What if you can’t afford long-term care?

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. This is particularly hard for people in the monetary middle, defined by Pew Research Center as “those with an annual household income of about $52,000 to $156,000 annually in 2020 dollars for a household of three.” They don’t have enough to pay for long-term care, but they have too many assets to qualify for government assistance. “What most people do, especially in a situation like a long-term care issue — once they’re out of the house, you sell it and use the proceeds to pay it off,” says Nicholas Bunio, a certified financial planner in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. “In many cases, long-term care insurance is a lot less expensive than the actual cost of care,” says Michelle Gessner, a certified financial planner in Houston. “So $1 of premium gives you multiple dollars of benefits, and that’s not the case with paying for it out of pocket.” Another option may be a permanent life insurance policy with a long-term care rider, often called a hybrid policy.