Long-Term Care Planning — Fish Creek Life
Long-term care is one of the biggest unfunded risks in retirement — nearly 70% of people turning 65 will need some form of it. Fish Creek Life helps you fund it three ways: traditional LTC insurance, hybrid life/LTC policies, or annuity-based LTC.
Protecting Your Savings From a Care Event
Long-term care insurance and hybrid policies exist to protect your savings, your spouse, and your family from the cost of extended care — whether that’s in-home care, assisted living, or a nursing facility. Pair long-term care planning with annuities and life insurance for a complete plan — contact Tom or Rob for a free review.
Protect Your Savings.
Protect Your Family.
Nearly 7 in 10 people turning 65 will need some form of long-term care. Without a plan, the cost falls on your savings — and on the family members who step in to help. We help you fund that risk on your own terms, before a crisis forces the decision.
Why Long-Term Care Planning Matters
The Odds Aren’t in Your Favor
About 70% of people turning 65 will need long-term care at some point. It’s not a question of if for most families — it’s a question of when, and how it gets paid for.
Medicare Won’t Cover It
Medicare pays for short-term rehab — not ongoing custodial care. Without a plan, extended care is paid for out of pocket, often at $6,000–$10,000+ a month.
It Falls on Your Family
Without a funded plan, the burden of care — financial and physical — typically falls on a spouse or adult children. A plan protects your family’s time and finances, not just your own.
Three Ways to Fund It
Traditional LTC insurance, hybrid life/LTC policies, and annuity-based LTC each solve this differently. We help you match the right funding method to your budget and goals.
Understanding the Details
Designing a Plan for Your Life
Long-term care coverage is highly customizable. The cost and quality of your plan depend on three major factors that we help you tailor to your situation:
- Benefit Pool: The total dollar amount of care your policy will pay for — often expressed as a monthly benefit times a number of years.
- Elimination Period: The waiting period after you qualify for benefits before the policy starts paying (commonly 90 days).
- What Happens If You Never Need Care: Traditional LTC premiums are “use it or lose it.” Hybrid and annuity-based LTC return a death benefit or your money back if you never file a claim.
Three Ways to Fund Long-Term Care
There is no single “right” way to fund long-term care — only the right fit for your budget and goals. We evaluate your savings, health, and family situation to recommend the best mix.
Traditional LTC
Pure Insurance
- Lowest premium for the most coverage
- Inflation protection available
- Dedicated solely to care costs
- Premiums can rise over time
The “Maximum Coverage” Strategy
What it is: Dedicated LTC insurance that stretches your dollar furthest, purely to cover the cost of extended care.
Who it’s for: Healthy applicants who want the most coverage per premium dollar and are comfortable with “use it or lose it” insurance.
Hybrid Life/LTC
Use It or Pass It On
- Pays for care, or a death benefit
- Premiums are guaranteed, level
- Money is never “wasted”
- Often single-pay or fixed-pay
The “No Waste” Strategy
What it is: A life insurance policy with a long-term care rider — if you need care, it pays for care; if you don’t, your heirs get a death benefit.
Who it’s for: Anyone who dislikes the idea of paying premiums for coverage they might never use.
Annuity-Based LTC
The Savings Multiplier
- Turns savings into a 2–3x LTC pool
- Easier health underwriting
- Money grows tax-deferred until needed
- Remaining funds still yours
The “Repurposed Savings” Strategy
What it is: An annuity with an LTC multiplier rider that can double or triple your money specifically for qualified care expenses.
Who it’s for: Those with health issues that make traditional LTC or life insurance underwriting difficult, who have existing savings to reposition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Medicare cover long-term care?
No — Medicare pays for almost none of long-term care. It covers short-term skilled nursing after a hospital stay, but not the ongoing custodial care — help with bathing, dressing, eating, or supervision for memory loss — that most long-term care actually involves.
What are the three main ways to fund long-term care?
Traditional LTC insurance offers the maximum care per dollar but is “use it or lose it.” Hybrid life/LTC insurance is a life insurance policy you can spend early on care, with unused benefits passing to your family as a death benefit. Annuity-based LTC repositions safe savings into a fixed annuity that multiplies 2-3x when used for care.
How much does long-term care actually cost?
Long-term care runs roughly $70,000 to $130,000+ per year, and the average person who needs it needs it for about three years — a cost that Medicare does not cover.
Long-Term Care in Plain English
Here’s the fact that reorganizes everything: about 70% of people who reach 65 will need long-term care — help with bathing, dressing, eating, or supervision for memory loss — and Medicare pays for almost none of it. That’s not a sales pitch; it’s just the math. This page is the plain-English map of the problem and every honest way to fund it.
What “Long-Term Care” Actually Means
It’s not hospitals and surgery — that’s health care, and your health insurance handles it. Long-term care is the everyday-help layer: a home health aide, an assisted living apartment, a memory care unit, a nursing facility. It’s triggered in the real world (and in insurance contracts) when you can’t safely perform 2 of the 6 activities of daily living, or when cognitive decline makes supervision necessary. It runs $70,000 to $130,000+ per year, and the average need lasts about three years.
When there’s no plan, the plan becomes a person — usually a wife or daughter. Funding care isn’t just about protecting your savings; it’s about letting your family be your family instead of your unpaid staff.
The Three Ways to Fund It
Traditional LTC insurance — maximum care per dollar
Pure protection, like car insurance: pay premiums, claim if you need care. Cheapest per dollar of coverage; “use it or lose it” is the trade. Read the full guide →
Hybrid life/LTC — the policy that pays either way
A life insurance policy you can spend early on care. Need care? Covered. Never need it? Your family gets a tax-free death benefit. Premiums are contractually guaranteed. Read the full guide →
Annuity-based LTC — the leverage strategy
Reposition safe savings into a fixed annuity that multiplies 2–3x when used for care — with underwriting easy enough for people declined everywhere else. Read the full guide →
Meet Rob — Our Long-Term Care and Longevity Planning Specialist
Rob has spent 25+ years in insurance and financial services, focused on retirement and longevity planning — long-term care, annuities, life, and disability. He grew up in Philadelphia, moved to Colorado in 2001, and is raising two boys here. He’s also a fly fisherman, which is the right temperament for this work: patient, methodical, and honest about conditions. Longevity planning is his whole practice — making sure a long life is a funded one.
His approach matches everything Fish Creek Life stands for: clarity over confusion, straight answers over sales pressure. Rob will show you the traditional, hybrid, and annuity-based numbers side by side and tell you plainly which one fits — including when the answer is “none of them yet.”
The Complete Long-Term Care Library
Every guide below is plain English, honest trade-offs included:
- Does Medicare Cover Long-Term Care? (Short Answer: No — Here’s What Does)
- What Long-Term Care Actually Costs (Colorado and National Numbers)
- When to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance (and What Waiting Really Costs)
- Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance: “Use It or Lose It,” Explained Honestly
- Hybrid Life/LTC Insurance: The Policy That Pays Either Way
- Annuity-Based Long-Term Care: The Leverage Strategy for Lazy Money
- Long-Term Care for Women: Longer Lives, More Caregiving, Bigger Stakes
- Long-Term Care Isn’t Just About Nursing Homes
Browse all our Long-Term Care articles →
Long-term care planning connects to everything else we do: it protects the income you build with annuities, works alongside life insurance in hybrid form, and pairs with disability insurance — which protects your paycheck before retirement the way LTC protects your savings after.
Talk to a Human
The best time to look at this was ten years ago. The second-best time is while you’re still healthy enough to qualify. No call centers, no pressure — call Rob or Tom at 719-539-4790, request a quote, or send a message.
Not sure where to start?
Grab the free Colorado Life Insurance Buyer’s Guide — 7 questions to ask before you buy.
