Comments on: Reader Mailbag: Reader Music Recommendations

By: Amy B.

Amy B. — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:20:09 +0000

To the commenters: Thanks for all the great advice on the LTC insurance. What I learned is that I sure have a lot more to learn! I’m going to continue to research (already contacted an attorney for an appointment). Thanks!

By: GayleRN

GayleRN — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:14:46 +0000

Amy read that policy very carefully. The fact that you think they are eligible for collecting benefits may not be what is actually covered in the legal contract. The insurance company has a vested interest in not giving you money. There may be standards related to how much and what they can and cannot do for themselves. There may be qualifications related to whether or not they can perform their activities of daily living. If they can walk, talk, bathe, toilet and feed themselves you may have a pretty tough time collecting. You may also require the assistance of your family physician in documenting the level of assistance needed. An experienced social worker can be invaluable.

Visit an experienced elder care attorney. There may be some legal structures to put in place such as wills and trusts, and durable powers of attorney. Google Five Wishes, which is a widely accepted for health care.

By: Adam P

Adam P — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:58:08 +0000

Amy, with no inflation benefits, you should take the money now and invest what you would have paid if you didn’t get the benefits.

If you’re paying for an expense that insurance covers now, I don’t believe its in your best interest to not take it, particularly in this case with no inflation rider.

I strongly disagree with Trent here. Take the known benefit. One of your inlaws could die before they ever need the benefit. You’re giving up a certain benefit for a potential slightly better benefit in the future. I’m conservative so I say take the benefit now. And invest the difference in short term index bond funds with a low MER.

By: Vicky

Vicky — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:38:25 +0000

Danny,
You’re not in terrible debt because of your parent’s inability to help you with college. You’re in terrible debt because (your words) you refused to drop out when you could no longer afford it. It would have been much wiser to take a year off and work for money to continue, or to attend part time while you worked. There are also many companies, such as mine, that will reimburse your tuition for college if you are a full time employee. Yes, college would have taken longer, but you’d still have a life. And you’d have a thankful attitude that your parents gave you a good enough start in life that you could be accepted into college and make your own way.

By: Vicky

Vicky — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:26:36 +0000

Nathan, If you’re still unemployed when your student loans come into repayments, you’ll need to apply for a Unemployment Deferment. If you defer your loans, the government covers the interest amounts during that period. If you opt for the Forbearance, as Trent suggested, you’ll have capitalized interest added to your loan and your payments will be higher when you go back into repayment.

By: Vicky

Vicky — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:22:21 +0000

Amy,
I know you’ve had a lot of good advice already in comments. It seems to me that you were asking if they should start taking LTC benefits now, before they actually need them, and then start banking the extra money. Since there is no inflation increase in their benefits, I believe that taking it now is an excellant suggestion. Money in the hand is worth more than potential money in the future. It may very well be that one or both of your loved ones pass away peacefully in their sleep – never needing a skilled nursing facility. Then you’ll have “saved” the future payments simply for the insurance company; they’ll never have to pay out on the policy.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:48:15 +0000

Forgot to mention–”Dog Days are Over” is an AMAZING video.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:46:44 +0000

I second the idea of getting a rice cooker. They’re not expensive, turn out perfect rice every time, and have a myriad of other cooking functions as well. You won’t regret it!

By: SwingCheese

SwingCheese — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:09:20 +0000

For Amy: I don’t know the specifics of your situation, I can’t say, as both my parents and my in-laws are not in that position yet. I do know that most long term care facilities reserve a certain amount of rooms for Title 19 residents. Therefore, if the insurance and money both run out for a parent who is in long-term care, there is a good chance that they will not be kicked out on the streets, they (or you) will just have to do the paperwork to begin receiving title 19 benefits.

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 08:18:01 +0000

The University of South Florida provides free downloadable classic audiobooks through iTunes under the name Lit2Go (they’re also available at http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/). The difference between that and Librivox is that USF uses a single reader for each book, rather than multiple volunteers – which I find a little disconcerting when I listen to Librivox books.

By: sewingirl

sewingirl — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 04:50:56 +0000

Note to Amy about the long term care insurance : You need to sit down and do a little more math. Statistically speaking, one of your in-laws will need to enter the skilled care facility first. How will that affect their ability to pay for two housing situations at once? Will they only be able to claim half of the insurance pay-out, or do they each have their own policies? If they have to pay cash for the rest, how much will that be? How long can the other spouse stay in assisted living with the (I suspect) much larger draw for the nursing home co-pay? When the cash is gone, where will they go? If they don’t qualify as needing skilled nursing care, they can’t also go to the nursing home, unless they are indigent (no money left at all, no home and nowhere to go ). I work at an assisted living facility, and I can tell you that our residents pay about 1/2 of what your self-pay at the local nursing home is, and thats the county home, not an expensive private nursing home. Laws vary from state to state, you need to speak with a caseworker from your local Dept. of Social Services. Deciding how to pay the bills is only half the battle, you need to have a plan of action covering all the eventualities, for the future.

By: Jaime

Jaime — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:34:00 +0000

I also suggest that Danny moves somewhere affordable if he can, almost every state has an affordable town and an expensive town, try to find clean, safe neighborhood that is affordable.

I’m able to make it because I live in Omaha, NE and no I can’t have fancy stuff, but I am able to pay rent, food, and save for college. I’m debt-free (no credit card debt, no car loan, no student loans,etc).

If Danny does have credit card debt then he needs to get rid of that ASAP.

By: Jaime

Jaime — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:25:24 +0000

I think college can be the right choice if you study something that you want to do, I’m going to college but I’ve never taken out a loan. I live with a roommate, and I get paid $8.50/hour, we’re able to make it because we split bills,don’t have cable,its easier if you get a roommate.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:05:51 +0000

Regarding Michael’s question: Can’t you purchase a life annuity that would maintain your income until death even if it had the possibility of giving out a sum that would normally deplete your savings? That seems like a product that would be worth getting.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:30:36 +0000

PLEASE get your facts right if you are going to dispense financial advice. Kevin is right – you didn’t get your facts right on the “Safe Withdrawal Rate”. While I like your column, you should really take some financial planning courses for as much financial advice that your are giving out. It is the responsible thing to do.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:10:47 +0000

I just wanted to add that the grace period for student loans is usually 6 months, not one year. I graduated in January and started paying in July.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:24:31 +0000

@ Jessica, have you tried the library for audiobooks? My local library has downloadable books and e-files that will delete themselves after 2 weeks (or whenever it’s due) because of license issues. They also have CDs that can be checked out.

By: 8sml

8sml — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:30:50 +0000

@prufock: I read a lot of comic books (usually once they’ve been collected in trade paperback), and they all come from the library. I guess your ability to use that option depends on the size of your library’s collection, but mine is pretty great.

If you have friends who read comic books, you could also set up an arrangement with them so that several people read each issue and you all take turns buying. That would reduce your cost and your clutter.

By: marta

marta — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:50:42 +0000

prufock, I don’t know which comics series you read, but you can get decades worth of X-Men comics, or Spiderman, etc, on CD/DVD-ROMs. That’s an example, there are more choices available from publishers other than Marvel.

That would solve the clutter problem and, while you still would have to spend money on comics, you’d get more bang for your buck. I *think* some creators get royalties from those (I am not sure, though, with work for hire contracts and such) and it’s more legit than getting your fix from torrent sites.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:49:29 +0000

I actually use parboiled brown rice now and it cooks perfect everytime. It only takes 15 minutes since I only have 30 minutes to put supper on the table.