should you get long-term care insurance?

When it comes to purchasing long-term care (LTC) insurance, there’s no one-size-fits-all plan. Choosing the right LTC policy for you means factoring in a range of information about your life, your goals, your family’s medical history, where you expect to live in retirement, and other factors.

Getting this decision right can make or break your retirement—and your ability to leave a legacy to your family. Consider this: The median length of stay in an assisted living facility was nearly 26 months, according to a 2012 MetLife survey on long-term care costs.¹ The average monthly cost for a standard level of care at these facilities was $3,550, meaning a stay of 26 months would cost more than $90,000. And those costs could rise for a higher level of care to treat issues such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

The key is determining if you need coverage, and if so, what is the right level, type, and cost. Not all individuals need long-term care insurance. At one extreme, the wealthy can self-insure. At the other end, veterans and people with low income and limited resources can get government assistance through the U. S. Department of Veterans Administration and Medicaid, respectively. Most people, however, fall somewhere in the middle.

Let’s consider four very different hypothetical situations