A guide for your 40s
What I wish I knew in my 40s about long-term care
Most of us meet long-term care through a parent. The people who wish they had started sooner all say the same thing: look at your own plan while it is cheapest and easiest to get.
The problem, in numbers
What long-term care really looks like.
What we are hearing
You are already living this, just not for yourself yet.
Findings from the 2026 Staying Power Planning Report.
Nearly everyone has cared for someone.
In the Planning Report, 90% of people have cared for a family member, and 62% are doing it right now.3
Your odds are higher than you think.
60% of people in the Planning Report guessed their chance of needing care was 40% or lower. The government estimate is close to 70%.3, 2
Your parents' situation is the wake-up call.
In the Planning Report interviews, for 80% of people, caring for a parent or spouse is what made them start thinking about their own plan.3
“I like the idea of protecting our savings, because it’s not just mine.”
“I wouldn’t want my care plan to be dependent on where my daughter chooses to be.”
Looking back
Five things I wish I had known in my 40s.
From people a decade or two down the road, and the numbers behind them.
The price is set by your age on the day you apply.
Long-term care coverage is priced by your age and health when you apply. Buying the same coverage at 65 instead of 55 costs about 50% more a year, according to the industry's own price index.5
Health is the admission ticket, and it changes.
Insurers turned down 24% of applicants in their 50s and 33% at 60 to 64 in 2024. In your 40s, you are usually on the right side of those numbers.5
Caring for a parent costs the caregiver, too.
47% of family caregivers say it hurt them financially, and about a third stopped saving.1, 6 People who leave work to care for a parent give up about $303,880 in wages and retirement benefits.7
Your health plan and Medicare will not pay for it.
Medicare does not cover custodial care, the everyday help most people need.8 Neither does your employer health plan.
Memory risk starts earlier than you think.
At 45, a woman's lifetime risk of Alzheimer's is 1 in 5. A man's is 1 in 10.9
Your next steps
Three moves to make this month.
Book a call and see your number.
A licensed advisor can show you what coverage costs at your age in one short call. Knowing the number is the whole first step.
Ask your parents what they have planned.
Where they want to live, who would help and how they would pay. Their answer shapes your own plan.
Write down where you want to be at 80.
Your home, your town, the people nearby. That picture is what your plan protects.
Book your call
Your rate will never be lower than it is today.
Book a call with a licensed Staying Power advisor and see what coverage costs at your age, before the next birthday changes it.
Bring your partner.
Most people we talk to decide together. Your partner is welcome on the call.
Leave with it in writing.
A plain side-by-side of what you pay, what is guaranteed and what is projected.
Costs where you live.
Care prices for your area, not national averages.
No hard sell.
One licensed advisor, no pressure to decide on the call.