Have you cranked the cost of long-term care insurance into your retirement plan?

Along with out-of-pocket health care expenditures, the average 65-year-old couple will need to spend an additional $85,000 on premiums for long-term care insurance, according to Fidelity Investments research. Fidelity arrives at that number assuming a couple buying a long-term care policy at age 65–even though it’s much smarter to buy this type of insurance sometime in your fifties. The assumptions:

– A shared or joint policy offering 96 months of total coverage, which can be split between either person.
– A 90-day elimination period.
– $6,500 in maximum monthly coverage
– A minimum total benefit of $624,000

“The numbers are scary,” says Joan Bloom, senior vice president of Fidelity Life Insurance Co. “In 10 years over 50 million Americans will be over age 65 and over half will need some kind of long-term care.” Additionally, about 20 percent will need care for five years or more.

Bloom explained to me that Fidelity’s estimate was based on a 65-year-old couple because so many of us procrastinate and don’t get these policies when we’re younger.

Fidelity sells long-term care policies issued by Genworth Financial Insurance Co.

Tags | long-term care