As we have pointed out in this space previously the costs associated with long term care are going through the roof, and this is a major source of concern in the elder law community. The national average charge for a year in an assisted living facility in 2010 went up more than 5% to $39,516. A private room in a nursing home cost an average of $83,585 in the United States in 2010, and this was a 4.6% increase over the previous year. Industry pundits expect these costs to continue to rise, so if you are planning for perhaps twenty or thirty years from now you can expect nursing home costs to be exorbitant.

One way that you can prepare yourself for the possibility of long term care expenses would be to purchase long term care insurance. The premiums are significant, but the younger you are when you obtain the coverage the lower the cost will be.

To determine whether or not you should purchase long term care insurance you need to examine all of the relevant facts. As mentioned above, the cost of a year in a private room in a nursing home is over $83,000 a year and rising. The average stay is two to three years.

Statistics indicate that about 60% of senior citizens will need long term care of some sort, but not all of these folks will be in nursing homes incurring these enormous annual costs. Limited in-home care is much less expensive. So you may not be able to afford to pay for three years in a nursing home out-of-pocket thirty years from now, but you may not have to.

Long term care insurance is an option, and it is something to explore. If you are interested it would be a good idea to obtain some current quotes, determine the cumulative cost, evaluate the risk/reward equation and make an informed decision.

Legacy APC, A Trusts & Estates Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.