The following contains some examples of how different types of insurance may be used to satisfy one or more needs for coverage and represent an important component of one’s personal financial/estate and/or business plan.  Please note the below is not meant to be an all-exhaustive list; for example, a life insurance settlement,wherein one ‘sells’ his/her life insurance to an institutional investor, may yield considerably more value in certain circumstances relative to cashing in or lapsing a policy.  Additionally, there are other types of insurance that can and should represent a core foundation for one’s financial plan, such as Medicare (and related coverages), Health insurance (including HSAs), Property & Casualty insurance, Umbrella insurance, etc.

Long-Term Care Insurance

  1. Applied for directly by individuals, spouses, partners or family members to cover the costs associated with long-term care.  One or more discounts may be available depending upon one’s partnership/marital status, approval for multiple family members, etc.
  2. Applied for through a business on a certain minimum number of applicants, often three, to obtain “multi-life” discounts.  There are a number of advantages for both the employer and employee in terms of obtaining LTC insurance through a business.  Of note, LTC insurance is not subject to ERISA discrimination requirements, meaning the company has flexibility in determining who to offer this benefit to, the funding of premiums as well policy design and features.
    • As with DI insurance, “multi-life” applications can receive yearly discounts and benefit females to an even greater degree than males given the higher premium rates they are charged.
  3. Members of certain associations who apply for LTC insurance may be eligible for a volume discount.  This can be a nice benefit for the association to use in recruiting and retaining its members at no cost to them.
  4. In conjunction with a divorce settlement, paid by the alimony provider for the benefit of the ex-spouse.
  5. In addition to traditional, stand-alone LTC insurance, it is possible to obtain combination (hybrid or asset-based or linked) policies, either combining LTC insurance with life insurance (permanent, typically universal life or whole life) or an annuity.  Funding may even be provided via 1035 tax-free exchanges from existing permanent life insurance and/or annuities.  There are advantages and disadvantages of hybrid policies relative to traditional LTC insurance which are able to review with you.