Hybrid Long-Term Care Might Be Right for You

Your financial adviser may know of others. Each carrier will have its own version, with varying importance placed on the long-term care vs. universal life portions of the policy and with different target audiences in mind.

Lincoln's MoneyGuard Reserve provides long-term care benefits, depending on your age and premium, at a rate of about five times the amount of premium paid and a death benefit of nearly two times the premium. For example, let's say you are a 60-year-old female. For a $100,000 single premium payment, you would have $579,891 of long-term care benefits available (subject to a monthly maximum) and a $193,297 death benefit.

If you need care, the death benefits are accessed first. If you use only a portion of the death benefit, the remaining portion passes to your beneficiaries without an income-tax penalty. You can also ask for your full premium back at any time (less loans and withdrawals), allowing you to maintain control of the money.

The NYLIAC Asset Preserver includes a residual death benefit feature: If you spend the full benefit amount on long-term care costs, this feature kicks in and provides a death benefit of 10% of the total original benefit.

Work with your financial planner if you're interested in a hybrid product to make sure it is suitable for you and to make sure it works in concert with the rest of your portfolio, and to find a carrier offering a product in your state.

Remember, TheStreet.com Ratings staff analyzes insurers for their financial strength on the basis of capitalization, profitability, liquidity, stability and investment safety and assigns ratings of A (excellent) to E (very weak) to each company. Be sure to check out the rating assigned to any carrier you select -- financial strength is one of several factors you should take into account before purchasing a policy. You can find the ratings of any insurer at this link.