Which Clients Have A "Hope" Instead Of A Plan?

Healthcare In Retirement is an essential planning topic for various reasons, and the Fidelity Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate is a good place to begin explaining why.  Fidelity indicates that a couple retiring in 2024 will need $330,000 to cover medical expenses excluded by Medicare, but what may be of equal concern is that the figure does not include many other health-related expenses, such as over-the-counter medications, most dental services, and the big one:  Long-Term Care (LTC).   So, regardless of your advisory role and understanding you're not in the hope business, every client must be able to answer the following question: 

What is your PLAN to pay for or receive Healthcare In Retirement or Long-Term Care, that's excluded by Medicare, a MedSupp Plan, or Health Insurance?  

To answer that question, you'll need to help clients quantify the cost of those excluded items.  However, when it comes to LTC, it's time to stop using statistics for the average need or duration of care and start providing data-driven, customized recommendations after completing a HALO Assessment.

A HALO Report will help quantify the current and future cost of Healthcare In Retirement and LTC based on a client's health, lifestyle, and family dynamics to better explain the risk mitigation needed to ensure multi-generational security and reduce the emotional and physical impact on your clients and their family.

Only then can an informed decision be made whether a reliance on family/friends, qualifying for Medicaid, Self-Funding, or insurance-based risk mitigation should be the PLAN to receive/pay for care.  

However, taking this discussion to the next logical conclusion, without adequate planning for Healthcare In Retirement and LTC, an expensive part of your client's future looks something like this.....

Healthcare is a substantial financial risk to your clients, so eliminate "hope" from the equation and encourage them to plan appropriately. 

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