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Acknowledge clients’

fears and concerns

when bringing up this
emotional topic.

By Megan Hart

ong-term care can be a difficult topic to
address with clients. The subject can bring up About the
Luncomfortable emotions many clients would author
rather avoid, such as fear of mortality or losing their Megan Hart is a
independence. Long-term care can also be very ex- freelance writer
pensive, and clients may wonder how they’ll afford based in Florida.
it — either for themselves or for family members.
All the same, it’s an important topic for CPA
financial planners to bring up. Many people don’t
seriously research long-term care and its related
costs until they decide to downsize or experience
a medical issue, said Kelley C. Long, CPA/PFS, a
financial coach and owner of Financial Bliss with
Kelley Long, based in Tucson, Ariz.
If clients wait too long to consider long-term
care, they could lose the chance to purchase insur-
ance at a reasonable price or be forced to act quickly
— and potentially miss out on certain long-term-
care options — if an emergency arises, she said.
One benefit of having this conversation is the
ability to clear up misconceptions, said Thomas
N. Tillery, vice president at Financial Planning
Advocate LLC and vice president/chief compliance
officer of Paraklete Financial Inc. in Kennesaw, Ga.
“I think CPAs need to have candid conversations
with clients. Long-term care is a risk, it’s an ex-
pense, but the numbers are not as dire as marketers
make them out to be,” he said. In his home state
of Georgia, the average age for entering long-term
care is 79, and most nursing home stays — the most
expensive type of long-term-care facility — are less
than 100 days, according to Tillery. In other words,
clients should know that long-term care isn’t always
going to be a long-term expense.
Clients may not realize that more options for
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