Today is the day after Presidents Day. Most people had the Monday off and got to enjoy the three-day weekend. For me, if I don’t have anything planned, I feel guilty. My original plan was to go skiing with my sister in New Hampshire. But I needed to come in the office Saturday and by the time I was done it was late in the afternoon. As I was leaving my office my phone rang and it was my sister telling me that it was way too crowded and there was a storm on the way. So, my skis are still in the closet and I am still hoping to go at least once this winter.
Saturday should have been a half day as my clients left about noon. But as I was going through some paperwork, I came across a few notes that I took on a client that recently was put into an assisted living facility. I’ve known this person for 15 years. In that time, we have become pretty good friends and when she came in my office, we would discuss how to solve all the world's problems. But her biggest problem was finding enough money to support her stay in this facility.
In the past I recommended that we investigate Long Term Care contracts. But when we did, they were much to expensive for her limited budget. Now, we are liquidating the assets that a lifetime of hard work had built. Today there are more products that offer much better solutions to people. For instance, if an older person has money sitting in a CD, they can move that money into a long-term care contract without the loss of the principle until the benefit is needed. If it is not needed and the person passes away, the money is treated as life insurance which saves on probate taxes. Or if they just don’t want their contract anymore, they can just get their money back. I wish they had this 10 years ago.