Our firm practices law in Sacramento, California, and we also have an office in Roseville. Anyone who lives in our area knows that there are countless advantages, and it is truly a great place to live. We have everything that big cities have to offer, but we also have fantastic nature all around us.
Whether you want to indulge in fine dining, the arts, culture, or hiking, fishing and camping, you have easy access if you live in our area.
It is no secret that northern California is a desirable destination, but at the same time, generally speaking, it is an expensive place to live. This can enter the picture when it comes to elder law issues.
Something to Thing About
Elder law attorneys advise clients who are wondering about the challenges that they may face during their senior years. One of the major things to think about is the possibility of a stay in a nursing home toward the end of your life.
Getting back to the lifestyle that we enjoy here in our area, people all around the world are more informed with regard to healthy eating and regular exercise. Here in the United States, northern California has always been on the cutting edge of this type of thinking.
We have spoken to clients who have explained that they live very healthy lifestyles, so they are not too concerned about possible long-term care costs. This makes sense on the surface, but if you have sufficient experience, you see another side of the same coin.
If you enter your senior years in good health, and you are active and aware during these golden years, things may go according to plan. You may not have any significant physical health problems that are in any way life-threatening.
As the years pass, your seventies may start to wane, and your eighties can start to appear over the horizon. In fact, anyone who lives to the age of 70 is likely to live into his or her eighties and perhaps beyond.
Once you reach your mid-eighties, there is a paradigm shift with regard to the long-term care issue.
Anyone who wants to be fully prepared for the future should definitely explore the Alzheimer’s Association website. This is true for people who are concerned about their own senior years, but if you have an aging parent, this information is relevant to you as well.
About 13 percent of all senior citizens have contracted Alzheimer’s disease. This is a statistic that should get your attention in and of itself, but things get quite different as the years pass. According to research that the Alzheimer’s Association has conducted, close to half of people who are 85 years of age and older have been stricken with this disease.
Alzheimer’s induced dementia is a horrible thing, and it is debilitating. People are aware of the memory loss, but it is very surprising to hear that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
Clearly, many Alzheimer’s sufferers ultimately reside in nursing homes, and as we all know, there are other underlying reasons why people require nursing home care.
Sacramento Nursing Home Costs
Now that we have explained why you should care about the state of Sacramento nursing home costs, we can get to the point of this post. Here in Sacramento, the costs are among the highest in the country.
The median charge for a private nursing home room in our area is almost $151,000, which is a staggering number, especially when you think about multiplying that figure by two years or more. If you are the average person, nursing home costs could consume everything that you consider to be your legacy.
If things weren’t bad enough, researchers are predicting a significant increase in Sacramento area nursing home costs. The median charge for a private room in a nursing home is supposed to go up by an eye-popping seven percent each year over the next five years.
Imagine where these costs could be if you require nursing home care in about 25 years.
Explore Solutions
If this information has gotten your attention, that’s a good thing, because you can take steps to protect what you have earned for the benefit of your loved ones. The Medi-Cal program does pay for long-term care, but as you are probably aware, you can’t qualify if you have significant assets in your own name.
There are techniques that you can implement to effectively keep assets in your family as you angle toward Medi-Cal eligibility. To explore them, click the following link to download our in-depth special report: Medi-Cal Planning Report.
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