Am I Too Young for an Estate or Long Term Care Plan? Part 1

Most of the crisis long term care stories I tell here in this blog are of people in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and older.  They have not planned for the cost of long term care and are then beset with sudden illness or injury.  The reality, however, is that there is no age “floor” below which these scenarios do not happen.

In recent years, I have seen both professionally and personally numerous long term care crisis cases experienced by people in their 30’s and 40’s.  In some ways, these cases are more problematic than for older clients.  That’s in part because younger clients have accumulated fewer savings, have families with spouses and young children to support and typically have no documents in place that even begin to lay out a plan for who can step in to help them until they can be independent again.

Here is how such a crisis might occur.  A 40 something year old has a sudden stroke or brain aneurysm.  The after effects are such that the person is in a coma or is debilitated such that he or she cannot perform the activities of daily living (ie. transferring, bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding) without assistance.  Recovery is a long slow process.  The patient has no power of attorney, health care directive, will or long term care insurance.  The family does not where to turn or what to do.  The family feels like a deer caught in the headlights, so to speak.

So, what can you do now to make such a scenario a little bit leasier to deal with?  That’s the topic for next week.