Linda Weyer, Long Term Care Insurance Specialist

Hi, I’m Linda. I’m a long term care insurance specialist dedicated to helping you make your best, thoughtful, smart decision about how to pay for future care you may need. Whether you decide to purchase insurance or not, I’m here to provide you with the information you need to make a decision!

Here is why I care so much about long term care. Having witnessed in my own family the challenge of navigating long term care, I have a strong desire to help others. Help them plan today to avoid the financial catastrophe that may come when long term care is needed.

My family lived the consequences of not having planned adequately …when we actually thought we would be just fine.

Despite our best intentions, things didn’t go as planned. Looking back and considering what I know now, how could we have expected things to go smoothly without a plan?

Scroll down to read the full story. Here’s mom and dad celebrating my daughter’s wedding. Mom was age 89 and dad was 92. And yes……they danced ♥

My parents believed by owning their home free and clear, by having no debt, by sacrificing for years to build a healthy savings account, by maintaining a good healthy lifestyle and by having a strong supportive family, they were going to be okay!

They did everything (well, almost everything) right! They thought that during their retirement years they’d be okay and even be able to leave a little something for each of their 3 children.

My parents always took very good care of their health, they remained very active living in their 55+ Community and required no outside help whatsoever. Until all that changed. Here’s what happened.

Dad was 91-1/2 years old when he decided he wanted to have knee replacement surgery so he could dance at my daughter’s wedding. Right after surgery, he began experiencing postoperative cognitive dysfunction, an anesthesia related surgery risk more common in older people. Several hours after his surgery, hospital staff helped him up to walk to the restroom and unfortunately my father fell to the ground and onto his knee that was recently repaired. Less than 24 hours later he was back in surgery and under general anesthesia to repair the damage. Symptoms of POCD (confusion, disoriented, poor concentration and long-term memory loss) heightened.

Fast forward a couple of months. My dad is home and still trying to recuperate, but now he’s exhibiting symptoms of sundowner’s syndrome (symptoms of difficulty sleeping, confusion, pacing and disorientation that most experience from dusk through the night). Too much and too exhausting for my mom to manage, we decided to bring in home health care. It was the beginning of the end of my father’s life. He passed away a little over one year after starting home health care.

At this time my mom is 90 years old and still in relatively good health. However, after losing her husband of 71 years, YES, you read correctly, 71 years they were married, her physical health slowly was on the decline. We kept home health care for her, but it was more for meal preparations, light housekeeping and companionship in the evenings.

I had been handling all of my parents’ finances for several years and saw their savings was dwindling rapidly. To save money we cut back on the care. From full time, 24/7, we made the difficult decision to cut back to part time home care, 3 days a week.

We were a loving family, three caring kids in all. We didn’t want my mom to be alone, yet we were all still working. It wasn’t easy, but our teamwork (including our spouses) made it possible.

My mom lived for four more years after my dad passed away. Three days of care turned back into 7 days a week, 24 hours of care.

Their savings account was reduced to a fraction.

We took a line of credit on their home to pay for her care and living expenses. My mom never knew the actual numbers and toward the end of her life we did what was necessary to ensure her safety, security and comfort.

As you can imagine, it’s not just about the financial factor, nor the physical factor, but also the emotional pain and strain caretaking places on families.

As much as I would not change a single thing that I/we did for our parents, I don’t want to have my daughter, my only child, go through that. It’s completely unnecessary, when we know now how to prevent it. And that is ….by having a plan. A plan for care that is funded by long term care insurance.

I now know that having long term care insurance is a crucial component of a comprehensive retirement plan.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my story. Let me help you get the right plan in place!

Linda