Long-Term Care (LTC) risk must be addressed by every client as a component of their comprehensive planning, regardless of the reason(s) an advisor or consumer might want to avoid doing so. In a few short years, EVERY Baby Boomer will be over the age of 65, so one by one, every member of the advisory community must overcome their personal objections or misperceptions and effectively engage clients on this essential topic. Otherwise, consumers will ultimately pay the price for outdated excuses, flawed assumptions, and compliance failures.

Not A Priority:  LTC is seen as a topic to be addressed later.

Treating LTC as something to address later doesn’t defer the risk—it compounds it. It’s like ignoring your brakes: first the pads, then the rotors, then the calipers…until something fails, and the outcome may not be measured in dollars alone. Delaying the conversation reduces options, increases costs, and introduces needless uncertainty over time. Advisors should change their approach to LTC from being a “someday” topic to an integrated planning component, ensuring clients have defined strategies in place before the need becomes immediate.

Lack of Client Interest:  Clients haven't expressed a need or interest in LTC planning.

Clients may not express interest because they are unaware of the importance and implications of Long-Term Care planning. Regardless, the advisor’s role is to educate clients on potential future needs and the risks of not having a plan in place. By initiating the conversation, advisors can uncover latent concerns and demonstrate the relevance of addressing LTC risk.

It's Too Expensive:  Planning for LTC equates to costly outlays or insurance.

If the excuse is that Long-Term Care planning or insurance is “too expensive,” what’s the logic when the alternative is paying the full cost of care with no plan at all? Just try applying that thinking elsewhere: “Don’t file your taxes—it’s too expensive,” or “Don’t see a cancer specialist—that’s too expensive.” It’s flawed logic leading to predictable consequences.

Clients must expect their advisors to explain how, without a strategy, the “plan” becomes writing checks, draining assets, and relying on family when care is needed most. Comparing planning costs to potential out-of-pocket costs reframes the conversation from expense to exposure and from uncertainty to control.

Client Denial:  Clients often deny the possibility of needing LTC and resist the discussion.

It’s a fact—everyone will die, and before doing so, most will require some form of Long-Term Care. Yet we routinely plan for death through wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations—while avoiding the far more complex event that often comes first. Advisors buying into the denial myth need to ask themselves a serious question: What other area of planning should be put off until it becomes “comfortable”? Clients may resist the conversation because it forces them to confront aging and loss of independence, but avoiding it doesn’t change the outcome. Advisors should use data, real-world examples, and clear comparisons to illustrate the likelihood and impact of needing care—and help clients address it before it becomes a crisis.

Perceived Unimportance:  Advisors prioritize other financial goals, and LTC Planning is less important.

Decades of category error have allowed the financial services community to treat LTC Planning as a secondary consideration rather than a core planning risk. The harsh reality is that ignoring it doesn’t eliminate the exposure—it simply leaves every other financial goal vulnerable to it. Advisors should position Long-Term Care as a risk that will impact every financial, tax, legal, and familial scenario if not addressed—making it foundational, not optional, to comprehensive planning.

False Completion:  The client or advisor believes LTC has already been addressed in the plan.

Assuming LTC has already been “handled” in the plan is often a false sense of completion. Many clients believe Medicare or Medicaid will cover the cost, without the advisory community helping them understand the limitations, eligibility requirements, or impact on choice and control.  If there is no clearly defined funding strategy, no modeling of care-specific withdrawals, and no documentation of how the risk will be managed, then LTC hasn’t been planned for; it's merely been assumed away until it's too late.

Negative Perception:  Some advisors believe that LTC insurance has a negative reputation due to past issues with policy pricing or claim denials.

Using outdated perceptions of LTC insurance to avoid planning is like judging today’s cell phones by what they used to be.  From bag phones, to car phones, to bricks, to flip/slide phones, to a computer in your hand.....they’ve evolved.  The same is true for LTC solutions. Carriers have paid billions in claims and significantly improved product design, pricing structures, and planning outcomes. Advisors should focus on what exists today, not what existed decades ago.

Alternative Solutions:  Advisors believe in alternatives like self-funding or relying on family support.

Self-funding isn’t a plan—it’s a payment method. And relying on loved ones for care places the burden on someone who may be incapable of providing it and never chose to take it on.  Both “alternatives” fail to answer the real questions: Who will provide the care? Where will it be delivered? When does it begin? Why will those decisions be made? And how will it all be coordinated?  Advisors should stop confusing funding with planning, or to be more direct, spreadsheets can't change bed sheets!

There is a mandatory nature to LTC Planning, so overcoming these misconceptions is foundational.  A client's LTC risk must be measured, monitored, and mitigated like other material risks, and if it isn’t, it’s just not part of the plan.  Engage your clients today, or know that most will be forced to address it later in crisis, with chaos, having fewer options, and worse outcomes.

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