Preparing For Tomorrow podcast

Because we have so many new listeners, we decided to get back to the basics of long term care and LTC insurance. The best starting point is to learn current and future costs of home care, assisted living, and nursing home care. Use the cost of care website to find costs where you live at https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Once we understand the risk we're up against if we suffer from dementia,...

Happy New Year! Let's make 2026 the year we design and fund our LTC plan without destroying our budget. This week, Diane shares ways to pay for long term care insurance with alternatives to simply using income to fund it. Listen and learn how to reduce the impact on the budget while preparing for that day when we do become more dependent on other people to help us get through our days. We're makin...

We recorded "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" along with a few other classics about 15 years ago. My husband, Paul, is the guitar master, and I am playing flute. Please enjoy, and share with those you care about most as you gather to celebrate this week. As Christians, our family is celebrating the birth of our Savior. Whatever you celebrate this season, do so with love and joy in your hearts. If yo...

When discussing worksite LTC with employers, two question come up all the time - 1) How much work do I as an employer or HR director have to put in? 2) I heard LTC insurance is expensive. How much more will the company be spending to add this benefit? Jason Dutra clearly addresses both of these questions this week. For more info, reachout to me diane@preparing4tomorrow.com Or research first at htt...

That title is an oxymoron. Truthfully, if you'll never qualify for Medicaid, that means you'll pay for all of your long term care needs yourself. In this week's episode we're sharing things you need to consider today, long before care is needed. You need to prepare for tomorrow's needs today, whether you choose to own insurance or not. You need to create a roadmap for your caregivers to follow if...

Diane received an email this week from a long time listener who received a notice of a 301% rate increase request from his LTC insurance company. This episode discusses the process of requesting and seeking approval for rate increases. This process is heavily regulated from multiple angles. It's definitely not a random insurance company tactic to create more profit or to force policy holders to ca...

Thank you all who are listening to these podcasts and for the great feedback you've shared over the years. I can't believe we're in our sixth year already. I'm so thankful that these poscasts are helping so many people learn about long term care and all the strategies available to protect our families. Enjoy your family this Thanksgiving weekend, and always be thankful. If you're ready to plan for...

This week, Jason and Diane discuss UNUM's February 2026 ceasing of LTC group and employer sales. How should employers and employess react to this decision? What are the next decisions that must be made? What can employers now offer to newhires? Should current policyholders keep their policies? When you don't have answers, the best thing to do is talk with a long term care planning specialist like...

We need to recognize the contributions and sacrifices that family caregivers make to help those they love who can't provide for their own daily needs. The reason most people own LTC insurance is to help those caregivers to not feel alone and isolated. If you don't own LTC insurance and you want to protect your family, assets and choices, schedule time with me to plan here Below are many resources...

This week, I'm kind of on a soapbox. It seems that some people will keep asking about LTC insurance until someone tells them they don't need it. No one knows if we'll need help living at some point or not. We need to ask ourselves who the insurance is going to help. We're going to get care whether we plan or not. We need to ask oursleves who wil suffer the consequences of our failure to plan. It's...

This week, we decided to answer some questions that we don't get as often as some others, but they're still very relevant. When plannng for long term care needs, we need to gather enough information to be able to decide what kind of plans will fit our needs best. We're here to help and to address those questions that you may not have thought to ask. Listen and then schedule a phone or zoom meeting...

It seems that with nearly every person or couple I work with, a version of this question comes up. Which plan do I recommend most often? Although all LTC plans are similar in how to qualify for benefits, each company and even each plan within a company carries unique attributes to that are attractive to various wants and needs of interested buyers.. This week, Diane shares different/unique charact...

This is the beginning of our 6th year!!! This week, Diane interviews Jason Dutra with BuddyIns again. We discuss tax-benefits of worksite LTC insurance and hybrid life/LTC worksite plans. How are these plan offerings different than other group benefits that employers offer? How can employers use group life/LTC plans to show how much they care about their employees? When employees know their employ...

This week, after hearing from a client who wishes she would have bought more insurance a decade ago, Diane shares decisions that others have made in the past and now regret it. These people, if they had thought through their decisions before making them, could have ended up with much better outcomes. When planning to provide for ourselves and protect our families, we need to take action. And we ne...

This week, we look at premiums of traditional, stand-alone LTC plans. Diane shares a plan that her clients designed 10 years ago when they were 49 and compares that to the same plan for a 49 year old couple today, a 59 year old couple today and a 69 year old couple today. Listen and learn how both premiums and benefits at each age (and time) differ. You'll be surprised when learning the total prem...

This week, Diane compares 10 year hybrid Life/LTC plans with 10 year paid up funding for a couple age 50, age 60, and age 70 to share why it's so much better for everyone when we plan early. Even though we don't want to think about it, at age 50, we need to consider what our 70 year old self, our 80 year old self and even our 90 year old self may be like and what kind of help we may need. Genuinel...

It's football season! This week, Diane compares football to LTC planning. Every team needs a quarterback, position players and a strong defense. We also need depth - a back up plan in case something or someone isn't the right fit for our needs. We need strategies and gameplans so we are prepared for tomorrow. The most difficult part of LTC planing is we never know what we're going to need to defen...

This week, we're discussing worksite/group LTC plans, which have evolved a lot since group plans started being offered through employers. Jason Dutra with BuddyIns shares how they are committed to helping the 50+ million family caregivers in the U.S. today. He shares how today's worksite offerings differ from those offered in previous decades, including guaranteed premiums that never change. This...

So many people want a long term care plan with all the bells and whistles. They want a plan that will pay for everything that could ever happen. These plans are often priced higher than a budget allows. Why do people state that they want no coverage if they can't get the best plan out there? We don't do this anywhere but with LTC insurance. Do we not own a car because we can't afford a Tesla? No....

This week, Diane uses the Parable of the Sower to share different reactions to LTC planning that occur in the United States. Are you the hard soil? The rocky soil? The thorny soil? The fertile soil? After listening, you can schedule a phone or zoom meeting with me to start planning to prepare for your family's tomorrow here

Many have been advised by a financial planner, estate planning attorney or other professional that they have enough assets to "self-insure" future LTC needs. The question is not "can I afford it?" but "Is this the best use of assets to fund future care needs?" This episode is full of questions you should be asking yourself and your advisors if they tell you you can afford to self-fund. Listen and...

This week, I'm sharing what I learned about public LTC funding in Germany and how it's managed. Their national/local public funding initiative is alreaday underfunded by taxes, and the aging population there is expected to increase by 37% over the next 30 years. This is miniscule as compared to our aging population in the U.S. We need to learn from our past mistakes as well as from what other coun...

This is an episode from 2020 when I interviewed my travel advisor about COVID or other family health issues interrupting travel plans. He created the best 25th anniversary trip to Europe we could have imagined! Contact him at c.palogruto@cruiseplanners.com to create your most memorable vacation We find differences in planning for vacations and planning for our LTC needs. We learn from Carmen Palog...

This week, we're describing who may consider different types of LTC planning strategies and why. Stand-alone/traditional LTC vs. Hybrid Life/LTC vs. Hybrid Annuity/LTC. All provide tax-free benefits for extended care needs. Thank you to https://buddyins.com/ team for creating easy to understand documents that agents can share with their clients. Listen and consider which category of coverage can f...

In our third week with our couple in their 80s, we consider options to obtain the most LTC benefits from annuities. If you already own annuities, check for a Chronic Illness rider or LTC rider. If there is one, read it carefully as different rules apply to access enhanced benefits for care. If you need help understanding your rider, ask me for guidance here Some pay the LTC benefits tax-free and s...