As an older adult, I have witnessed several people enter adult care facilities after a long life. The type of facility that they enter depends upon how financially successful they had been.
The first tale is a man forced to deplete his life savings when his spouse needed full-time nursing care at a relatively young age, for the rest of her life. (Even if he had long-term care insurance, it would not have helped because these insurance plans only last 2-5 years.) Due to this massive expense beyond his control, he unfortunately entered retirement with no savings. So he lived solely on social security and earned spending money from handyman work for neighbors. When he could no longer care for himself, his only option was a state nursing home facility. He shared a noisy room with 1-3 other patients and was dissatisfied with his daily experience and critical of the medical care that he received.
The second tale is man who retired with a pension and social security. When it was getting difficult for him to maintain his home, he could afford to move into an apartment at a private assisted-living facility. This facility cooks all meals and is a comfortable place for independent living. As he became accustomed to his new routine, he wished that he had moved into this place many years earlier. At this facility, as it is needed, he can move into more advanced levels of medical care.
The third tale is a man who was very successful and planned early where to spend his twilight years. He moved into a spectacular private adult facility that is so desirable that there is a waiting list. At this facility, residents rave that the services and amenities are equivalent to a 5-star hotel or a very high-end cruise ship.
Needless to say, there is a colossal gap between the level of medical treatment and general care at the state-run facilities and the best of the high-end private facilities. Which level of care is your current financial plan heading toward? It isn’t too late to revise it and learn about the state and federal rules about elder care support for you and the people that you care about.