Common Excuses Justifying Failure to Plan for Long-Term Care

May 9, 2018 | by the National Care Planning Council

Here is a sample of some of the excuses we have heard from people who refuse to plan for long-term care. Some of these objections seem perfectly reasonable and you may wonder why we list them as an excuse not to plan. The answer is, in the light of further analysis, none of these reasons are realistic.

• "I'm in good health, I'm going to live a long time and I won't need it"
• "No one in my family has ever needed it"
• "My family has a history of early deaths and poor health. I'll die first"
• "If that happens just take me out and shoot me"
• "My family has a history of longevity and I won't need it"
• "I'll have a gun under my pillow and that will solve the problem"
• "I'll have my wife call Dr. Kevorkian"
• "Aunt Nellie is 100 years old and she's doing great. Her faculties are like that of a 20 year old." (forgot to mention that Nellie, like most people her age, is in a nursing home)
• "I'm a veteran and the VA will take care of me"
• "Uncle Jim got along just fine with the government paying his care"
• "I can give away my assets and have the government pay for it"
• "We have a trust and all of our assets will go to our family so the government will pay for our care"
• "My CPA has made sure my estate is set up properly and no one can come after that money"
• "I'm not interested in home care or assisted living, just stick me in a nursing home and Medicaid will pay the bill"
• "Long term care insurance is too expensive"
• "If I don't use long-term care insurance I don't get my money back"
• "I'll use my retirement savings since it will happen at the end of my life"
• "I can invest the equivalent of the premiums for long-term care insurance and come out a lot better"
• "I'll just sell my rental apartments and they'll cover the cost"
• "My kids say I don't need to plan they'll take care of me"
• "My kids don't want me to buy long-term care insurance, it's a waste of money, they'll take care of me"
• "My daughter is a nurse I don't have to worry about it"
• "I'll move in with my oldest daughter. I raised my kids it's time for them to take care of me"
• "My father died suddenly of a heart attack and my mother died after only a week in a nursing home. I won't need it because I'll probably go the same way."
• "I'm not worried, when the time comes I'll deal with"
• "I'm too busy right now with other problems I might do something about it in the future"
• "I have to talk with my children to see if they think it's a good idea to plan for this"
• "I have to talk to my financial advisor, I'm not sure this is something I need to be concerned about"
• "My daughter will quit her job to take care of me. I'm sure there is a government program that will pay her for that"
• "This is a decision that takes a lot of commitment. I have to think about it"
• "I'll put some extra money into my retirement savings plan and that should cover it"

People who use these objections to long-term care planning, typically have only a few basic, underlying, real reasons for rejecting the concept.

1. They don't think it's a problem, they're convinced it won't happen to them or they don't want to think about it.
2. They don't think the gravity of the problem warrants their time or attention and they can put it off until some future date.
3. They truly believe if it happens they will be taken care.
4. If it's something that requires spending money, it's not a good use of the money for the reasons above

People who do actually embrace planning are very likely to have gone through long-term care with a loved one and see the need for planning. It's also interesting to note that from our experience some people who have seen long-term care in their family still fail to plan. Our experience has been these particular people were never involved directly in the care of a loved one. Another member of the family was probably saddled with the entire load and responsibility. Non-involved members of the family escaped unscathed from the responsibility of care for a loved one and as a result do not see long-term care as a big problem. People who refuse to do planning are more likely to have never experienced it and are prone to deny that long-term care can happen to them.