It may be time to think about transitioning to assisted living if your aging loved one can no longer care for themselves at home, if home care is not an option, or if there are safety concerns. Changing their residence would provide your elderly loved ones with the care they require and make their home safer. The real concern, though, is how to finance assisted living as monthly costs might range from $1,500 to over $10,000.
While the price of assisted living varies greatly depending on the floor plan of the community and other factors, there are a number of methods to lessen the majority of this financial load. Keep reading to learn how to pay for assisted living in Bernalillo, NM.
Income and Savings
You can easily pay for an assisted living using savings from your personal income before retiring. This seems to be the easiest route to go when it’s time to finance your move into assisted living. However, the economic situation makes the cost of living unaffordable for many aging retirees who need it.
Veteran’s Benefits
In a variety of situations, residential care is covered under veteran benefits:
- Benefits may be used to cover the cost of assisted living if your loved one or their spouse suffers impairments or injuries from their time in the military.
- Any handicapped veteran (or their spouse) who earns lower than a certain threshold is eligible for Aid and Attendance payments.
You’ll need to go through the Veterans Administration to get the entitled benefits of your loved one out. This may be a difficult and drawn-out procedure for many people. Therefore, consider collaborating with a geriatric planner who is knowledgeable about how things work and may assist make the application process for benefits simpler.
Try Contributing Family Resources
Sometimes bringing everyone in the family together to discuss the issue makes it easy to come up with a feasible solution, such as gathering resources and exchanging money for time. For instance, siblings with appropriate means may pay for the cost of assisted living with the promise of payback when the family home is sold if no one has yet expressed a desire to sell it.
Reverse Mortgage
A reverse mortgage can be the answer you’re searching for if your loved one is in the process of paying off their property completely or already owns it entirely. With a reverse mortgage, you can either get the whole value of your home equity or a series of monthly installments.
Life Insurance
The majority of people buy life insurance with their preferred beneficiaries in mind, but if necessary, the insurance policies can be used for “living benefits.” The firm will probably purchase back the insurance for 50–75% of its actual value, depending on the monthly premiums paid by the policyholder, age, and health. Once obtaining the insurance, the third-party firm is now in charge of paying the monthly payments, and after the original policyholder passes away, that company is given the full amount of the policy.
Convert Insurance Policy to Long-Term Care Payments
Another choice aging adults can make is to convert their policy benefits straight into long-term care payments. Life insurance conversion is an option for policies of lower value that might not be eligible for life settlement. It normally pays between 15 and 50 percent of the policy value, which is less than a life settlement.
Renting Your Home
The family home may be a valuable resource if just one parent is still alive or if both parents require help with everyday tasks. Consider renting out the home in this situation and utilizing the rental money to pay for assisted living.
