When you are engaged in the process of estate planning the objective is to prepare your assets for distribution after your death. Of course, when you are considering these details you can’t help but think about the last stages of your life as well. This is natural on a personal level, but the matters of estate planning and end-of-life planning are inextricably intertwined on a financial level too. Unless you are in the highest reaches of the upper financial stratosphere how you spend those last years can have a noticeable impact on your legacy.
The fact is that about 60% of senor citizens will need long term care at some point in their lives, with the average length of stay being about two-and-a-half years. As people continue to live longer the odds that you will be unable to take care of all of your day-to-day needs at some point are invariably going to increase. Plus, the costs are getting higher all the time, and this is big news in the elder law community.
In the United States as a whole the average cost of a year in an assisted living facility rose 5.2% to $39,516 in 2010 over 2009 numbers. A year spent in a private room in a nursing home in 2010 would cost you $83,585 on average; in Connecticut that average cost exceeded $137,000. The national annual average represented a 4.6% increase in 2010.
These costs are high, and they are clearly trending upward. One way to be prepared for them is to purchase long term care insurance. The premiums can be rather expensive, but when you do the math this insurance can save you a great deal of money under certain circumstances. The younger you are when you obtain the insurance the less expensive it will be, and you may not be able to find coverage if you wait too long. It is a good idea to do your research, get some quotes, work the numbers, and give the matter some serious consideration.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
- High-Net-Worth Estate Planning: Strategies to Preserve Your Wealth - July 30, 2026
- How to Use a Living Trust to Stagger an Inheritance - July 23, 2026
- Is a Handwritten Will Valid? - July 16, 2026
( By appointment only )