Benefit Choices of Comprehensive Long Term Care Insurance

1. Monthly Benefit Amount

How Much Daily or Monthly Benefit Do I Need?

Follow these steps to determine your daily/monthly benefit...

1. Know the actual cost for long term care in your area. The national average is about $265 per day or about $7,950 per month. Click here for averages by state.

2. If you were confined to a nursing home or required care in your home, determine how much per day or month you could afford to pay for that care from your own income stream.

3. Subtract #2 (how much you could pay) from #1 (the actual cost of long term care) and the result will be a good daily/monthly benefit starting point for designing your policy (how much the policy would pay).

4. Example: In Alabama, the average cost for long term care is $225 per day or $6,676 per month. If you were in a nursing home and you could pay $2,000 per month from your own income stream, you would need an insurance policy to pay $4,676 per month. This would be about $155 per day.

- Determine the actual costs of care in the area where you plan to retire

- Decide how much you want to co-insure. The more discretionary income you have, the lower the daily benefit you may want to purchase

- Consider the extra cost if you want a private room when selecting your daily benefit, should you move into an assisted living or nursing home facility