My 83 year old dad has Lewy Body Dementia. He is living in a memory care facility. He has long term care insurance that will cover living expenses for approximately 7 years (if nothing drastically changes). In addition to that, he has other assets (IRA's and equities) that.. at their current value would pay for another 7 to 10 years at his current care need (which I know is not likely to stay the same).
Last week I sold my dad's home. I asked his financial person what to do with the money and she actually told me to leave it alone in the bank. I am a bit confused. Since he will not be needing this money in the near future, shouldn't it be invested somewhere? It feels like a waste to let it sit in an almost stagnant savings account.
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/A-Caregiver-s-Guide-to-Managing-Your-Elderly-Relative-s-Investments-133202.htm
Your Dad might need that money in the future so place it into something very safe like a good money market.
I never thought my parents would be using their retirement funds except for every day living until their health took a quick turn... now they are spending close to $30k a month for care. My Dad never got long term care insurance because he didn't think he and Mom would live to be in their mid to late 90's.
I'd suggest that you wait a few months and then speak with her again to review Dads status and anticipated funding needs and about dividing the money 50/50 into a money market and a plain jane savings account that are POD to you or to grandchild(ren) if that is better tax situation. You are most fortunate that Dad & you will never need to deal with Medicaid.
My mom had Lewy and for her the middle stage was about 5 years and she was pretty much in this solar system for recognizing family the whole time. She was totally ambulatory too although with the Lewy shuffle and visual hallucinations. Then she fell (pulling her wheelchair no less!) and shattered her hip and became bedfast and onto hospice for 18 mos. Really their care needs can change tremendously in seconds. You could find that the facility will not accept LTC insurance for the room & board costs once they go onto hospice. Dad may need to move from memory care (& rates) to skilled private pay. As freqflyer said @ 30K a mo for care…..it adds up. My mom's SNF NH flat would not take LTC insurance at all as the reporting requirements by the insurance companies were too time consuming and each had their own system & was in this NH opinion not worth dealing with....
Lewy seems to have a somewhat longer trajectory than Alz & it could be 8 years to get to final stage.
I talked to his local bank yesterday. They said, at their current CD rate for $250k at 18 months, dad would make $750/month. Then I noticed a couple of other places that sound like they offer 4 times that (i.e.. Pentagon Federal Credit Union, that allows anyone to join by donating $15 to an associated non-profit agency).
If I am correct about the Pentagon CU rates, that would obviously be a good choice.
I guess it goes back to.. if it sounds too good, it probably is.