What to know about financial planning for long term care. Here's where to start.
NEW YORK -- Caring for elderly loved ones can be costly, which is why financial planning is critical for seniors and their families.
This Cost of Caregiving series takes a look at the challenging financial and legal decisions families might have to make, and what they need to plan ahead.
5 essential documents by 55
"There's really some serious legal matters," elder law attorney Judith Grimaldi explains. "Privacy matters, rules, HIPAA releases."
Planning for retirement, a family's future and unexpected health care emergencies and expenses can be a daunting task.
"Begin to think about: How do I want to live my later years? Your finances, your family makeup, your current health conditions and projections of what your health conditions might be, and how you would you pay for it, and then how do you give an instruction manual to your family members about how to take care of it if you were to lose capacity," says Grimaldi.
Grimaldi is an elder attorney and the author of "At 55." She shares five essential legal documents you need by age 55:
Health care proxy
Power of attorney for legal and financial decisions
Living will for end-of-life choices
Last will and testament, including trusts, outlining how assets should be distributed
Digital diary
"Please make sure that you have your passwords noted. Make sure that you have any listing of things that are held only online that might disappear if the family didn't know they existed," Grimaldi said. "And if you're going to get involved with Bitcoin and cyber assets, make sure you really have those passwords clearly identified, because they could be lost forever."
"I was able to plan without fear"
Santos Macaya, 74, started receiving legal assistance from the Grimaldi Yeung Law Group in Park Slope, Brooklyn when his wife, Rosemary, was diagnosed with dementia.
"There's not going to be any government agency or social welfare agency that's going to come out to you and say, 'Hey, listen, we have this,'" he said when asked whether he would recommend an elder care attorney.
"I got to this point where I don't know how much I can extend our finances," said Macaya. "She was able to put us in a place where we could qualify for Medicaid, and then Medicaid would be able to pay for long term care."
"By having her help me do all of these things, in order to protect me and my assets, I was able to plan without fear," he added.
Sadly, his wife died right before Thanksgiving.
"For a split second, we made a connection, she was clear, and then she faded away," Macaya said, adding, "I miss being able to tell her my innermost thoughts."
"She was a magnificent person, she was beautiful, she was smart," he said.
Macaya is still grieving, but he says he was prepared, legally and financially. He's now working with attorneys to do his own elder care and estate planning so their son, who has special needs, will be protected.
"Prepare for when you're not quite so able to do the things that you do, that you must do, to maintain yourself and others who depend upon you," he said.
First steps for long term care planning
Long term care insurance can be pricey and, for those who don't qualify, Grimaldi says financial burdens are often placed on families' hard earned savings, like using equity from the family home.
She says start with a financial advisor, make a list of all your assets, disclose them to someone your trust, update your beneficiaries and repeat every five years, or as needed.
"You really want peace of mind and you want to make sure they're done right, because there's no do-overs," she said.
Counselors say downsizing and moving closer to your adult children can also lighten the load for both the caretaker and receiver.
Elderly law attorneys can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, but there are free or low cost clinics across the Tri-State Area.
The New York City Department for the Aging also has counselors who can help.
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