Life Insurance: Unwisely Neglected In Financial Planning...

• 49% — Of U.S. adults who have a financial advisor and a financial plan have discussed adding life insurance.
  
  
• 47% — Of U.S. adults who have a financial advisor and a financial plan said their advisors have never reviewed their existing life insurance policy with them.
  
  
• 28% — Of U.S. adults said they would be interested in a life insurance policy that included long-term coverage.
  
  
  Online survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Saybrus Partners, Inc., a life insurance partnership and subsidiary of the Phoenix Cos., Inc.  Poll was conducted in late July and surveyed 2,410 adults 18 and older, of which 786 said they currently have a financial advisor.
  
  
  
  

8 Long-Term Care Facts & Fallacies You Need To Know...

• 70% — Percentage of people over the age of 65 who will end up needing long-term care at some point in their lives.
  
  
• 54% — Percentage of baby boomers who believe that Medicare covers long-term care.   IT DOESN'T!
  
  
• 3 Years — Average time frame women over the age of 65 require long-term care, twice as long as men.
  
  
• 75% — Percentage of nursing home patients who are women.
  
  
• 2x — The rate at which long-term care costs are rising faster than inflation.
  
  
• $247 — The average daily cost of daily care in a nursing home with a private room.
  
  
• $90,155 — The average annual cost of daily care in a nursing home with a private room.
  
  
• $270,465 — The average total cost for 3 years of daily care in a nursing home with a private room.
  
  
  
  

Long-Term Care Buyer's Prefer Limited-Duration Policies...

• 57.1% — Percentage of LTCI buyers who selected policies with a benefit period of 4 years or less.
  
  
• 80.7% — Percentage of LTCI buyers who were under the age of 65.
  
  
• 56.0% — Percentage of LTCI buyers who were between the ages of 55-64.
  
  
  "Limited duration policies continue to become the preferred choice of many consumers who benefit from their lower cost and are willing to assume some of the risk for a catastrophic long-term care event," states Jesse Slome, AALTCI's executive director.
  
  "Given the economic uncertainty of the past few years, it is understandable that consumers favor ways to reduce the cost of coverage that, while important, is still a discretionary purchase," Slome notes.
  
  "In addition, newer product design features such as the "shared care" option allow couples to purchase more affordable limited-duration policies and still be protected if one spouse requires care for longer than provided by their own policy."
  
  According to the AALTCI, more than 75% of individual long-term care insurance policies are purchased by couples.
  
  
  

Sobering Stats on Americans Age 45 and Older...

AARP’s Closer Look Survey conducted in November of last year reveals the financial affect that social and economic changes and issues have on Americans age 45 and older. Some key findings were:

22% of those 45 and older said their work hours were cut, took a pay cut, or lost other types of work-related income.

28% of those aged 45-64 lost work-related income, compared to 9% of those 65 and older. The number of those who said they had a loss of work-related income has increased 5 percentage points since November 2009.

42% of respondents 45 and older reported having hardship related to health care, such as trouble paying medical bills, putting off needed care or not getting prescriptions refilled or resorting to splitting pills.

57% of African-American and 52% of Hispanic adults 45 and older reported having health care-related hardships, compared to 40% of whites. 

57% of those with hardships have had to withdraw or stop contributing to their retirement savings also reported health care-related hardships, compared to 26% who did not.


Source: AARP

Senior Americans Have More Purpose, Focus & Vision

Older Americans report having more feelings of purpose, focus and life vision than younger Americans...

59% of a 45- to 74-year age group surveyed said their lives have purpose, versus 47% of those aged 25- to 44-years

62% of the surveyed 45- to 74-years-olds say they have focus, while only 45% of the age group 25-44 report having focus

55% of the older age group said they have vision for the future, versus 43% of the 25-44 year-olds


Source: Metlife Mature Market Institute

Net Worth Is On The Rise For Seniors

Net worth has increased almost 80% for older Americans over the past 20 years. Yet, major inequalities continue to exist with older African Americans and people without high school diplomas reporting smaller economic gains and fewer financial resources overall.

Between 1974 and 2007, the proportion of older people below poverty from decreased from 15% to 10% and with low income from 35% to 26%, and an increase in the proportion of people with high income from 18% to 31%. 


In 2007, the median net worth of households headed by white people age 65 and over ($280,000) was 6 times that of older black households ($46,000), down from 8 times higher in 2003. 


Labor force participation rates have risen among all women age 55 and over during the past 4 decades. Labor force participation rates among men age 55 and over have gradually begun to increase after a steady decline from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s. 


Source: Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics

5 Statistics That Prove America's Middle Class Is Being Systematically Wiped Out Of Existence

 1. 61% of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49% in 2008 and 43% in 2007.

2. 83% of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1% of the people.

3. 36% of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.

4. A staggering 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.

5. Only the top 5% of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.