Long Term Care Plan

Retiring in 2017? Take These Steps Before You Make It Official

Published on: May 22, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Before you tell HR what your final day of work will be, there are more than a few details that you need to cover to prepare for taxes, make the most of any potential benefits and start retirement on the right foot.

If there’s a retirement season, it’s spring or early summer, when it feels like it did when the school year ended! But before you start planning your retirement party, Kiplinger advises you to take these steps first, as explained in article, “4 Actions to Take If You’re Retiring in 2017.”

Make sure to get the match. Your employer may “match” and/or offer “profit-sharing” contributions to your 401(k) or other retirement plan. You typically must be actively employed on the date of payment in order to receive these funds, so be sure that you understand the terms before setting your final work date.

Alzheimer’s or Dementia Screening Now Covered by Medicare

Published on: February 8, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

You might think that any doctor seeing patients over a certain age would automatically screen for Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related diseases, but until now that has not been the case.

Starting in January, Medicare will now begin reimbursing doctors for screening and providing information about care planning for patients with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive impairment diseases. What seems like common sense public health policy, took many years of advocacy from patient groups.

Santa Cruz Sentinel’s recent article, “Diagnosing Alzheimer’s: Medicare now pays doctors to stop and assess memory loss,” reports that more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and as many as 16 million will have the disease in 2050. The cost of caring for those with the disease and other types of dementia is also skyrocketing. In the U.S., it’s estimated to total $236 billion in 2016 and is anticipated to increase to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

Mid-Summer is Time for a Midyear Financial Checkup

Published on: August 19, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

While the number of people making New Year’s financial resolutions are on the rise, we would do well to make a midyear financial check a regular part of the summer season.

The good news is more than 30% of Americans did give some thought to making financial resolutions this past New Year, according to a survey from Fidelity Investments. The goals were nothing out of the ordinary. They were simply the things we should all be doing with our money: saving more, spending less and getting rid of debt.

If you were one of these go-getter and goal-setters, this summer is a perfect time to look at your progress, says US News in “Keep Your Money Goals on Track with a Midyear Financial Checkup.”

How to Prepare for Long-Term Care Costs in Houston

Published on: August 15, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The cost of long-term care can take a huge bite out of retirement savings, exhaust family resources and create strain on relationships. Don’t count on Medicare, but do plan in advance.

At least seven out of ten Americans age 65 and over will need long-term care at some point. Most people simply underestimate the cost of long-term care, or they think that Medicaid will cover the costs. Your best defense against long-term care costs: advance planning with professional help.

The Memphis Daily News article, “Long-Term Care – Not for Everyone,” says that Medicare does little for these costs and only for a short time period. Medicaid doesn’t apply until the assets of an estate are spent down, so many people must pay for these costs out-of-pocket. The article says that there are only two ways to address these expenses: with your investment/retirement portfolio and with long-term care insurance. Most people review the cost of long-term care insurance and elect to roll the dice, but when that first round of expenses hits, they probably will wish they’d bought it long ago. Now it’s usually too late to buy it. If you can afford to self-insure, you can save your estate and yourself some serious money.

Houston’s Sandwich Generation Needs Helping Hands

Published on: January 5, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Keeping all the balls in the air can be a tough juggling act, according to "The Sandwich Generation Juggling Act," from the website Next Avenue. Jugglers know that adding that fourth airborne ball to their juggling routine can be a challenge for most.

Today, we have a societal juggling act going on within the Sandwich Generation of caregivers—the group defined as the 24 million Americans who are juggling children, careers, and caring for an older parent. While many individuals can handle three balls (me, children, career), once the caregiving ball is added, the ball that gets dropped is "me," or the caregiver themselves.

Caregivers should take each ball of responsibility they're juggling and focus on ways to keep that ball moving in a fluid motion. Juggling really only requires getting one ball into the air at a time, so let's look at each one.

What Is Your Houston Family’s Long-Term Care Plan?

Published on: October 8, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Do you have a plan for long term care? It can be costly and prohibitive for many families, especially for dementia care. Several key points about long term care are clarified in a recent article from The Arizona Daily Star, “Costs pile up fast for dementia care.”

Don’t count on Medicare. The median annual cost for a private room in a skilled nursing facility in Tucson last year was more than $90,896. Assisted living costs about $45,000. In a 2015 annual Cost of Care survey, results showed that Americans paid approximately $16,060 more per year in 2015 for a nursing home than they paid in 2010.

Remember that Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care, including home care, aside from 100 days of skilled services or rehabilitative care. After that, it’s up to the family to figure out how to pay. The options include long-term care insurance, public assistance through Medicaid programs for people over 65, Veterans Aid, or private pay. On average, an American turning 65 today will incur $138,000 in future long-term services. This cost could be financed by setting aside $70,000 today.