IMAGINE THIS.....
Imagine a huge wave of people, ages 31 to 51 - over one third of the population of B.C. - sweeping across the province's economy. Imagine that they are called, "Baby Boomers". Imagine them all hitting age 65 and wanting to sell their business, their homes and wanting to retire - all at the same time. And imagine them realizing that they will live to age 90 and will be sick or hurt along the way, requiring extra help to recover (extended care, home care, home nursing, etc.).
And imagine them finding out to their horror that their is little government money to provide these services and worse - almost no infrastructure built (e.g.. extended care facilities) to support them when they need help the most! Stop imagining: this is reality. This is your future... According to B.C. statistics, nearly 80% of people age 65 in B.C. today can expect to live to age 90. And this goes up ten per cent every ten years! Few people have planned to live a long life, fewer still have insured for it.
They are insured for death, they are insured for being unable to work - but almost none have insured for being hurt or sick after retirement (and living through it). The Government Will Look After Me... Current average stay in a hospital acute care bed in Canada is 14 days. After that you are put into the extended care ward to wait for a bed in a Long Term (LTC) facility. Cost to you is anywhere from $25 to $50 per day under the government program. Current waiting period (line up) for a LTC benefit: 1 year for males; 2 years for females. Average length of stay in a LTC facility: 3 years.
The number of LTC beds required in the Lower Mainland by 2006: 7000. Number under construction today: 0. Probability that your kids will agree to pay more taxes than you do today to solve the problem that will occur in ten years: ... are you kidding??? Summary: Contrary to what you thought, there is a two tier system in the Canadian medical system today with LTC and unfortunately for you, the system is not working.
I Can Look After Myself.... Private care facilities are available for $150 per day, home nursing for $40 to $65 per hour, home care aids for $49 per hour and home makers for $25 per hour. Multiply any mixture of these times three years: you have a problem! Staying alive in the next millennium is going to prove to be an expensive 'habit' to take on! The Kids Will Look after Me... Perhaps in a prior lifetime. Certainly not in today's economy where they are all working full time and barely getting by as is! Taking on Dad after his stroke or during his recovery from cancer (Mom is too frail to do it herself) will require one person to stop working and will add one more mouth to feed. Abuse of the elderly is a crime on the upswing in Canada. Imagine why... I Have Money... You can sell the house, but you will then have nowhere to live when you recover. You can sell your business, of course ten other healthy Baby Boomers are trying to sell the same type of business at the same time to the one Generation 'X' buyer........ Don't expect to get much!! And of course you could sell your mutual fund portfolio, drain your RRSP and pillage your RRIF. Ignoring the tremendous tax problems you have just caused yourself - what have you to live on through to age 90? Because medical science will ensure that you do survive!
What Are My Options...? 1/ Insure against the probability of severe and long term illnesses past age 65, or... 2/ See #1 The products available to do this are Long Term Care and Critical Illness plans. Before buying one, you should know the options available. This is the RPA’s job. So come to seminars, investigate the products and learn about these products. The Baby Boomers as they age will not be as interested in death insurance – but they will be needing living insurance: "Living Benefits"' At consultdoug.com, we have the products to help them!! Imagine that!! Doug McChesney BA, RHU consultdoug.com
