Probably state dependent to an extent as some states have a spousal refusal law or shield retirement accounts from being required to be spent down for a spouse’s care. My parents’ state did not have a spousal refusal law and Medicaid counted 100% of the well parent’s retirement accounts which meant they needed to spent down until the well spouse only had a total of $138k in their portfolio.That story makes one wonder if being married can actually be detrimental in certain situations, as it may not shield one spouse from the LTC expenses of the other.Long-term care costs for just one spouse can cause both spouses to run out of money unexpectedly. …
Divorce as a retirement planning tool is not an option for spouse and me, but we have considered whether we should put some $ for each of us in irrevocable trusts (early enough to avoid the Medicaid 5-year lookback) to cover a couple years of LTC private pay for each of us.
Statistics: Posted by HomeStretch — Wed Mar 20, 2024 12:23 pm — Replies 145 — Views 15766