Navigating Your Later Years For Dummies

Long-Term Care: Planning for Finance, Medical, and Living Expenses

We’re living exciting bonus years—decades that our parents and grandparents didn’t have. But how to navigate this complex terrain? Questions abound around long-term care planning: Where to live? How to get the best medical care? What to do about advance directives, wills and trusts, and estate planning? And how to pay for it all after you retire? Getting accurate information and answers wasn’t easy. Until now.

AARP's Navigating Your Later Years For Dummies helps you and your family understand the growing range of opportunities. Even more importantly, it helps you chart the next steps to live the life you choose, as independently as you choose, no matter your specific circumstances and needs. This book:

• Covers home modifications so that you can stay at home safely for as long as you like
• Lays out the opportunities and costs associated with independent living, assisted living and other options
• Gives you a range of driving and transportation alternatives
• Helps you navigate the healthcare system, Medicare, and Medicaid
• Sorts out the various sources of care at home
• Reviews the legal documents you should prepare and update
• Helps you determine whether you need long-term care insurance
• Gives you guidance on talking with your family about sensitive issues, including your wishes as you age

With this new comprehensive book, you’ll get the credible information and resources you need to face the challenges facing us as we live the life we choose. Here, finally, is a roadmap for you and your family to best understand, and plan ahead.

Introduction 1

Part 1: Getting Started with Navigating Your Later Years 5

Chapter 1: Looking Ahead: The Big Picture 7

Chapter 2: A Personal Inventory: Past, Present, and Future 21

Chapter 3: Finding Services 31

Chapter 4: Making Decisions: A Family Affair 43

Part 2: Choosing Where to Live 53

Chapter 5: Staying in Your Home 55

Chapter 6: Under One Roof: Generations Living Together 73

Chapter 7: Downsizing for Now and Later 87

Chapter 8: Assisted and Independent Living and Other Group Settings 95

Chapter 9: Beyond Your Home: Living in a Community 113

Chapter 10: Getting Around: Transportation Options 125

Part 3: Legal and Financial Planning 139

Chapter 11: Unraveling the Rules of Medicare and Medicaid 141

Chapter 12: Paying for Care: Long-Term Care Insurance and Other Options 161

Chapter 13: Financial Matters: Money Management, Wills, Trusts, and More 177

Part 4: Managing Your Healthcare 193

Chapter 14: Choosing Good Medical Care 195

Chapter 15: Demystifying Home Care 211

Chapter 16: Understanding the Different Roles of Nursing Homes 227

Chapter 17: Getting the Healthcare You Want (And Avoiding What You Don’t Want) 241

Part 5: Services for Special Groups 253

Chapter 18: LGBT Older Adults 255

Chapter 19: Services for Veterans 269

Chapter 20: Family Caregivers 283

Part 6: The Part of Tens 305

Chapter 21: Ten Myths about Aging and Future Care 307

Chapter 22: Ten Resources with State-by-State Information 317

Part 7: Appendixes 325

Appendix A: Glossary 327

Appendix B: Resources 339

Index 347

Carol Levine directs the Families and Health Care Project at the United Hospital Fund in New York. She is an expert on aging, health, long-term care, and family caregiving, and writes on those topics for both professional and consumer audiences.

• Consider healthcare and insurance options
• Talk with family about finances and other tough issues
• Learn about housing choices and downsizing

Aging is changing. Choose how you want to live.

We're living exciting bonus years—decades our parents and grandparents didn't have. But navigating this terrain can be complex. Is long-term care insurance worth the expense? How can I stay in my home as long as possible? What steps should I take to protect myself and my family for years to come? How do I find the best healthcare? Which legal documents do I really need? This guide gives you the expert advice you need, whether you're planning for yourself or a loved one.

• Inexpensive and easy home modifications
• Independent and assisted living
• Community services
• Medicare and Medicaid help
• Transportation options