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The Reality Stuart Retirees Need to Face

Here's a statistic that might keep you up at night: 7 out of 10 people will need some form of long-term care during their lifetime. If you're enjoying retirement here in Stuart: maybe spending mornings at the Stuart Beach or afternoons on the St. Lucie River: the last thing you want to think about is needing help with daily activities someday.

But here's the thing: ignoring this reality doesn't make it go away. What it does is leave your family scrambling, your assets vulnerable, and your retirement savings at serious risk.

At Davies Wealth Management, we've helped countless Stuart families navigate these conversations. They're never easy, but they're always worth having. Let's walk through what you need to know about long-term care planning: and more importantly, what you can do about it right now.

Understanding Long-Term Care Costs in Florida

Before we dive into strategies, let's talk numbers. Because when it comes to long-term care in Florida, the costs can be genuinely shocking.

Transparent piggy bank with coins spilling out, representing Florida long-term care costs for retirees

Current Florida Long-Term Care Costs:

Type of Care Monthly Cost Annual Cost
Nursing Home $9,000 – $10,000+ $108,000 – $120,000+
Assisted Living $3,500 – $5,000+ $42,000 – $60,000+
Home Health Aide $4,500 – $7,000+ $54,000 – $84,000+

Think about that for a moment. A three-year stay in a nursing facility could easily exceed $350,000. That's money that could drain your retirement accounts, force the sale of your home, and leave your spouse in a precarious financial position.

For Stuart retirees who've worked hard to build wealth: whether through careers, business ownership, or savvy investing: watching it evaporate to pay for care is heartbreaking. But it doesn't have to happen that way.

Long-Term Care Insurance: Your First Line of Defense

Long-term care insurance (LTCI) remains one of the most straightforward ways to protect yourself against catastrophic care costs. Here's how it typically works:

Traditional LTCI Policies pay a daily or monthly benefit when you can't perform a certain number of "activities of daily living" (things like bathing, dressing, eating, or transferring from bed to chair). Policies vary widely in terms of:

  • Daily/monthly benefit amounts
  • Benefit periods (2 years, 5 years, lifetime)
  • Elimination periods (how long you wait before benefits kick in)
  • Inflation protection options

Hybrid Life/LTC Policies have become increasingly popular because they solve a common objection: "What if I pay premiums for years and never need care?" Hybrid policies combine life insurance with long-term care benefits. If you need care, you access LTC benefits. If you don't, your beneficiaries receive a death benefit. Either way, someone gets value from the premiums you've paid.

The Catch? Timing matters enormously. LTCI underwriting considers your health, and premiums increase significantly as you age. If you're in your 50s or early 60s and in good health, now is often the optimal time to lock in coverage. Wait until health issues arise, and you may find yourself uninsurable: or facing premiums that don't make financial sense.

Elderly couple reviewing documents in a bright living room, illustrating long-term care insurance planning in Stuart, FL

Asset Protection Strategies That Actually Work

Long-term care insurance isn't the only tool in the toolbox. For Stuart retirees with significant assets, several legal strategies can help protect wealth while still qualifying for benefits when needed.

Medicaid Planning

Let's be honest: Medicaid is how most Americans ultimately pay for nursing home care. But qualifying isn't as simple as spending down your assets until you're broke. Florida enforces a five-year "look-back" period, meaning any asset transfers made during that window can delay your eligibility.

Successful Medicaid planning might include:

  • Irrevocable trusts that remove assets from your countable estate while providing for your family
  • Converting countable resources into exempt assets (like prepaying funeral expenses or making home improvements)
  • Strategic spend-down purchases that benefit you while meeting Medicaid's financial limits

Spousal Protections

If you're married and one spouse needs care, Florida law provides important protections for the "community spouse" who remains at home. These rules allow your healthy spouse to keep a portion of income and assets, preventing financial devastation.

Understanding exactly how much can be protected: and how to maximize those protections: requires careful planning. This is where working with experienced professionals pays dividends.

Life Estate Deeds

For many Stuart retirees, the family home represents their largest asset. A life estate deed allows you to transfer property to your children or other beneficiaries while retaining the right to live there for the rest of your life. When structured properly, this can protect your home from long-term care expenses while keeping your living situation unchanged.

Essential Legal Documents You Need Now

Here's something we emphasize repeatedly with our clients: the time to get your legal documents in order is before you need them. Once a health crisis hits, options become limited and decisions get rushed.

Organized desk with legal documents and pen, emphasizing essential estate planning for retirees in Stuart, Florida

Three documents every Stuart retiree should have:

  1. Designation of Healthcare Surrogate – Names someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you're unable to communicate your wishes

  2. Living Will – Provides instructions for end-of-life care, including decisions about life-sustaining treatment

  3. Durable Power of Attorney – Authorizes someone you trust to manage your financial affairs if you become incapacitated

These documents work together to ensure your wishes are honored and your affairs are handled by people you've chosen: not strangers appointed by a court.

If you haven't addressed estate planning yet, our estate planning tool can help you get started with the basics and understand what documents you need.

Why Early Planning Changes Everything

We've seen it happen too many times: a family comes to us after Dad has already been diagnosed with dementia, or Mom has had a stroke. Suddenly, options that would have been available six months earlier are off the table.

When you plan early, you can:

  • Qualify for long-term care insurance at lower premiums
  • Make strategic asset transfers outside the look-back window
  • Set up trusts and legal structures while you're clearly competent
  • Have thoughtful conversations with family about your wishes
  • Explore all available options without time pressure

When you wait too long, you might face:

  • Medicaid penalties for recent transfers
  • Forced sales of property or investments at unfavorable times
  • Limited insurance options (or none at all)
  • Family conflicts over hastily made decisions
  • Depleted retirement accounts that leave your spouse vulnerable

The math is simple: planning ahead costs less, protects more, and gives you peace of mind.

Taking the Next Step

Long-term care planning isn't the most exciting part of retirement planning. It doesn't have the appeal of discussing vacation homes or legacy gifts to grandchildren. But it might be the most important conversation you have this year.

Here at Davies Wealth Management, we help Stuart retirees integrate long-term care planning into their overall wealth management strategy. Because protecting what you've built isn't separate from growing what you've built: it's all part of the same picture.

We also discuss topics like this regularly on our podcast at www.1715tcf.com, where we break down complex financial concepts in plain English.

Your next steps might include:

  • Reviewing your current insurance coverage and identifying gaps
  • Getting quotes on long-term care or hybrid policies while you're still insurable
  • Consulting with an elder law attorney about asset protection strategies
  • Completing essential legal documents
  • Having honest conversations with your spouse and adult children

The best time to plan for the unexpected was five years ago. The second-best time is today. Whether you're just starting to think about these issues or you're ready to put a comprehensive plan in place, the team at Davies Wealth Management is here to help you navigate this critical aspect of retirement planning.

Because enjoying your retirement in Stuart: the fishing, the beaches, the weather: is a lot easier when you know you've protected yourself and your family against whatever the future might bring.