Now that you’ve decided that Long-Term Care insurance should be part of your retirement plan, how do you determine whether it’s the right time to buy?

First, consider your current health. If you are currently in relatively good health, you should consider purchasing Long-Term Care insurance in the near future. Long-Term Care insurance premiums are determined based on your age and health at the time of purchase. Once your premium is set, it cannot be increased because of changes in your health.

Second, consider your current age. In general, the older you are when you purchase Long-Term Care insurance, the higher your premiums will be. However, once you purchase Long-Term Care insurance, you are responsible for paying premiums until the time you need to make a claim for benefits. It’s important to consider both of these factors when comparing the cost of Long-Term Care insurance against the cost and risk involved in going uninsured.

Third, and most importantly, consider the risk that a change in your health could make you ineligible to purchase Long-Term Care insurance, or could make the insurance prohibitively expensive. Long-Term Care insurers have underwriting requirements that determine whether they will issue a policy to you and, if so, at what premium. If you experience an accident or other sudden change in health, you could become ineligible for Long-Term Care insurance.  Would you rather take the risk of buying a few years too early or finding yourself even one day too late?