Americans' Continued Reluctance For Long Term Care Planning Evident In Genworth's '2012 State Of Planning' Survey

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the 2012 State of Planning Survey commissioned by Genworth, Americans aged 35 and over have many excuses for why they don't have a plan in place for their future long term care needs. In fact, 82 percent of respondents ages 45-54 without a plan cited reasons such as not wanting to think about being dependent on others, not finding the right time to discuss options with loved ones, handling it themselves, and being unaware that long term care was something to plan for.   This lack of initiative can have significant consequences for consumers in the long run, especially considering that, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Americans reaching the age of 65 have a 70% chance of requiring long term care.

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Resilient Planning = Resilient Retirement

The survey found that when thinking about retirement, 38 percent of Americans who have not provided long term care for a loved one in the past 12 months were most worried about having enough money to maintain current lifestyles. This is a proportion significantly greater than the 23 percent of those who have provided long term care to a loved one and who cited money as most worrisome.

New York-based psychologist and money coach Dr. Barbara Nusbaum says fear may be to blame for the lack of planning. Difficult thoughts about aging, loss of physical and mental abilities, taking care of and losing aging parents, not having enough money, being a burden on family members and loss of personal power raises anxiety and fear and leads to avoidance.

"Long term care isn't a pleasant, happy topic to think about, however we can't let these emotions overwhelm us," says Dr. Nusbaum. "Instead, we can channel our negative emotions in a productive way. Our anxiety and fear can be signals that there is something very important that needs to be handled. If we use our emotions effectively, we will plan effectively and resiliently."

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