It depends, of course! Everyone’s situation is different but based on our decades of experience with long-term care insurance products and clients, we’ve determined the average target premium sweet spot to be around $150-$250/month. Additionally, we almost always quote a product with lifetime inflation (because, well, inflation!) and a zero-day waiting period for homecare services (compared to a typical 90-day waiting period for skilled nursing care).
A note on coverage amount: Clients aren’t buying long-term care insurance to fully fund a long-term care stay—they usually have other sources of funding, too. Therefore, the benefit amount a person or couple chooses should be more about supplementing existing income sources during a high-cost event. In this way, LTCi works in combination with other income sources such as social security, RMDs, pensions, annuities, or other investment income. It makes little sense to show a plan that covers the full cost of care when most people have other resources available.
Even for someone projected to have a lot of money in retirement, we’d still typically recommend this $150-250/month premium range for long-term care insurance. This efficiently supplements whatever income someone has in retirement without overpaying for too much coverage, but most importantly, without depleting existing assets.
Check out our resources page or contact us if you have a client in mind!