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How seniors can afford to age at home
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Inflation may be declining and interest rate cuts appear imminent, but the financial pain felt by millions of Americans in recent years will take some time to heal. This is particularly true for certain demographics who may have had less of a financial buffer to lean on in recent years. For seniors, many of whom are heavily reliant upon savings, retirement funds and Social Security, it’s particularly critical to budget in advance for potential costs.
For those who want (and plan) to age at home, then, the sooner you can start preparing for these costs, the better you’ll position yourself financially. But how can you afford to age at home comfortably when your funds will be more limited than they were during your working years? That’s what we’ll break down below.
Start by exploring your long-term care insurance options online here.
How seniors can afford to age at home
The key to being able to afford to age at home is preparation. Seniors should investigate these two options now so that they’re fully in place and available to use when needed in the future:
Long-term care insurance
Long-term care insurance doesn’t just cover the costs of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It’s also a smart way to pay for in-home caretakers, including nurses and other needed medical professionals, all of whom can help you age at home more easily. Depending on the provider and the policy chosen, you may also be able to set up your plan to reimburse family members and friends who would otherwise be assisting you for free.
According to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTC), “home care services cover a wide range of needs, from homemaking and companionship to meal preparation and medication reminders.”
This type of coverage can be extensive, according to the association, as it “may also include personal care services, or those that help with the activities of daily living, including home care services like bathing, dressing, and grooming. To promote a safe and functional lifestyle, a caregiver can help you brush your teeth, secure the buttons on your shirt, or stand-by while you bathe to make sure you do not fall.”
While these services are a critical component of getting the care you need to help you age at home, long-term care insurance won’t be free. And, if you wait to apply for a policy, the price will rise and the coverage terms you may be offered could become more limited. So don’t wait for either to happen.
Get started with long-term care insurance here today.
Reverse mortgages
Reverse mortgages are a senior-specific financial product, only available for homeowners 62 and older. But if you’re approaching that age or don’t want to pay for the costs of a long-term care insurance policy, this could be a smart alternative that will also allow you to afford to age at home.
Here’s how it works: Instead of making payments to your mortgage lender, homeowners can instead get payments sent to them each month from their accumulated home equity. The lender can provide a lump sum payment or a line of credit, depending on your preferences and the lender in question. You can then use those funds for any financial needs you may have or are planning to have in the future (like medical and healthcare costs). The only downside is that your home will become that less valuable when it comes time to sell it or pass it on to beneficiaries, as the lender will deduct whatever you have borrowed from the home’s value.
Still, that may be a manageable trade-off if the alternative requires you to move out and live in a nursing home or assisted living facility instead. Just be sure to carefully weigh the benefits and financial ramifications of this option before getting started.
Is a reverse mortgage best for you? Find out here now.
The bottom line
There are multiple paths toward aging at home while still maintaining good financial health. Seniors and those who are planning to care for seniors, however, should start researching options like long-term care insurance and reverse mortgages now, so that they’re readily available when needed most. Neither is perfect and both will come with financial trade-offs, but with the right approach and thorough understanding of the pros and cons, many seniors may be able to leverage one or both of these products to allow them to comfortably age in the home they love.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at same Brooklyn detention center that held R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, other high-profile inmates
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
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Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
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Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Ja Rule stayed at the MDC Brooklyn for a brief time before being released after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession. Most of his prison time was spent in a state prison in New York.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
contributed to this report.
