A recent post on the New York Times’ New Old Age blog highlights how long-term care insurance is becoming less accessible to those most likely to need it—particularly women who tend to outlive their male counterparts. With longevity comes increased risk that retirees will face poverty in old age, in part due to the large expense of medical care.
According to the blog post, many companies that provide this insurance have stopped selling new policies and will be issuing drastic price hikes to current policyholders, most notably in the form of gender-distinct pricing, which essentially penalizes women for having a life span that is on average five years longer than men.
[NATIVE_AD_300x250]
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
With women making up more than three-quarters of those in assisted-living facilities and a majority of the recipients of home care, it is essential that planning for the uncertainties of long-term care factor heavily into overall retirement planning. It is important for women in or nearing retirement to adjust their financial plan accordingly to account for these costly needs.
One of the most important steps to preparing for a time in your life when you may no longer be able to care for yourself is to ensure that you have a source of guaranteed income for life. For example, a fixed indexed annuity—a tax-deferred product offered by life insurance companies—can provide a guaranteed lifetime income stream, even if the account balance falls to zero. And, because interest credited to a fixed indexed annuity can be determined by a formula linked to a market index, the product offers the opportunity for increased interest over other traditional annuities.
You can also use the proceeds from certain annuities with qualifying riders with long term care benefits to pay for long-term care costs tax-free.
To learn more about fixed indexed annuities, check out this brief educational video.
This content was provided by the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council, and did not involve the Kiplinger editorial staff.
-
What Is a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)?Tax Breaks A QCD can lower your tax bill while meeting your charitable giving goals in retirement. Here’s how.
-
Embracing Generative AI for Financial SuccessGenerative AI has the potential to reshape how we approach learning about and managing our personal finances.
-
457 Plan Contribution Limits for 2025Retirement plans There are higher 457 plan contribution limits for state and local government workers in 2025 than in 2024.
-
Medicare Basics: 11 Things You Need to KnowMedicare There's Medicare Part A, Part B, Part D, Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans and so on. We sort out the confusion about signing up for Medicare — and much more.
-
The Seven Worst Assets to Leave Your Kids or Grandkidsinheritance Leaving these assets to your loved ones may be more trouble than it’s worth. Here's how to avoid adding to their grief after you're gone.
-
SEP IRA Contribution Limits for 2024 and 2025SEP IRA A good option for small business owners, SEP IRAs allow individual annual contributions of as much as $69,000 in 2024 and $70,000 in 2025..
-
Roth IRA Contribution Limits for 2024 and 2025Roth IRAs Roth IRA contribution limits have gone up. Here's what you need to know.
-
SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limits for 2024 and 2025simple IRA The SIMPLE IRA contribution limit increased by $500 for 2025. Workers at small businesses can contribute up to $16,500 or $20,000 if 50 or over and $21,750 if 60-63.
-
457 Contribution Limits for 2024
retirement plans State and local government workers can contribute more to their 457 plans in 2024 than in 2023.
-
Roth 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2025retirement plans The Roth 401(k) contribution limit for 2024 is increasing, and workers who are 50 and older can save even more.
