There are those who adopt the attitude that “it’ll never happen to me” when it comes to some of the challenging situations that many people face. There’s nothing wrong with adopting a positive attitude, but there is a thin line between taking a healthy, upbeat stance and illogically keeping your head in the sand. This is something to keep in mind when you are considering the possibility of a stay in a long-term care facility at some point in the future.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, somewhere in the vicinity of 70% of people who reach the age of 65 will eventually require long-term care. So in reality it is more likely that you will eventually need long-term care than not, and as a result you must plan accordingly for the potential costs that you may be facing.
There is a very valuable resource available to the San Jose elder law community in the form of the MetLife Mature Market Institute survey on long-term care costs. The current survey tells us that in 2010 the average annual cost for a private room in a nursing home in the state of California exceeded $104,000. The same period of time residing in an assisted living community in the Golden State would run you in excess of $43,000 on average.
The average length of stay for a man who requires long-term care is 3.7 years; for a woman it is 2.2 years. So if you do the math using these averages you can see that the expenses that you may face are considerable should you be among the majority who will require long-term care.
However, you can take steps to be prepared through proper long-term planning. If you would like to discuss the matter with an expert, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and arrange for a consultation with an experienced Bay Area elder law attorney.
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