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Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-Term Care Insurance for Consumers

caregiver woman embracing an elderly man

Top 5 Caregiving Tips for Aging Parents

As our loved ones age, the role of caregiving often falls upon us, presenting both challenges and opportunities for growth. Whether you’re just beginning this journey or have been navigating it for some time, here are five useful tips to help you provide the best care for your aging parents.

1

Build a Support Network

Caregiving can be emotionally and physically demanding, so it’s crucial to establish a network of support. This can include family members, friends, neighbors, and community resources. Organizations like The Caregiver Foundation in Oahu, Hawaii, offer invaluable assistance, including education, support groups, and financial management guidance. Remember, you don’t have to do it all alone.

2

Prioritize Safety

Ensuring the safety of your aging parent is paramount. Regularly assess their living environment for potential hazards and make necessary modifications. Install handrails, non-slip mats, and adequate lighting to prevent accidents. Simple steps like removing rugs can significantly reduce tripping hazards, especially for those who may shuffle or slide their feet.

3

Take Time for Self-Care

It’s easy to neglect your own well-being when you’re focused on caring for someone else. However, practicing self-care is essential to prevent burnout. Make time for activities that recharge your batteries, whether it’s exercise, meditation, pursuing hobbies, or connecting with fellow caregivers. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

4

Plan for the Future

Engage in open and honest conversations with your aging parent about their long-term care preferences. Discuss topics like financial planning, advanced directives, and potential living arrangements. Having these conversations early can help alleviate stress and ensure that everyone’s wishes are respected as they age.

5

Seek Professional Help When Needed

There may come a point where the demands of caregiving exceed what you can handle alone. Don’t hesitate to seek professional assistance from caregivers, home health aides, or respite care services. Enlisting help not only lightens your load but also ensures that your parent receives the best possible care tailored to their needs.

Caring for aging parents is a profound expression of love and devotion, but it’s also a complex and challenging journey. By implementing these tips and embracing the support available to you, you can navigate this path with greater confidence and compassion, ensuring the well-being of both your loved one and yourself. Remember, you’re not alone on this journey, and seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Hawaii’s Exceptional Life Expectancy: Ensuring a Graceful Journey with Retirement Planning Solutions

Hawaii’s Exceptional Life Expectancy: Ensuring a Graceful Journey with Retirement Planning Solutions

Hawaii has the highest life expectancy in the United States, with an average of 80.7 years as of 2020. Factors contributing to this longevity include active lifestyles, dietary habits, and culture. There are challenges associated with an aging population, emphasizing the need for life insurance with long-term care, long-term care insurance, and retirement planning to enable aging in place gracefully.

Hawaii’s Longevity Secrets

Hawaii’s exceptional life expectancy can be attributed to various factors:

Active Lifestyles

Asian Americans living in Hawaii tend to lead more active lifestyles. The pleasant climate and natural beauty encourage outdoor activities, including swimming, hiking, and surfing. Such activities contribute to better physical health and, consequently, longer life expectancy.

Dietary Habits

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and low-fat meats is typical of 80 and 90 years old in Hawaii. This diet, combined with the cultural emphasis on a balanced and nourishing way of life, and physical activity are essential.

Brain Activity

Keeping a brain active with crosswords, sudokus and reading keeps it growing, and slows dementia. Hawaiian and Asian culture emphasizes community, family, and respect for elders.  The strong social support systems foster emotional well-being among the elderly including social interaction, contributing to their longevity.

Aging Challenges

While Hawaii’s high life expectancy is undoubtedly something to celebrate, it also brings certain financial challenges, particularly for individuals approaching retirement age. Planning for a longer life expectancy is vital for several reasons:

1. Retirement Savings

Many people face challenges related to insufficient retirement savings. It’s essential to save adequately for retirement to maintain the same standard of living.

2. Social Security

Relying solely on Social Security may not provide enough income to cover living expenses. Social Security payments may not keep pace with inflation, leaving retirees with a reduced purchasing power.

3. Inflation

Inflation erodes the real value of money over time. Retirees on a fixed income may find it challenging to maintain their desired lifestyle when the cost of living rises.

4. Debt

Carrying debt into retirement can be burdensome. Mortgage payments, credit card debt, or student loans can deplete retirement savings.

Managing Financial Risks by Planning

To navigate the challenges of aging gracefully and enjoy the benefits of a long life, it’s essential to consider various solutions.

Life Insurance with Long-Term Care Riders

Life insurance policies with long-term care riders provide financial support for both the insured and their beneficiaries. These policies allow policyholders to access a portion of their death benefit to cover long-term care expenses, offering financial flexibility and security.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance policies are designed specifically to cover the costs associated with long-term care services. These policies can alleviate the financial burden on individuals and their families.

Annuities and Retirement Planning

Annuities can provide a source of income in retirement, helping seniors maintain their standard of living. Proper retirement planning, which may include annuities, is essential to ensure financial security in old age.

Income-Generating Investments

Consider investments that provide regular income, such as dividend-paying stocks, bonds, or real estate investments. These can supplement your retirement income.

Estate Planning

Create a comprehensive estate plan to minimize estate taxes and ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes. This may involve using trusts and wills.

Social Security Optimization

Understand how to maximize your Social Security benefits by delaying your claim if possible, as this can increase your monthly benefit.

Diversify Investments

Diversification can help manage investment risk. Spread your investments across different asset classes to reduce exposure to any single risk.

Conclusion

As individuals approach retirement, it is essential to consider these challenges and plan accordingly.

Financial professionals can play a pivotal role in guiding individuals toward suitable solutions, such as life insurance with LTC riders and standalone LTCI. Contact a financial professional to review your options. Hawaii’s exceptional life expectancy serves as a model for the rest of the nation, emphasizing the importance of combining healthy living, cultural values, and the right financial strategies to ensure a longer and more comfortable life for our aging population.

TLDR; Be Proactive

Addressing these challenges requires proactive financial planning. Insurance products, such as life insurance with long-term care riders and long-term care insurance, can provide a safety net for aging individuals and their families, allowing them to age in place gracefully without the burden of exorbitant healthcare costs.

Meeting 2

Long-Term Care Planning Workshop

Enjoy complimentary refreshments and pupus while you learn. This workshop offers a perfect blend of valuable information and a friendly atmosphere.

Long-Term Care Planning Workshop
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

 

Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii
1163 S Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
What will you get?
  • Empowerment – Gain strategies on how to manage rising costs of care
  • Clarity – Understand the truth behind long-term care and busting common myths
  • Support & Knowledge – How to handle emotional and financial aspects of long-term care
  • Personalized Guidance – Get answers to questions during the Q&A session. Our team of professionals are here to provide tailored solutions to your long-term care concerns.

Ken Herlihy, CLTC

Ken Herlihy, CLTC, boasts a career spanning back to 1984 in the insurance industry, with significant leadership experience in sales and marketing. Over the past three decades, he has specialized in the Long-Term Care (LTC) market, refining his expertise.
Ken Herlihy, CLTC, boasts a career spanning back to 1984 in the insurance industry, with significant leadership experience in sales and marketing. Over the past three decades, he has specialized in the Long-Term Care (LTC) market, refining his expertise.
Long-Term Care Planning Workshop

Click to view or download

RSVP
kindly by 9/27

This workshop is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for personalized guidance related to long-term care planning.

Nationwide DTC Event 6292023

Retirement Planning in the Face of Long-Term Care Costs: Making Smart Decisions For Your Future

(FREE EVENT!)

Thursday, June 29, 2023, at 5:00 PM

OUH Lounge, 1st Floor

1163 S Beretania Street,

Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

RSVP to Attend

As we age, the need for long-term care becomes increasingly important. Long-term care insurance can provide a layer of financial protection and peace of mind for those facing the possibility of needing ongoing care. However, selecting the right policy can be a daunting task. That’s where expert advice comes in.

Nationwide’s Regional VP, Chris Chertboonmuang, will share valuable insights:

  • How to create a long-term care policy that suits your needs and budget.
  • Tips on maximizing benefits, ensuring you have access to quality care when you need it most.
  • New ways to protect your money from long-term care expenses.
  • Question & Answer session!

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about the benefits of long-term care insurance and protect your future.

Everyone is welcome! Invite your friends, or family, and centers of influence such as CPA’s, Attorneys, Real Estate Agents, Accountants, etc. 

Downloadable PDF

Downloadable PDF

Two Middle Aged Looking at Laptop

Why Care about Long-Term Care Costs – and Why a Traditional LTC Policy May Not Be Best

Originally published by: AIG Consumer Life Insurance

No wonder so many people are worried about paying for long-term care! Just look at the facts:

    • 70 percent of people turning age 65 will likely need some type of long-term care during their lives, according to the Administration on Aging.
    • Unfortunately, an American reaching age 65 today can expect to incur nearly $140,000 in future long-term care expenses, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
    • Yet, Medicare doesn’t pay for services extending beyond 100 days in skilled nursing facilities.
    • In fact, most people who need long-term care reside in private homes and receive their informal care from loved ones, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
    • And by the time the youngest baby boomers turn 86, in 2050, the number of available family caregivers is expected to be nearly 60 percent lower than in 2013, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.

In light of these types of concerns, some people consider purchasing a traditional, stand-alone long-term care (LTC) insurance policy, designed to pay benefits when qualified expenses occur. Examples of situations in which benefit payment can be triggered include medical certification of a severe cognitive impairment or an inability to perform two of the six activities of daily living (eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, continence).

However, the condition must be expected to impact the insured for a minimum of 90 days. Furthermore, far fewer LTC policies are available now than in years past, as many carriers have exited the market. Some people find the cost of the available LTC policies cost-prohibitive and seek more flexible, affordable solutions.

Consider Combination Products

Among the alternatives to traditional, stand-alone LTC products are combination products. These solutions include life insurance policies with built-in or available living benefit riders for long-term care specifically or for chronic illness (which often leads to the need for long-term care).

These two types of riders are designed to allow the policy holder access to an accelerated portion of the life insurance policy’s death benefit (with a corresponding decrease in the death benefit), when the terms of the rider have been met. In other words, these products are structured as multi-purpose solutions and may represent the best value for some people.

Learn about some of the differences between LTC riders and chronic illness (CI) riders on life insurance products – and why CI riders, in particular, may be the perfect choice to provide access to cash while living.

For more information, Contact Us.

Lokahi Unity of Purpose

Occidental Underwriters Challenge 2022

Each year, Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii kicks off the year in the month of January to energize and reinvigorate our agents and staff. This year’s theme is “Lokahi: Unity of Purpose” which speaks to the positive impacts we can make by working together.

Our business thrives on helping others. We provide services for agents to grow their business, and in turn, these agents help people in the community to provide protection for people against financial losses.

This charity challenge ran from January 17 thru March 18, 2022. Over 2 months, our Occidental Underwriters Ohana fundraised for 4 charities that were close to our hearts. We had so much fun and found that this challenge brought us closer together as an office, inspired creativity and helped our community.

Our goal was to raise $3,000 for each charity.

We fundraised $17,764 for our community

 

THE RESULTS:

$3,723 fundraised for the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

$4,188 fundraised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii

$4,557 fundraised for the Hawaii Foodbank

$5,296 fundraised for the Hawaiian Humane Society

Charities we Supported:

Hawaiian Humane Society: Many of us at Occidental Underwriters are big-time animal lovers. A few of us send our fur babies to day care at Pets in the City, right across the street from our office. That being said, we want to protect animals, educate others, and encourage donations to help lost animals and animals in need through the Hawaiian Humane Society. The Hawaiian Humane Society’s mission is dedicated to promoting the human-animal bond and the humane treatment of all animals.

Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii: The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii fosters relations by promoting harmony and mutual understanding between Japan, Hawai‘i, and the United States. Occidental Underwriters has a long-standing history with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. We are a Japanese-owned 4th generation Insurance Brokerage company with 88 years in the insurance industry. Help support their mission of sharing the history, heritage and culture of the evolving Japanese American experience in Hawai‘i, or get involved by becoming a member of the JCCH ‘ohana.

Hawaii Foodbank: Currently, nearly a quarter of a million Hawaii residents are currently struggling with hunger, according to the Hawaii Foodbank. Among them are out-of-work parents, isolated kūpuna and 1 in 4 keiki. The Hawaii Foodbank is able to stretch your dollars further. Each donation of $10 helps provide food for more than 20 meals.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hawaii: Make-A-Wish Hawaii shines a light of hope for local keiki and their families when they need it most. Together, we can create life-changing wishes for children across our islands fighting critical illnesses during their darkest days.

Thank you to everyone for your generosity and support!