Funding Senior Care: Exploring Your Options

Senior living can be expensive. The more care a senior needs, the more you can expect to pay. That doesn’t mean that comfortable, dignified living is reserved only for the wealthy. In fact, you may have more options for funding senior care than you realize.

At Carriage Crossing, we want to be a resource of help and information. Below are some options for funding senior care that you may not have known existed. Take a look and decide if one or more might work for you.

Funding senior care: consider all the possibilities

Long-term care insurance

Long-term care insurance can cover all or a portion of long-term care needs. It’s one of the best

options for funding senior care, because a small investment over time pays off in the form of affordable care. If you’re still relatively young, consider investing in long-term care insurance now. If the senior in your life needs care now, but doesn’t have insurance, insurance is no longer an option.

VA Aid & Attendance

Even though Veterans Aid & Attendance has been around since the 1950s, it’s a relatively unknown benefit, and even those who are aware often don’t fully understand the difference it can make when it comes to funding senior care.

Wartime veterans or a surviving spouse with limited income may be eligible to receive a non-service-connected pension to assist in paying for long-term care such as assisted living, home health care, adult day care, or skilled nursing. Known as Aid & Attendance, this increased monthly pension amount may be added to your monthly pension if you meet certain specific conditions.

Selling your insurance

It may be possible to sell a life insurance policy through a process called “life insurance settlement.” You’ll most likely get less than the value of the policy but significantly more than surrendering or abandoning the policy, and the purchaser will take over premium payments.

The value of a policy generally has to exceed $50,000 but the process is quick—usually under 30 days. The monies are put into an irrevocable trust that makes payments to the community. Families can set aside a certain amount for inheritance and decide how much to allocate for care.

Selling a home or other property

People often overlook their home when considering their financial assets. But there’s a lot to be said for using your home to help with funding senior care. The obvious way is to sell your residence and use the proceeds. Of course, if there is someone still living in your house, or you want to hold on to the property, that might not be the best option. Renting your house out is another way to go. Or have you considered a reverse mortgage?

Reverse mortgage

A reverse mortgage is a type of home equity loan reserved for seniors 62 and older. Unlike

traditional loans, borrowers don’t have to repay the money until they move and sell the home. So

if one parent still lives in the home, or if you’re considering in-home care, this might be a viable

option for funding senior care. If your parent never sells the home, the estate will have to repay the loan. Otherwise, the borrower may be able to take possession of the home.

Home equity loans

A home equity loan can provide more flexibility than a reverse mortgage, allowing the homeowner to use a lump sum of money to pay for senior living costs without having to live in the home. If you’re looking at very costly care for a severely ill parent, home equity lines of credit from multiple sources—you, your parent, a sibling or two—could be your best option.

Home equity loans have fixed monthly payments and interest rates, which can help with budgeting. However, some HELOCs require full repayment at the end of the draw period, while others allow for a multi-year repayment period.

Once you’ve done your homework, you might be pleasantly surprised.

There are more sources of funding senior care out there than most people realize, and many of the options are connected to assets you already have.

And remember, changing where you live doesn’t have to mean changing your whole way of life. At Carriage Crossing, you’ll find all the choices you need to live the life you love. Download your free copy of Funding Guide for more information.

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