Finding Support for Those We Love

Stephanie, age 56, and her husband Robert are happily married. Their son, Jim, 30, lives abroad and they are happy that he is doing well and has settled into the lifestyle he had dreamed of. Although Jim is on his own and doesn’t need financial support from his parents, Stephanie and Robert are both career driven, continuing to work with no plans to retire in the near future. Their favorite time of the day is when they sit down for dinner and discuss what is going on in their work life and their extended families.

Robert has a great relationship with his financial professional, and during one of their meetings, he expressed that Stephanie has a history of dementia in her family. His financial professional listened to and understood his concerns, and brought up the thought of Long-Term Care Insurance. He explained to Robert all of the ways this type of coverage would provide great protection if an untimely event or illness like dementia were to arise. Robert decided to proceed with purchasing Long-Term Care Insurance, as it gave him the re-assurance that no matter what lay ahead, he and Stephanie would be able to receive proper care if needed.

Over the course of the next year, Robert started to realize that Stephanie’s description of her days while they were at the dinner table started to become less detailed, as if she could not remember exactly what she did. He didn’t think too much of it until one day, he received a call from one of her clients saying that this is the second time Stephanie has not shown up for an appointment. When Robert brought this to Stephanie’s attention, it was as if she had no idea she even made these appointments. Robert decided to sit down with Stephanie and tell her his concerns. She admitted that she had felt forgetful and unorganized recently, but said it could just be because she has been very busy and stressed out. Robert had a strange feeling that something else was wrong.

As time went on, Stephanie’s memory and organization skills continued to decline and she decided to go to the doctor. Initially, they said it might be depression, or stress, but Robert was not convinced that was the issue. He knew his wife and her personality so well, and was realizing major differences that were startling and upsetting to him. Robert expressed his concerns and Stephanie’s family history to the doctors. After several extensive tests, Stephanie was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 59.

Many aspects of their lives began to change over time. Robert had to stop working to take care of Stephanie, as she was unable to perform many of her daily living activities. It was during a call one evening with his financial professional that Robert was reminded of the Long-Term Care policy he had purchased. With all that was going on, he had completely forgotten about the benefits and coverage that would be available to Stephanie through this insurance. Robert then contacted the insurance company and with help from their care coordinator, Stephanie was able to move into a memory loss facility once the illness made it too difficult for her to live at home. This new home was a comfortable place for Stephanie and provided Robert and Jim with confidence that Stephanie had the best care around her. The Long-Term Care policy prevented what could have been a much different scenario of Stephanie’s care. When Stephanie had stopped working, depleting their retirement savings was a constant concern of Robert’s, and not knowing how long he could afford care for Stephanie kept him up at night. Today, Robert can’t stop sharing with family and friends the importance of owning a Long-Term Care policy, since a health event can occur any time and it’s so important to be prepared.