I was diagnosed with brain damage and dementia. A word for teens: I woke up last year and suddenly couldn't spell or write legibly. Without warning. No symptoms. My condition is getting worse, so I want to protect my wife of 24 years, and our money. She will get half a pension, and she also gets a better pension than me.
We have two long-term care policies – one paid for and one with 5% inflation with a lot of positive beneficiaries and so on. If I end up living a long time and use out my long-term care policies — they're currently worth $600,000 — and we have to sign up for Medicaid, will we have to sell our house to pay for Medicaid?
I don't want my wife to lose everything. Will an elder law attorney really help? I've heard mixed reviews, and they come at a hefty cost. Thanks for reading and a note to your readers from someone who knows: Do your bucket list by traveling as quickly as you can because you may not have as much time left as you think you do.
Peace of love
“You will need financial, legal, medical, social and emotional support. This will include the help of loved ones.”
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Dear love and peace,
Keep all your options open, and don't embark on this journey alone.
You will need financial, legal, medical, social and emotional support. This will include seeking help from loved ones and relying on a network of professional support. You will need to re-evaluate your financial goals, debt, savings, insurance, income and expenses. Take it one day and one step at a time. There are government programs that can help, and you may be able to withdraw money from your IRA even if you're not 59½ without incurring a penalty.
Dementia is a symptom, not the disease itself. In fact, there are more than 100 diseases that can cause symptoms consistent with dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says nearly 5.8 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, including 5.6 million people 65 and older and 200,000 people under 65.
Other forms, including frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), have gained greater public awareness since former talk show host Wendy Williams and actor Bruce Willis were diagnosed with FTD. It is a common cause of dementia, and is characterized as a group of disorders that occur with the loss of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes. Aphasia, the inability to process words and communicate properly, can be a symptom.
Power of Attorney and Health Care Directives
There are many things you can do to make the road ahead easier. Update your will and create a financial power of attorney. Don't do the DIY version. As my colleague, MarketWatch reporter Beth Benkser, points out, it's complicated. You can read the Power of Attorney Book. You may also want to re-evaluate your investment portfolio, based on your new financial plan and risk tolerance. (I'm assuming you're not yet 65 and therefore ineligible for Medicare).
An advance health care directive tells your doctors what action you want them to take if or when you are unable to make those decisions for yourself. You may want to include your spouse as your health care agent to implement these decisions. You're a team, but serious medical issues can put a strain on a marriage, as this couple discovered, so you'll need emotional support, too. Also make sure you have a successor for your spouse in both your power of attorney and health care directives.
Your spouse will have a lot of responsibilities: paying utility bills, paying the mortgage, keeping up with medical care and finances, and managing her own life at the same time. Share your story with trusted family and friends and create a team – a community of people who can offer support, the latter of which should include updating beneficiaries. You can also write instructions for easy access to your devices, documents, and even your daily habits.
Long-term care insurance helps cover expenses
You've done one major thing, something that should set an example for others who read your post. You invested early in long-term care (LTC) insurance and have $600,000 in policies. (You do not specify whether you have adopted shared policies.) But a long-term policy, more than anything else, will help ease the financial burden that lies ahead. Home care costs can vary greatly depending on the type of care, state, and institution (up to $125,000 per year).
An elder law attorney can cost you anywhere from $100 to $600 per hour, depending on the type of services you need. An attorney and financial advisor will help you calculate your assets, income, expenses and expected long-term care costs, and help you plan accordingly. Financial planners often have a professional network of attorneys and accountants, who can collaborate on your case and share valuable information.
“It's difficult for many people to decide whether and when to put your long-term care policies into payout status, and this is very understandable since the policy has a limited term or cash maximum and may run out if you put it into play as well,” says Elizabeth Forspan, attorney. “Early,” Forspan Klear LLP has. “However, if you mix this with a Medicaid plan, it can be very effective. You should look at the specific Medicaid rules in your state and jurisdiction.
Create trust to protect your assets
“Maybe you could set up a trust and divest yourselves of some of your assets now in order to pass a five-year Medicaid review, during which time your long-term care policy will be used,” she adds. “You won't be able to figure this out yourself, probably.” An attorney and financial planner can help you weigh the pros and cons. You may have decided to keep your home. Selling any valuable assets, especially a home, should be a last resort.
There are exceptions to the five-year review rule for medical eligibility: These include paying off debt, purchasing medical devices or home improvements to improve accessibility, according to the American Council on Aging, a Medicaid resource funded by the planning firm Eldercare Resource Planning. . But your income and other assets may also disqualify you from Medicaid eligibility. You can read more about Medicaid rules here.
Some states, including Florida and New York, have rules that exempt homes from assets counted by Medicaid, under certain circumstances. In New York, you must live at home while receiving care or plan to return home after your care. California eliminated the asset cap this year, making a person's home automatically safe from Medicaid while they live; However, this does not mean that it is safe from Medicaid's estate repossession program.
I wish you and your wife the best on this journey.
You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com, and follow Quentin Fottrell on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Moneyist regrets that he cannot respond to questions individually.
Previous columns by Quentin Fottrell:
“Things weren't easy”: My sister is a hoarder and a procrastinator. It delays probate of our parents' property. what can i do?
'I gave up the job I loved so passionately': My husband secretly set up a trust that included our house and his investments. What should I do?
I have $1.5 million in stocks and bonds. I have asked my broker to convert my bonds into cash. He didn't and my portfolio dropped by $100,000. Can I sue?
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