Living your best life

Everything is falling into place. You’ve found your forever home, in just the right location, with neighbors you look forward to seeing. You and your spouse are driving new cars without any hint of maintenance issues. Steady paychecks are flowing in from work you both enjoy. The kids are doing well in school and college is just far enough down the road to keep the financial pressure in check. To top it all off, your new canine companion is no longer a puppy. 



Whether or not your life is that idyllic, what if you could step outside of your own body and look at yourself twenty to thirty years from now? Pausing the American dream for a moment and peering into the distant future is harder than you think. Most can’t avoid thinking about the cost of college, educations, and weddings. But try to look out even further ahead; to your final day of work and what happens next. 

Do things look a little different? For one, that bi-weekly deposit from work has probably been exchanged for a paltry Social Security benefit that on average is $1,475 per month for a retired worker.¹ Not really an even trade, is it? Is your health the same? Still working out 3 to 4 days a week or have the pharmacists gotten to know you a little too well? Do those cars still have the new car smell and showroom shine? How about that mortgage? Is it paid off or did a second mortgage help with your daughter’s medical school? Is your retirement account filled to the brim?  

That comfortable, perfect snapshot in time where you were “living your best life” could be drastically different than your retirement reality. Why didn’t anyone educate you on the value of making a decision today to ensure your best life tomorrow? Were these valuable options lost in a self-service maze of endless choices?  
Looking at it from that perspective, that decision to elect permanent life insurance with long-term care seems a little more important. Making a decision on employee benefits may have fooled you into thinking these coverages won’t be needed in retirement. But with an expanding palette of total rewards offerings, how can you tell what to secure today, with tomorrow in mind?

The truth is, the financial hardship of having a heart attack, cancer, or a stroke on a post-employment budget (and then dealing with the aftermath) can really dip into the retirement plan you built through a lifetime of saving. The median 401(k) balance for someone retiring today is just $62,000.² What if in-home care, assisted living, or a nursing home is next? Where will that money come from? All of those amazing benefits offered through your employer have ended. But, a few savvy decisions while working can make all the difference in retirement.

Taking advantage of affordable, guaranteed issue life insurance with long-term care through your employer could ensure the quality care you deserve later in life. Receiving long-term care benefits of $2,000 or $4,000 per month in retirement stands out a lot more when a steady paycheck is a distant memory. Today, for someone age 65, there is a 70 percent chance they will need some type of long-term care for three years.³ Too many children are learning this lesson as they care for an elderly parent; dipping into their personal retirement savings to help with the costs. 

It can be hard to know a great benefit when you see it, but the key is to put it into perspective. Ask yourself this simple question, “Will this benefit help me live my best life now and in retirement?” You may find that it is never too early to lock in permanent life with a long-term care policy to insure your future.  

¹ Monthly Statistical Snapshot, September 2019. Social Security Administration. 
² “What’s the average 401(k) balance by age?”. Investopedia. 2020.
³ “How much care will you need?”. Longtercare.gov. 2020.