Chapter 6

Plan Ahead - The Peace of Mind and Financial Security is Worth It

By creating peace of mind, you are creating quality of life – Matt Rettick

Now that you're on the right track to good physical and mental health and long life, it's time to get your financial house in shape too. After all, you don't want your money to run out before you do. The right kind of financial planning also provides the peace of mind that if something does happen to you or a loved one in the future, you've planned for it and are prepared. Without proper planning, you likely will end up at the mercy of charity.

"If you don't pay attention daily to your body, you won't live long. If you don't pay attention to your finances, your money won't last long. And if you don't do either, you're at the mercy of charity."

In case you think you don't need to be prepared for the future, you better think again. Statistics are not in your favor. Remember that health and financial crisis we talked about in Chapter 1, and those physical realities LaLanne has pointed out? Let's revisit the statistics:

  • Often-preventable chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke account for the vast majority of deaths of those aged 65 and up.
  • 64.5 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and as a result are at increased risk of serious illnesses and diseases.
  • By 2020, one in six Americans will be 65 or older. That's almost 55 million people, or 16.5 percent of the total population (U.S. General Accounting Office numbers, testimony by David M. Walker, U.S. comptroller general, before Senate Special Committee on Aging, March 21, 2002).
  • The vast majority of seniors don't have enough assets to pay for a year of nursing-home care. Consider these statistics from "The Distribution of Assets in the Elderly Population Living in the Community" (#7335), The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, June 2005:
  • Two-thirds of elderly people living in the community have resources equal to less than one year of the cost of nursing-home care ($70,000).
  • The majority of elderly in this range have very low asset levels.
  • 57 percent have assets below $5,000, less than the cost of one month of nursing-home care.
  • 19 percent of elderly people living in the community have assets equal to three or more years of the average cost of nursing-home care.

If you think Medicare will pick up the tab for your extended long-term care, you're mistaken.