individual pool
$216K
Only you can draw from this pool
Pool in 20 yrs (inflation-protected)
$390K
Grown at 3% compound annually
How it pays: You file a claim when you can't perform 2 of 6 activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, eating, continence) or you have cognitive impairment. The policy reimburses bills from home aides, assisted living, memory care, adult day care, or skilled nursing — your choice — up to your monthly cap, until the pool runs out.
08 — What care costs in the future

$111,000 a year today. What does it cost in 2046?

Long term care has grown roughly 4% per year for two decades — not 2-3% like general inflation. This is the most boring chart on this page. It's also probably the most important.

Years from today20 yrs
Today$111,000
At 3% compound$200,478
At 5% compound (likelier)$294,516
09 — Three product paths

Pick the path that sounds like you.

There is no single right answer. Different families fit different products. Here is the honest version of each.

10 — The stress test

OK, but what if you're wrong about all this?

Every objection we hear, with the honest answer. No spin. Click any to expand.

11 — Your self-assessment

Here's where you actually landed.

Pulled from your inputs above. Nothing here is sent anywhere — it lives in your browser only.

Your inputs
Your age62
Your savings$500K
Your average return5.0%
Annual return / interest$25K
Illustrative premium at your age$3K/yr
Self-insure runway (no policy)4.5 years
The four agreements
Something could happen that reduces my independence
If it happened, I'd be tapping savings
No other major risk is comparably unprotected
Funding it from interest (not principle) makes sense
Your score
0 / 4
You haven't checked any of the honest questions yet — scroll back up and see what you actually agree with.
The next 15 minutes

One 15-minute Zoom.
Quotes from every top carrier, side by side.

We'll screen-share quotes from up to 11 carriers — traditional, hybrid, and annuity-based — for your specific age, health, and state. You can ask anything you like and leave with a printed comparison either way. No commitments. No follow-up if you're a no.

Get your free quote Just send me the binder
(800) 800-6139 hello@ltctree.com

About this tool

Educational illustration only. Not financial, tax, or legal advice. Sample premiums shown are illustrative averages for a partnered policy with a 36-month benefit period, 90-day elimination period, and 3% compound inflation protection. Real-world rates vary by carrier, state, health, and plan design. Insurance policy guarantees are subject to the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing carrier.

Source data: Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2024 (median cost figures); HHS Administration for Community Living (lifetime care need statistics); Medicare.gov (coverage limitations). Nothing on this page constitutes a recommendation to buy or not buy a specific product. Coverage suitability depends on your full financial picture. Talk to a licensed broker (us or any other) before deciding.