Cost of Retirement: Long Term Care Planning

Written by Adam Peck Category: Elder Law January 26th, 2013 3 min read

If the cost of retirement has you concerned, there is one solution – move to a cheaper part of the country. Unfortunately, those areas are not the coastal, mountainous regions many love to retreat to in retirement. If you do move there, you’ll face the highest costs in nursing homes, according to a recent survey by Genworth Financial.

The provider of long-term care insurance found the nationwide annual cost for a private nursing home room to be $74,208, or $203 a day, a rise of 4 percent annually since 2005. With that cost rising more than inflation over the same period, by almost double, retirees may want to reconsider where they relocate in retirement.

If you still want to go to a higher costing area of the country, then appropriate planning must take place to afford it. That planning can be through retirement savings or a long-term care policy that will have enough benefits to cover the average for the city you will live in. And on the other side, if you are planning to retire in a lower cost area, take time to plan to make sure you’re not paying for more coverage per day than you need.

You may not think this is important now, but two out of three people will need assisted care in old age, research has found.

Among those areas with the highest care costs, New England states are near the top along with California, Oregon and Washington. States not touching the coast that are among the highest are Wisconsin and Vermont. So if you like the beach, the lowest cost options are South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.

If you like the mountains, head for Wyoming or Utah for low costs.

For lowest cost overall, Louisiana is tops, averaging $139 a day. Hawaii is most expensive at $375 a day followed by Connecticut at $346. Midwestern states have some of the lowest costs and the most options of places to choose from, the survey of care facilities found.

You can find costs by state and city at www.genworth.com/costofcare.

Once you know how much it could cost you depending on where you choose to live in retirement, you can take appropriate steps to plan for the potential cost through savings or insurance. Knowing that the costs are rising faster than inflation, it makes it important that part of your savings is in investments that can outpace inflation.

Should you have a nursing home issues regarding abuse and / or neglect and need to talk to an experienced attorney contact Steven Peck’s Premier Legal toll free at 1-866-999-9085.

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Written by Adam Peck

Expertise: Personal Injury

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.