Why Knowing the Answer Today Can Protect Your Tomorrow
Few families wake up one morning expecting to start planning for long-term careLong-Term CareOngoing assistance with daily living due to aging or health conditions.View full definition →.
More often, it begins with something small. A parent needs more help after a fall. A spouse starts forgetting medications. An adult child notices that grocery shopping, meal preparation, or paying bills has become more difficult for someone who has always been independent.
At first, everyone focuses on the immediate concern: keeping their loved one safe. Then, as the days and weeks unfold, another question begins to surface:
How are we going to pay for this?
That question can feel overwhelming because long-term care is not one simple expense. It can look very different from one person to another, and the cost can vary depending on where someone lives, what type of support they need, and how long that care continues.
According to LongTermCare.gov, someone turning 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and support during their remaining years. The same source notes that one in five 65-year-olds willWillA legal document stating how your assets should be distributed after death and who will manage your estate.View full definition → need care for longer than five years.
To help families begin answering that question with greater clarity, Ziegler Estate Law Group has introduced a new Cost of Care Calculator. The tool uses median private-pay rates from the 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey to help families explore estimated long-term care costsLong-Term Care CostsExpenses associated with nursing homes, assisted living, or in-home care.View full definition → in their area. CareScout’s 2025 data shows that the national median annual cost of a private room in a nursing home reached $129,575, while a semi-private room reached $114,975.
Understanding these numbers is not about expecting the worst. It is about preparing for the future with more confidence, more options, and greater peace of mind.
The Cost Few Families See Coming
When people think about estate planning, they often think about wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and what will happen to their assets after they are gone. Those are important pieces of a strong plan. But a truly thoughtful plan also considers what may happen during life.
Long-term care is one of the most common blind spots.
The need for care may arise suddenly after an illness, injury, or hospitalization. In many cases, however, it develops gradually. A loved one may begin needing a few hours of help at home each week. Over time, that support may increase. In other situations, assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing care may become necessary.
Each stage can bring different emotional, practical, and financial decisions.
That is why long-term care planning is not only about whether someone may need care someday. It is about understanding how care could affect a family’s savings, retirement income, home, legacy goals, and day-to-day stability.
For a healthy spouse, the cost of care can raise very real concerns about maintaining their own standard of living. For adult children, it can create difficult questions about caregivingCaregivingThe act of providing physical, emotional, or financial support to someone who cannot fully care for themselves.View full definition → responsibilities, work schedules, travel, and out-of-pocket expenses. For the person receiving care, it can affect independence, dignity, and quality of life.
Long-Term Care Is Not One Decision
One of the reasons long-term care is so difficult to plan for is that it rarely follows a straight line.
A family may begin by arranging help at home because their loved one wants to remain in familiar surroundings. That may work beautifully for a time. Later, if mobility becomes more limited or cognitive declineCognitive DeclineA gradual decrease in memory, reasoning, or decision-making ability beyond typical aging.View full definition → progresses, the family may need to explore assisted living or memory care. If medical needs become more complex, skilled nursing care may enter the conversation.
None of these decisions happens in isolation. Each one affects the next.
The financial side can be just as complex. A few hours of home care each week may feel manageable. But full-time support, facility-based care, or specialized memory care can change a family’s financial picture quickly. CareScout reports that the national median hourly rate for non-medical caregiver services in 2025 was $35 per hour, which totals $80,080 annually when calculated at 44 hours of care per week.
Even families who have saved carefully for retirement may not have accounted for several years of extended care.
This is why relying on general assumptions can be risky. National averages may provide perspective, but they do not always tell you what care may cost in your own community. They also cannot tell you how different care settings compare or how quickly costs may add up over time.
Before families can make informed decisions about how to pay for care, they need a more basic starting point: what could care actually cost where we live?
Why Knowing the Numbers Matters
Knowing the estimated cost of care does not mean a family has all the answers. But it changes the quality of the conversation.
Instead of speaking in vague terms, families can begin asking more practical questions. How long would current savings last if one spouse needed care? Would in-home support be financially realistic? Should the family explore asset protectionAsset ProtectionAsset protection refers to legal strategies designed to shield your property from unnecessary risk, creditors, lawsuits, or long-term care costs.View full definition → planning? Could MedicaidMedicaidMedicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides healthcare coverage for individuals with limited income and resources, including long-term nursing home care.View full definition → planning become necessary? Would long-term care insurance or a hybrid policy be worth reviewing with a financial professional?
These are not always easy questions, but they are far easier to address before a crisis.
Planning ahead gives families time to understand their options. It allows them to coordinate legal documents, financial resources, care preferences, and family expectations. It can also reduce confusion among loved ones by making sure everyone understands who has authority to make decisions and what the overall plan is meant to accomplish.
Most importantly, planning helps preserve choice.
When families wait until care is urgently needed, options may be more limited. When they begin earlier, they often have more room to protect assets, support a spouse, evaluate care environments, and make decisions that align with their values.
This is especially important for families navigating dementiaDementiaAn umbrella term for conditions that affect memory, reasoning, and daily functioning, including Alzheimer’s disease.View full definition → or cognitive decline. The Alzheimer’s Association’s 2025 Facts and Figures report estimates that 7.2 million Americans ages 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, and that number could grow to 13.8 million by 2060.
For many families, dementia-related planning is not only about medical care. It is about decision-making authority, care environments, family support, financial protection, and quality of life.
A New Tool to Help Families Begin
The Ziegler Estate Law Group Cost of Care Calculator was created to help families take that first step.
The calculator allows users to explore estimated long-term care costs based on location and care type. Rather than relying only on broad national figures, families can look at localized estimates that may better reflect the decisions they are actually facing.
The tool can help families think through care options such as in-home care, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing care. It can also help make the financial impact of long-term care more concrete.
For someone planning for their own future, the calculator can be a useful way to understand what may need to be considered as part of retirement and estate planning. For adult children supporting aging parents, it can provide a starting point for family conversations. For spouses, it can help clarify how one partner’s future care needs might affect the other’s financial security.
The calculator is not a substitute for personalized legal, financial, or care planning advice. It is a starting point. But for many families, a starting point is exactly what has been missing.
Medicare Does Not Cover Everything Families Often Expect
Another reason long-term care costs can surprise families is that many people assume MedicareMedicareMedicare is a federal health insurance program primarily for individuals age 65 and older, as well as certain younger people with disabilities. It covers hospital care, doctor visi…View full definition → will cover more than it actually does.
Medicare explains that most long-term care is non-medical and helps with basic personal tasks such as bathing, dressing, and using the bathroom. Because of that, Medicare and most health insurance plans generally do not pay for long-term care services, including care in a nursing home or in the community, when the care is custodial rather than skilled medical care.
This misunderstanding can leave families unprepared. They may believe that a parent’s Medicare coverage will pay for ongoing support, only to discover that the family must look to private funds, Medicaid eligibility, insurance, or other planning strategies.
That is why understanding potential care costs early matters. It helps families recognize the difference between healthcare coverage and long-term care planning before they are forced to make decisions under pressure.
Numbers Alone Do Not Create a Plan
Cost estimates are useful, but they are only one part of the picture.
Once a family has a better understanding of potential care costs, the next step is deciding how those costs fit into a broader plan. That may involve reviewing estate planning documents, updating powers of attorney, considering asset protection strategies, exploring Medicaid eligibility rules, or coordinating with financial and insurance professionals.
It may also involve practical care decisions that go beyond legal documents.
At Ziegler Estate Law Group, long-term care planning is part of a larger commitment to helping families prepare for the second half of life. The firm combines elder law, estate planning, asset protection, and care planning with Care Navigation support. This integrated approach helps families address both the legal and personal realities of aging.
That matters because long-term care is rarely just a financial issue. It is also an emotional and logistical one.
Families may need help understanding care environments, evaluating whether home care is still appropriate, preparing for a dementia diagnosis, coordinating family roles, or making decisions during a healthcare transition. Having guidance through those moments can make an overwhelming process feel more manageable.
Planning Creates Options
Families may need help understanding care environments, evaluating whether home care is still appropriate, preparing for a dementia diagnosis, coordinating family roles, or making decisions during a healthcare transition. Having guidance through those moments can make an overwhelming process feel more manageable.
That is where thoughtful planning makes all the difference. Understanding the potential cost of care is an important first step, but turning that information into a strategy that protects your family, your assets, and your future requires looking at the bigger picture. Estate planning, asset protection, long-term care planning, and Care Navigation work together to help families preserve their options and move forward with greater confidence.
Planning for the future can feel complex, but you don’t have to navigate it alone.
For more than 20 years, Ziegler Estate Law Group has helped individuals and families prepare for the second half of life with clarity, compassion, and confidence. Whether you’re planning for long-term care, protecting your assets, or preserving your family’s legacy, our team is here to help you understand your options and make informed decisions before a crisis occurs.
Try the Cost of Care Calculator
Whether you are planning for yourself, a spouse, or an aging parent, understanding the potential cost of care is one of the most important first steps.
Our Cost of Care Calculator uses localized estimates based on the 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey, helping you better understand how future care needs could affect your financial plans and giving you a stronger foundation for meaningful planning conversations.
👉 Try the Cost of Care Calculator here.
