'Ditch the Rear-View Mirror' When Planning for Income in Retirement

When it comes to planning for retirement, too many people–and financial professionals–are stuck looking backward, said Scott Hall, regional sales director at OneAmerica^®.

"Often, the Baby Boomers are still focused on asset accumulation, rather than what’s going to happen when they start using those assets for income in their day-to-day living," Hall said.

In the coming years, the first wave of Baby Boomers will turn 80. More than half of them will need some form of long-term care (LTC) at some point, and one in five will need it for more than five years.¹

"What we see is that even people who have planned very carefully for asset accumulation haven’t planned for the potentially devastating effect that LTC costs can have on the kind of retirement they want," Hall said.

In a recent 'Ditch the Rear-View Mirror' presentation at NAIFA Performance + Purpose in Orlando, Florida, Hall encouraged financial professionals to consider how to protect their clients' retirement portfolios from these costs and considering a strategy possibly including asset-based long-term care benefits. With most Baby Boomers now aged 55-74, now is the time to consider protection, while they're still relatively healthy.

"In our conversations, we hear many people say they'll self-fund any LTC costs they might need," said Tracey Edgar, vice president of sales, Care Solutions, OneAmerica. "But that strategy can have a devastating effect on the assets they've worked so hard to build, and they don't realize how depleting those assets before they planned to can affect a surviving spouse or a legacy they were planning for."

Asset-based LTC solutions can help protect retirement income from the drain of unexpected expenses, while providing a death benefit if LTC benefits aren’t fully used.

"Asset-based LTC solutions can help leverage existing assets to protect income in retirement," Hall noted. "They can reposition an underused asset, like a CD or annuity, into one that provides protection from the costs of LTC."

For more information about OneAmerica, visit oneamerica.com.

¹  “How Much Care Will You Need?” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, LongTermCare.gov. Accessed at https://longtermcare.acl.gov/the-basics/how-much-care-will-you-need.html on Sept. 20, 2019.

About OneAmerica^®

A national provider of insurance and financial services for more than 140 years, the companies of OneAmerica help customers build and protect their financial futures. OneAmerica offers a variety of products and services to serve the financial needs of their policyholders and customers. These products include retirement plan products and recordkeeping services, individual life insurance, annuities, asset-based long-term care solutions and employee benefit plan products. Products are issued and underwritten by the companies of OneAmerica and distributed through a nationwide network of employees, agents, brokers and other sources who are committed to providing value to our customers. To learn more about our products, services and the companies of OneAmerica, visit OneAmerica.com/companies.

OneAmerica^® is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica.

Products issued and underwritten by The State Life Insurance Company^® (State Life), Indianapolis, IN, a OneAmerica company that offers the Care Solutions product suite. All guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of State Life.

On July 19, 2019, State Life was rated A+ (Superior) by A. M. Best. This is the second-highest of 16 possible ratings assigned by the agency.