The Minds of an Ageing Populace Since the 1920s, the ratio of seniors over 85 has doubled to one out of every ten people. This number is to increase, to five times the current demographic, into the 2050s, according to Statistics Canada. That means that half the population in 40 years will be over age 85.
Along with ageing comes an increase in memory loss, while some will eventually present dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and other diseases.
Long-Term Care Insurance (LTC) With LTC insurance, a contract with an insurer is designed to provide care for chronic illness, disability, or an accident, including a loss of our mental faculties as we know them today – all of which have a higher potential of occurring as we age. 1
Risks of neurological decline are real. When our health is fine, it is hard to imagine that we may lose the ability to manage our basic daily activities such as bathing, toileting, walking, dressing, feeding, or moving from our bed to a chair. Many also lose mental faculties that we often take for granted, such as memory, logical or conceptual thinking, or referencing dialogue with others. Without assistance, it is near-impossible to function without these capacities.
Cognitive neuroscience altered how researchers think about normal cognitive ageing. Although some prior research considered preservation or even functional gains in later life, much emphasis was on losses accrued with ageing: poorer vision and hearing, increased forgetfulness, slower information processing, and more difficulty filtering relevant from irrelevant information. Even though the magnitude of these losses may vary across individuals, differences typically emerge when comparing groups of older adults (here, 60 years and older) to young adults (usually college-aged). 2
Protecting your loved ones LTC insurance can protect our families from the financial strain of providing long-term care, just as important as life and disability insurance protect the income of younger families. The ultimate question is, who will financially support long-term care for you? LTC is not just for seniors but for those who become similarly incapacitated at any age.
It is important to plan for our long-term care independently because our government healthcare budgets and initiatives are limited.3
The mindset of planning for ageing is realism. The majority of us understand the need to save for retirement to provide an income sufficient to meet our lifestyle expenses. However, most people entirely overlook the enormous expense of paying for a private long-term care facility (some cost up to a quarter of a million dollars for five years). Why are they so expensive? They offer 24/7 high-level nursing care in a highly secure environment. Give us a call to ask more about Long Term Care protection.