Long Term Care: A Big Retirement Threat for Women

Women are at risk of facing significant challenges during their retirement years. Since they live much longer and they earn and save less money compared to men, it’s going to be an uphill battle for them to cover their future care expenses.

On average, women outlive men by six to eight years. This means that they have to spend more during retirement including exorbitant long term care costs. 

But, how will women pay for their care needs considering the fact that they earn less than men and they end up stepping up as the family caregiver, which affects their wage-earning capacity?

The key is to plan for long term care.

So, what should women do to prepare for their long term care needs?

It may seem a daunting task but to help women get started, here are some long term care planning tips.

1. Start Early 

It’s essential for women to plan for long term care early since they earn less, spend less time working and more likely to have higher care expenses. In fact, women only earn 81% of what men earned based on a MetLife report. This limited resources translates into less contribution to savings, pensions and Social Security.

With these hurdles, women should approach finances differently by planning early. Delaying should never be an option for women.

2. Take a Long Term Care Assessment Test

How much do you know about long term care?

A lot? Some? or None?

By answering this short long term care quiz, you can learn more about your options and the recommended course of action you need to take to begin your long term care plan. 

Getting educated about long term care, best payment options available, different types of facilities and others can help women get ready for their future care needs.

3. Buy Long Term Care Policy

Women are more likely to age alone because they never got married, got divorced, they outlive their spouses or they are childless.

So, who would take care of them in case they can no longer carry out their activities of daily living? 

By having a long term care policy, women can have a peace of mind to age alone because they know that their care needs will be covered and they don’t need to dip in their retirement savings. 

Women will benefit a lot from this policy. In fact, this infographic shows that 70% of nursing home residents are women with an average age of admission of 80 years old. 

Make sure to shop around when buying a policy to compare prices and to find the best available plan perfect for your needs. 

4. Be Familiar with your Retirement Benefits

Take advantage of retirement plans offered by your employer if there’s any. Start saving early and find out how long you have to contribute before you are vested. It also pays to know the rules about Veterans benefits or Social Security when it comes to spousal rights in case of divorce or death.

5. Make it a Habit to Review Your Finances Regularly

Tidy up your finances by doing a financial spring cleaning. Review and assess your goals to see what’s working for you and what’s not. Some areas that you should look into are the following: tax refund, credit card, insurance policies and others. 

Have you started planning for long term care? If not, then better get started now to make sure that you’ll have a comfortable and secure retirement.