Posts Tagged ‘elder care’

Stairlift Repairs Are Expensive Make Sure You Are Insured

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

You just received a friendly phone call from your stairlift company explaining your guarantee warranty is about to expire and why you need to take out the optional maintenance service protection plan. If you are not covered by a Maintenance / Repair Cover Plan repair bills can be both inconvenient and costly.

No one ever mentioned how expensive these protection insurance plans costs. They just said don’t worry Peace of mind with an optional service contract is available once your warranty expires. Replacing broken or worn parts on your stair lift can often exceed the cost of a Service Maintenance Contract.

Annual stairlift maintenance contracts start at around (250-500) The lower price packages will only give you basic cover and chances are you will need to pay for the engineers call-out, parts and labour costs.

Now be very careful about call out charges! Some companies will charge you for traveling time. If you do not have a contract with the company you engage the services of, make sure you ask if they charge for the engineers traveling time.

If there not a local company and the engineer spends two hours travelling time to reach you? That’s a hefty bill! Average call-out price (80 per hour x 2 =160) and he hasn’t even arrived yet. That’s only half of it good possibility you will get stung for the two hour return trip as well 80 x 4 =320 smackers.

Most companies offer a range of maintenance service contracts rated by stars or colours. Obviously the more stars or metallic of colour the higher the price but more benefits and cover you receive. All contracts should include an annual service of your stairlift.

Personally I would recommend that you take some type of protection insurance cover out on your stairlift unless you have very deep pockets. It would be wise to use the company you originally purchased the stair lift from. Other companies might not have the service parts required to complete the service or repair of the unit.

In my next article I will explain what you actually get for your money when an engineer arrives to carry out an annual service of your stairlift. Keep your eyes peeled out for that one some good info to be had.

Looking for secondhand Stairlifts Free UK Stairlift classifieds

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Life Insurance Choices For Senior Citizens

Monday, May 31st, 2010

How Did We Get This Old Without Life Insurance?

Maybe some people just never really felt any sense of mortality until they passed fifty, but I think most people had other reasons. Some of us had life insurance through our jobs, but it did not follow us when we retired or changed jobs. Others did take out term life insurance policy to protect their families or pay off a mortgage. Then that term life insurance expired, and those people realized they had no coverage at all, but their savings were still not sufficient to take care of all obligations if they passed away. They could still carry debts, or perhaps offspring had not yet become as self sufficient as expected. Other people realize that they might give their families a tax advantage if they pass on money through a life insurance plan, rather than just leaving them money. Others want to protect their business if they pass away, or be able to allow a partner to buy out their portion of a business from other family members.

The reaons that an older person matter, but what is really important is that seniors can find a variety of products that are being marketed to them today. The top insurers recognize this growing demand, and they are responding with products that will answer this need. Rates will be higher than they would be for a 50 year old, but maybe not shockingly so.

There are many things that a senior can do to keep premiums lower too. Good health habits are one key. Insurers usually offer the best rates to people who do not smoke, and who keep themselves fit. Many seniors have lived for many years because they have adopted good health habits. They may also take care of their financial life. Many top insurers look into credit reports too.

Lower face values can also hold down premiums. If an older person only needs ten or twenty thousand dollars worth of life insurance, it will be a lot less expensive than if they needed a million dollars worth. Hopefully, by the time they are older they will have already handled some basic obligations like getting a home loan paid off or sending kids to college.

Many older people purchase whole life, and these policies can actually grow as an asset. This value can be cashed in or borrowed against. Life settlement transactions are also growing in popularity. So many seniors see more use to their policies than just providing a death benefit. They can be assets to be used to make life more comfortable.

Can you find life insurance over 70? Find out if you are too old for life policies..

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Choose a Life Policy For Middle Age and Beyond

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Can a person in their middle years or senior years still buy life insurance? If you are over 50, or if you are caring for an older person, you can find a wide choice of products. Since statistics show that Americans are living longer and healthier lives, insurers are willing to extend affordable coverage to older people. Most middle aged and older people can still find life insurance policies.

You may wonder why an older person would want to have coverage anyway. At 30 years old, we are told to buy a term policy. The theory is that we will be able to self-insure with our savings by the end of that term in 20 or 30 years. We are also told we will have less obligations to cover. Our kids should be grown and self supporting. Our mortgages should be paid off. And when we are young, that term policy seems like it will last forever anyway.

But these days, many of us found that the theory did not prove out for us. Our kids did not manage to become totally self supporting as fast as we thought they would. Sometimes those kids come home with our own kids, and they still need our help. And we did plan to pay off that mortgage. But many of us got delayed because we moved or needed to take out a second loan. Years passed, but we did not outgrow our need for a life insurance policy.

How did we get to this point without any life insurance then? Some of us, thankfully, outlived our life insurance policy. It expired. Others thought they were taken care of by a group policy, but then left that job and lost it. A lot of us had coverage, but do not have it any more.

What life insurance should older people look for? Before you buy anything, you should think about why you want to buy a policy. Do you just want coverage to make sure your kids or spouse have money? Or do you want to build an asset that may help you in the future? Finaly, you may want to use your policy to help transfer wealth to your family?

For pure insurance, consider term again. Since term premiums will be lower, it will be possible to purchase a higher death benefit. People at 50, or sometimes even up to their 70s, can still find these policies if they are in reasonably good health. The lower cost is not trivial either.

You may want to find a term policy that you can convert to whole life later. These will not require you to prove you are healthy as long as you make the conversion within the specified time limit. That way you can have cheaper term now, and you can have the option to covert to a whole life insurance policy later!

But some people would want to consider whole life now. The premiums at 50 will be cheaper than they will be at 65, and the price will stay level. You get lifetime coverage, and even the chance to build the cash value of your policy. Being able to borrow against that value, cash it in, or use it for senior life settlements, may make this attractive.

You probably want to compare premiums too. No policy will do you any good if you cannot pay for it. A financial or insurance professional should be able to help you explore your options. They should be willing to listen to your needs, and then offer you alternatives.

Learn more about Term for Old people.

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Have You Considered Single Premium Life?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Lots of us are looking at our retirement planning, and we just wish we could be sure that we could leave more money to our kids or grand kids. We may have a lump sum of cash we could set aside, but wonder how it could grow so we can leave a nice cash estate behind us. A product called Single Premium Life Insurace may be a good option to consider.

SPLI differs from the type of life that you are used to in a couple of ways. The most obvious difference is that you fund it with a large payment at the beginning for the policy. With regular coverage, you make monthly, quarterly, or yearly payments over a period of years.

That money, paid at the start, will guarantee coverage for your whole life. What you have done, really, is to turn a sum of cash into a much larger amount of coverage on you. This is how you can take one amount of money, and turn it into a larger estate to pass on to your beneficiaries.

Let us say that a retired school teacher is comfortable with her pension and savings. In this example, she just inherited $22,000 from an uncle, and is certain that she will not need to use this money to enjoy her life. She may be able to take this amount of money and buy a $100,000 SPLI policy so she can have a very nice estate to pass on to her son.

The paragraph above is only meant to illustrate how this works. The amount of cash you would have, and the death benefit you could buy, depend upon different things. As with any other life insurance, your premium and coverage amount will depend upon age, health, etc.

What types of people are happy with a product like SPLI? Well, it seems to work out very well for those with a few thousand dollars that they do not expect to need in the near future. And of course, it is an option for those who would like to take that money and turn it into more money for their estate.

Be sure you will not have to use the money for a few years. In the first few years, policies can impose fees and surrender charges. So it is probably not the right life insurance if you are not sure if you will need the money to live on.

One possible future use of an SPLI is its ability have a cash value very quickly copared to regular life insurance. Once that happens, you can have a place to borrow from. You may also cash out the policy.

Many policies also have accelerated death benefit provisions. If the insured person is terminally ill, some of the death benefit can be used to provide care while that person is alive. Some also have nursing home provisions, so this can be a good way of planning for that possible need without another long term care insurance policy.

But SPLI is not good for everybody. There are some disadvantages to consider. You do need the money to fmake that first, and only, payment. If you do have to surrender early, you risk losing money for fees. The IRS treats these a little differently than regular life policies too. You may not enjoy all of the tax benefits.

Would you like to learn more? ? Look here to get Single Premium Life Insurance Explained.

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VA Aid and Attendance Benefits Explained

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
by Brian Johnson

“Aid and Attendance” is a commonly used term for a benefit that may be available to veterans as part of the VA’s disability pension, or to the surviving spouse of a veteran as part of the VA’s death pension.

As part of the Veterans Administration’s Pension program, the VA offers additional income for veterans and their surviving spouses who are eligible for the VA’s base pension, but who also either demonstrate a regular need for the aid and attendance of a caregiver or are what the VA refers to as housebound.

As long as the veteran meets the service requirements for the Aid and Attendance program, and it has been determined there is a medical need for care, the veteran can apply for the Aid and Attendance program. There are however financial restrictions on those who qualify for the program, and many times veterans with higher levels of assets will need to seek help with asset structuring to qualify for the program.

For 2009 the maximum annual benefit for those qualifying for the Aid & Attendance level of pension is:

Surviving Spouse of a Veteran: $12,681

Veteran with no Spouse or dependent children: $19,736

A married Veteran where the Veteran requires care: $23,396

If the Veteran is healthy, but their Spouse requires care, then the Veteran qualifies for a regular pension only: $15,493

From here, a veteran and/or their spouse is able to receive assistance with everyday tasks and it will be paid for. These tasks include simple things such as bathing, taking care of nature when it calls, assistance with food and eating, assistance with getting dressed and undressed, and any other activities that need to be taken care of. Nursing home care is also paid for when the veteran and/or surviving spouse is mentally or physically incapacitated.

The Aid and Attendance pension program is certainly unique in that it is specific in what it provides veterans and their spouses. That is why it is important to meet all of the specifications set forth by the VA for the Aid and Attendance program. Unfortunately, there are individuals not aware of this pension program and how it can help them take care of home health and nursing home costs.

About the Author:
To get more information on the VA’s Aid and Attendance benefit program and how you can make sure your veteran loved ones are taken care of, please visit Veteran’s Financial To get more details and your free, no-cost, no-obligation Aid and Attendance eligibility consultation.

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Aid and Attendance Benefit Information

Friday, July 3rd, 2009
by Brian Johnson

Aid and Attendance is a frequently used phrase used to describe a benefit that might be available to a veteran as part of the VA’s disability pension, or to the surviving spouse of a Veteran as part of the VA’s death pension - as long as the veterans served at least 90 days of active duty and at least one of those days was served during war time.

As part of the Veterans Administration’s Pension program, the VA offers additional income for veterans and their surviving spouses who are eligible for the VA’s base pension, but who also either demonstrate a regular need for the aid and attendance of a caregiver or are what the VA refers to as housebound.

You already know that you have to be a war-time veteran who served at least 90 days with one of those days being during a war. So if youre a war-time veteran, the requirements are not extremely strict in that area. The rest comes in the way of verifying that you have a medical condition that requires you to have help within the home. You also have to prove that your income is low enough by providing information on all of your income sources.

For 2009 the maximum annual benefit for those qualifying for the Aid & Attendance level of pension is:

Surviving Spouse of a Veteran: $12,681

Veteran with no Spouse or dependent children: $19,736

A married Veteran where the Veteran requires care: $23,396

If the Veteran is healthy, but their Spouse requires care, then the Veteran qualifies for a regular pension only: $15,493

The ultimate purpose of the Aid & Attendance pension benefit is to provide veterans or their surviving spouses with additional resources so that they can afford care in their time of need.

The VA Aid and Attendance benefit program is an amazing program that, unfortuneately, isn’t as well known as it should be. The fact that it gives veterans the hope of a dignified existence that otherwise wouldn’t be available is reason enough to make sure all veterans are aware that it exists. Qualifying for the benefit isn’t hard, and with the help of qualified professionals, it can be a painless and simple process.

About the Author:
To get more details on the Veterans Adminstration Aid and Attendance benefits program and how you can make sure your veteran loved ones are taken care of, please visit Veteran’s Financial To get more details and your free, no-cost, no-obligation Aid and Attendance eligibility assessment consultation.

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