2. Design your home to accommodate aging at home: "If you're planning to renovate or modify your home, make sure the changes are appropriate for future needs," Figas says. "If [you are building] a two-storey house, then have the closets stacked above one another so they can be converted to an elevator, if ever required. Wider hallways, rails for the bathroom, doorbells and phones with redundant signals (visual as well as auditory)… There are a whole variety of ideas."
"If you want more inspiration, visit some websites dealing with Transgenerational Design and FlexDesign," Figas suggests. "You can find them through www.forseniors.ca."
3. Build a health insurance portfolio today to deal with health expenses of tomorrow: Long-term-care insurance can be a valuable investment, given that most retirees will at some point have need of the extra income, if not during the home-care period then eventually if they must leave home for a retirement or nursing residence. Ideally, LTC insurance should be bought as early in life as is practical; by the time you're retired, the premiums can become prohibitive, depending on your age and particularly your health.
At the same time, you should familiarize yourself with the costs of facility care in your province. All provinces have user fees for their nursing homes, although residents may qualify for government funding to offset part or all of those fees. The bottom line is that while the prospect of needing long-term care may seem daunting, the proliferation of home based solutions and increasingly creative insurance products, coupled with careful planning and communication, can make the reality far more appealing. So the next time you're thinking about cleaning the house or getting a checkup, take a moment to also give some thought to your future needs.
Page 4 of 4 -- On page 1, learn more about what long-term care is, and why you may want to create a personal plan.
