Myth #2  -  "My clients will be Self-Funding future Long-Term Care needs"

Fact:  Self-funding isn’t a plan—it’s a hope that money alone will solve a care problem. Before anyone confidently claims they’ll “self-fund,” they should be able to answer two questions:

• How much will care actually cost?
• At what age will they need to start spending that money?

Because long-term care is expensive, unpredictable, and often needed earlier than people expect. And when the need arrives, it doesn’t just withdraw from a portfolio—it can permanently rewrite the rest of a retirement.

Consider the reality:

• A private nursing home room now averages over $100,000 per year.

• 1 in 5 Americans age 65+ will need care for five years or more.

• A couple with $500,000 saved could see it cut in half—or wiped out entirely—in just a few years of care.

• And if care is needed in their late 60s or early 70s (not just 80s or 90s), there’s little time to recover those losses.

So the real question isn’t if your clients can self-fund care.  It’s “when care is needed, which account gets drained first?”  That answer is the same today as it will be 20 years from now.   The only difference is whether it’s answered calmly in advance—or in crisis, under pressure, when options are gone.