At What Age Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long-Term Care insurance premiums are based on your age at the time you apply for coverage, so the premium you would pay goes up with each birthday. Once you’ve purchased Long-Term Care insurance, the insurer can only raise your premium on a class basis — not because of your age or health.

Best-selling author Suze Orman said it best in her book The 9 Steps To Financial Freedom: Practical & Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying, September, 2001, “The longer you wait, the more it will cost” for life. In the example below, you can see that purchasing coverage at age 50 and paying premiums for 35 years versus waiting until age 70 and only paying premiums for 15 years would save the policyholder nearly $18,000 over the life of the policy.

Another fact to remember is that you must be healthy to be eligible for Long-Term Care insurance. Once your health begins to deteriorate or you suffer a debilitating accident, you may no longer be able to qualify for coverage.