Long-Term Care by Les Goldstein ☎ 773-680-1006
Home Why LTC? Explore Plans Calculate Plans About Les Call 773-680-1006
Why LTC?

Most families will face this. Very few are ready.

Long-term care is not a rare event. It is a common, expensive part of aging - and the bill usually lands on you.

It rarely starts with a nursing home.

The need begins when everyday activities stop being safe to manage alone. Sometimes it builds slowly over years. Sometimes it starts with one fall. Either way, the help required is hands-on, ongoing, and expensive - and it usually begins at home.

How Care Begins

Four things that create the need.

The Family Impact

Are you prepared to care for the people you love?

When there is no plan, someone in the family becomes the plan. Most care is given by a spouse or an adult child - unpaid, untrained, and usually while holding down a job.

It is worth asking now, while the choice is still yours: who would step in, for how long, and what would it cost them?

26 hrs

Average hours a family caregiver spends each week.

47%

Report anxiety, depression, or another mental health toll.

50%

Live paycheck to paycheck while caregiving.

What Government Programs Cover

Two programs people count on. Neither one is a plan.

Medicare

Only covers up to 100 days.

And only after a qualifying hospital stay. After day 100, the cost is yours.

Source: Medicare.gov, "Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Care" coverage guidelines - Medicare covers up to 100 days per benefit period after a qualifying 3-day inpatient hospital stay, with coinsurance after day 20.
Medicaid

Coverage after you have spent down.

You generally have to drain your savings to about $2,000 before Medicaid kicks in. Then choice narrows.

Source: Medicaid.gov eligibility rules and KFF, "10 Things About Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS)," 2024/2025 - most states cap countable assets near $2,000 for an individual applicant.
A Real Client

She came to me around 60. Her health had already changed enough that she could not qualify for coverage. She needed care for eleven years and spent more than $1.3 million of her own savings.

- Les Goldstein, from his long-term care planning practice
11 years

Duration of care needed

$1.3M+

Lifetime savings spent

Everything

But her condominium

There are ways to close these gaps.

Three approaches, side by side, so you can see which one fits your situation.

Explore Your Options →
Sources

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / ASPE, "Long-Term Services and Supports: Risks and Financing," 2022. Nationwide, "Compare long-term care costs from state to state," 2024. Medicare.gov, "Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Care" coverage guidelines. KFF, "10 Things About Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS)," July 2024, updated August 2025. Guardian, "Standing Up and Stepping In: A modern look at caregivers in the US," 2023. Les Goldstein, "Long-Term Care Planning Solutions 2026," client planning materials.