I’m in my 50s. My mother died from Alzheimer’s. Do I need long-term-care insurance?

Dear Quentin,

My husband, 59, and I, 55, are planning to retire over the next few years, and this is one of the biggest unknowns I'm struggling with. My mom had Alzheimer's disease and spent seven years in a really nice memory-care facility in a smaller town. It cost about $7,000 a month. Thankfully, my parents had purchased long-term-care insurance and had paid premiums for about 12 years. 

My dad died shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, so his policy was never used. But my mom's policy ended up being worth its weight in gold. It essentially covered all of her care. By the time my mother died, the insurance company had paid out almost $600,000. We only paid about $100 a month for some extras. Needless to say, that experience has made me think.

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I've looked into long-term-care insurance, but the premiums are so incredibly expensive, and I worry about what they'll cost by the time it makes sense for me to seriously consider a policy. We're fortunate financially. After 35 years in the corporate grind, we'll have substantial retirement savings; we've always saved carefully; and we have no debt or mortgage. 

I also genuinely love my job, so I'm perfectly happy to work longer if that makes sense. What I really don't want is to leave our two kids with a huge financial burden someday if one or both of us need years of expensive care. Do I self-insure? Buy long-term-care insurance? Use some combination of investments and insurance? Are there good retirement-planning tools?

I know Medicare is part of the equation, but I'd like more control over our options than simply hoping it will be enough. I'm doing everything I can on the preventative-care and healthy-lifestyle front, but unfortunately there are no guarantees. Right now, my strategy is to save as much as humanly possible and hope for the best.

If you have a crystal ball that will tell me I will need memory care in old age, please share.

In My Fifties

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Dear Fifties,

Your 50s are actually not a bad time to take out long-term care insurance.

Financially speaking, given your age, you're not too young and you're not too old. Yes, you probably would have spent less on monthly premiums had you taken out this insurance policy in your 40s, but you would also have been paying it for a decade. It's hard to predict the future and get that perfect balance. If your mother had Alzheimer's, your own risk is higher than average from a statistical point of view, although that does not mean that you will develop the disease.