It’s no secret that women are statistically more likely to have a longer life than men. The age difference was at five years a few years ago, but the gap has gotten a bit smaller over the last few years. According to the Social Security Administration, a man turning 65 today will live to 84.3 years of age, while a women turning 65 will be likely to reach 86.6. And while these numbers are only estimates, they can be very helpful if you are trying to plan for senior care. Just remember that they are a guide only, and not the absolute bottom line.
How can this help? For starters, it’s a good measure for your finances. If you know that you will have roughly 10 years of senior care that are needed, you can set aside money earlier and try to stretch it a little further so that your elderly loved one can have higher quality care for longer. If you are in a situation where the financial situation seems unmanageable, you will have more time to prepare yourself for the future. It gives you time to try and qualify for a long term care insurance policy, if this is something that you loved one is young enough and healthy enough for at the moment.
Insurance companies use these numbers all the time because they have so many clients that they can make broad generalizations. For the big companies, the ups and downs all balance out and the average is what they focus on. Some people live longer and some don’t, but in the end, for the insurance companies, it is all the same. However, your family member is not a number. They are someone that you love, and they are an individual with needs, desires, and they are far from a number in a mortuary table. Because of this, you want the very best for them without the hassle of dealing with generalizations. The estimates are good for future planning, but that doesn’t take into account right now. Getting your loved one the best in senior care when they need it is a priority for you, and although you should worry about the future, there’s no guarantee of what will happen. By easing into senior care, you can reduce the burden on your family. In-home care can accomplish this since it is low impact, keeps your mom in her own house longer, and it is much cheaper than most other types of care. Many insurance policies will now pay for some or all of this type of care, too, which is another big relief.
So, while the numbers can be a loose guide to you, they are much more helpful to others than they are to you. You need to treat your elderly relative as a person, and move forward on their care plans accordingly. This might seem like common sense, but so many people get bogged down by statistics and lose sight of what’s really important: caring for the person they love.
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