Long-term care is the single biggest financial risk left unprotected as we approach and enter retirement. Consider:

• People are living longer. A healthy 40-year-old woman can expect to live to age 86; a healthy 40-year-old man to 80. The likelihood of living long enough to need long-term care is greater than ever.
  
• The cost of long-term care is high and rising. Nursing home care already averages more than $45,000 a year and may run as high as $75,000 or even more in some metropolitan areas. [Tell me more]


• The risk is high. Two of out every five people over 65 are expected to need a period of nursing home care. Even more will need care at home.
  
• A person's need for long-term care can last years. The average stay in a nursing home lasts 2½ years; 20% last longer than 5 years.
  
• Neither company nor private health insurance plans cover the cost of long-term care. Government programs provide only limited assistance. [Tell me more]