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Buying long-term care insurance in your 60s? 5 ways to lower the costs
As we get older, the possibility of needing long-term care becomes much more likely. But whether that care comes in the form of a home health aide who helps out for a few hours per day, an adult daycare that provides daytime supervision and care or a nursing home for round-the-clock assistance, these services can come with a hefty price tag if you have to pay out of pocket.
For example, in 2024, the average annual cost of a private room in a nursing home surpassed $100,000 nationwide. And, the costs of this type of care can be even higher in some areas. Given the high average price tag, long-term care costs like these can put an enormous strain on your retirement savings, especially considering that Medicare typically does not cover long-term care costs. In turn, many older adults find themselves seeking solutions to make this type of care more affordable.
One potential solution is long-term care insurance. This type of insurance coverage is designed to help cover costs associated with long-term care services. By paying premiums to an insurance company, you gain access to a pool of funds that can then be used to pay for qualifying long-term care needs in the future. But the premiums for long-term care insurance aren’t cheap, especially if you’re buying it in your 60s. As such, it can pay off to look for ways to lower the costs.
Find out what your long-term care insurance coverage costs could be here.
5 ways to lower long-term care insurance costs in your 60s
Before you try to cut the costs of your long-term care insurance, it’s important to know what factors drive the cost of this type of coverage. The costs of a long-term care insurance policy are generally based on items like your age, health status and the level of coverage selected.
In turn, purchasing a policy at a younger age and in good health will generally result in lower premiums. That’s why many experts recommend at least exploring long-term care insurance options in your late 50s or early 60s before premiums become prohibitively expensive.
But there are ways to help make long-term care insurance more affordable — even if you’re buying it in your 60s. Here are five potential strategies to reduce the costs:
Purchase a policy earlier in your 60s
The costs of long-term care insurance are based largely on your age and health status when you first purchase a policy. By purchasing a policy earlier in your 60s, such as age 62 or 63, you may have a better shot at locking in lower premiums compared to waiting until later in that decade. Every year in which you delay purchasing long-term care insurance you risk the premiums becoming more expensive due to your increased age and risk profile.
Compare your top long-term care insurance options online now.
Choose a longer elimination period
The elimination period tied to your long-term care insurance policy is essentially the waiting period before your long-term care insurance benefits kick in to start covering costs. Policies often have elimination periods ranging from 0 days to 120 days or more. By choosing a longer elimination period, you may be able to reduce your insurance premiums, as you are taking on more of the upfront costs of the policy before the insurance kicks in.
Opt for a shorter benefit period
Long-term care insurance policies will cover care costs for a set period, such as three years, five years or a much longer duration. The shorter the benefit period you choose, the lower your premiums will typically be. While a long or unlimited benefit period provides the most comprehensive coverage, a three-year benefit period can make your policy significantly more affordable — and depending on your needs, it could be perfectly adequate in terms of coverage.
Limit the inflation protection
Many long-term care policies have an inflation protection option that increases your benefit amount over time to keep up with rising long-term care costs. While this feature is quite valuable in today’s inflationary environment, it can also greatly increase your premiums. So, if you want to save money on the costs of your policy, you may want to opt for lower amounts of inflation protection or remove it entirely to bring premiums down in the short term.
Consider a policy with a co-pay
Similar to health insurance policies, some long-term care insurance policies allow you to have a co-pay amount, where you pay a portion of costs out-of-pocket and the insurance policy covers the rest. And, in general, the higher your co-pay percentage is set, the lower your insurance premiums will be. For example, a policy with a 20% co-pay will be less expensive than one with no co-pay.
So, it could make sense to opt for a long-term care insurance policy with a co-pay to help save money. Just make sure that you have enough money put away to afford to pay it out of pocket, should you need to utilize your long-term care insurance.
The bottom line
Ultimately, proper planning is key when it comes to long-term care costs, as these costs can drain your retirement savings if you have to pay out-of-pocket. By exploring options like long-term care insurance and finding ways to lower the premiums, you can hopefully ease the burden of these expenses later in life. And, while some of these cost-saving measures may lower your long-term care insurance benefits down the road, they can make the coverage much more affordable when purchasing a policy in your 60s. Before you make these moves, though, it’s critical to weigh your retirement budget, health and potential long-term care needs to strike the right balance between coverage amounts and cost.
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GOP Rep. French Hill says it’s up to House Ethics Committee to decide on releasing Gaetz report
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Calvin Klein model charged with murder in stabbing death in New York City
A model who has appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein and Levi’s has been formally charged in the stabbing death of a man in New York City, prosecutors said Saturday.
Dynus Saxon was arraigned in Bronx criminal court late Friday in connection with the Nov. 10 killing of Kadeem Grant, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s office.
Police say they found the 35-year-old victim stabbed in the chest in an apartment in the New York City borough of the Bronx.
They haven’t disclosed a motive or any other details surrounding the incident other than to say that Grant was pronounced dead at the scene and that a knife was recovered. The knife was discovered near the victim’s body and a trail of blood was seen on the front steps of apartment building, the New York Post reported.
Saxon was arrested Monday on charges of murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
At his arraignment Friday, the 20-year-old resident of Manhattan’s East Harlem neighborhood was held without bail until his next court date on Dec. 3, Clark’s office said.
Saxon, who has also appeared in fashion publications such as Vogue Italia and L’Officiel Baltic, didn’t speak during the proceedings, the Daily News reported.
Prosecutors said he had a large bandage over his right hand because of an injury he sustained while repeatedly jamming the knife into Grant’s chest, the newspaper said.
Grant’s father, Christopher Grant, told the Daily News that his son cared for his young daughter and his grandmother.
“He was just a loving kid who was there for his family and his daughter. It’s just so sad that she has to grow up without a father,” Christopher Grant told the Daily News.
Bronx Defenders, a public defender nonprofit representing Saxon, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.
Saxon’s Instagram profile, which has since been made private, featured photos of his modelling work, as well as attending red carpet events, including the New York premiere of the Marvel film “Deadpool & Wolverine” this summer.
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Transcript: Rep. French Hill on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 17, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep. French Hill, Republican of Arkansas, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 17, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And we are joined now by Republican Congressman French Hill. He joins us from his district in Little Rock. Good morning to you, Congressman.
REP. FRENCH HILL: Good morning, Margaret. Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Glad to have you here. You served with Congressman Gaetz. You heard the Speaker who has said, while he doesn’t want to specifically wade in to the ethics matter, he also thinks it would set a bad precedent to release a report on a former member. Do you think the Ethics Committee should make that decision for itself?
REP. HILL: Well, I think the Ethics Committee does make that decision for itself, but I think Speaker Johnson makes a important point, which is, Mr. Gaetz has resigned from Congress. There are many investigations that the House Ethics Committee has done, and we don’t want to set a precedent where we, under any circumstances, will release documents from that committee, but that decision is theirs. Speaker Johnson has made his views known, and now it will be up to the Senate to conduct their advise and consent confirmation process.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, CBS News reported back in June that four women informed that committee they were paid to go to sex and drug fueled parties with Mr. Gaetz. Also the Ethics Committee has Venmo transactions showing Gaetz’s payments for the women, since taxpayers paid money for this report to be conducted and it was done, do you think if you were a Senate you would consider this material information to confirming the top lawmaker for the United States of America- law enforcement officer, I should say?
REP. HILL: I don’t, I don’t have, I don’t, I don’t personally know any details about the ethics investigation or the allegations, because I haven’t, don’t serve on that committee. But your point is, would the Senate Judiciary Committee asked to see that report, and that may well be a decision that they take, and the ethics committee has a decision that they have to make, and Mike Johnson’s expressed his view on on that as well. So as I say, this is an important process that the Senate has to do, advise and consent for all the nominations, and President Trump has the prerogative to nominate the people that he thinks can best lead the change that he believes the American people are seeking in each of the agencies of the federal government.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have spoken to us before here on “Face The Nation” about your work around Syria and Bashar Al Assad’s oppressive regime there. You actually visited northern Syria, an area that he wasn’t in control of, back in 2017. The first lawmaker since John McCain to do so. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, when she was in office, went to Syria and met with Mr. Assad himself, then publicly, she came out and questioned U.S. intelligence assessments of his chemical weapons attacks that were carried out on civilian areas, not just once, multiple times. These were high confidence assessments by the intelligence community. Would you feel comfortable with her at the helm of all 18 of them?
REP. HILL: Well, I served on the House Intelligence Committee during this past Congress, and I know the important job that the DNI performs in coordinating, collecting and reporting on our intelligence. And I think should Tulsi Gabbard be confirmed, she would know with high confidence as to precisely how we collect intelligence, how we coordinate and collaborate on it, and how we then report it to the President of the United States and to the two intelligence committees. So again, this is an important assessment for the Senate to make, but I remind you Margaret, Donald Trump won the election. He wants people that he has a good relationship with, that he trusts, that he believes can do a good job in the agencies to send the message that we want change in Washington. And the Senate, too, has their important job, and we’re going to have to wait and see how the Senate handles each of these confirmations.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So it was John McCain who went in 2017, you went in 2023 I may have misspoken there on the year, but so, you believe the US intelligence community conclusions, though? You don’t mean to question those?
REP. HILL: No, I don’t.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
REP. HILL: I’m simply saying, as a member of the committee, I don’t question that public assessment that’s been made in the public domain over many, many years, and I’ve led the charge against the Assad regime. I do not support that the Arab League put him back into diplomatic standing by admitting him to the Arab League. And I think America has a lot to do to limit Assad’s influence in the region, which is a partner with the Russians and the Iranians. And that’s not in the interest of the United States, Iraq, Israel or peace in the region.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have also been a supporter of Ukraine, and you’ve been trying to find some creative ways to help allow them to gain access to continued U.S. support. There was a tremendous attack just overnight there by Russia. The Biden administration wants to provide a $20 billion loan backed up by frozen Russian assets. Will the Congress give them permission to use that money for military assistance?
REP. HILL: Well, the REPO Act that was included in the national security package I worked on very closely with Chairman Mike McCaul of the foreign affairs committee gives the United States the authority to not only take frozen assets, but confiscate them and use them for the benefit of Ukraine. The loan you’re referring to has been negotiated between the Europeans and the Americans to back the Ukrainian government. I believe that will go through in my judgment. But I would urge President Trump, as he takes office, to actually follow the law and confiscate those Russian assets, as I believe that gives both Ukraine, the United States and Europe a much stronger negotiating position with Russia. And I don’t believe Biden, nor the G7 countries, have been tough enough on Russian on sanctions, on the delivery of weapons that were needed to have ended this war long ago.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re gesturing to what we know, which is that this is a pretty dangerous world right now. One of the selections that the President-elect has made to run the Pentagon at this time is Pete Hegseth. He would be the defense secretary, 44 years old, decorated Army vet, TV commentator. Do you think experience is necessary, or is on the job training OK at the Pentagon?
REP. HILL: Well, again, I think this will be assessed by the Senate in their confirmation process. He has a distinguished background in the military, and that counts for a lot, and I think his plans, his thoughts, his leadership, will be exposed when he goes through that Senate confirmation process. But once again, I have to say, President Trump, when he came into office in 2017 had cabinet members that he really had no personal relationship with, had no working background with. He wants to correct that this time by finding people that he has a good working relationship with. He knows how they think. They know how he thinks, because he thinks it will lead to better decision making in his administration. He’s got that prerogative to nominate those men and women and the Senate will have their advice and consent function well underway, and majority leader-to-be John Thune has said look, he’ll be effective. He’ll be speedy. He’ll take it done, get it done in the right course of action.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman, thank you for your time today.
REP. HILL: You bet. Thank you, Margaret.