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48% of Americans will need long-term care after reaching age 65. With the average cost of that coverage running between $3,600 and $7,700 per month, you should be making some provision to prepare for the possibility that you or your spouse will need some type of long-term care insurance coverage. For that reason, we’re presenting our list of the five best long-term care insurance of 2022.

Long-term care insurance is especially complicated because there are so many possible contingencies. The way to get the best policy is to discuss potential needs and options with several companies. You should then do a side-by-side comparison to determine which will provide the most benefits for the lowest premium.

The Most Important Factors for Long-term Care Insurance

When shopping for long-term care insurance, be sure to consider each of the following criteria in making your choice:

• Not all insurance companies offer long-term care insurance. It’s a highly specialized type of coverage with a relatively limited number of providers.
• Like all other types of insurance, the time to get long-term care insurance is before it’s actually needed.
• Premiums will be determined by a combination of your age, health condition, and the number and limit of benefits you want included in your policy.
• It may be more cost effective to choose either an annuity or a life insurance policy that has a long-term care provision. Though they are less benefit specific, premiums are generally lower.
• The maximum benefit you choose should approximate the cost of nursing home care in your area.
• It’s not possible to know how long long-term care insurance may be needed, so you’ll need to do your best to estimate how long that might be. Examples from your family lineage may provide guidance.
• Long-term care insurance policies typically come with an elimination period that requires the consumer to cover the full cost of care for the first few months it’s required. A shorter elimination period will require a higher premium. But you should have sufficient liquid assets to cover whatever the elimination period will be.

5 Best Long-term Care Insurance of 2022

GoldenCare Review

Based in Plymouth, Minnesota, and founded in 1976, GoldenCare is one of the nation’s largest privately held long-term care insurance brokerages. As a broker, they offer an opportunity to shop between multiple companies to find the best policy for you. The company offers their services in all 50 states.

When you work with GoldenCare, they’ll place your application with the company that will have the best long-term care policy for you. They work with some of the biggest companies in the industry, including Mutual of Omaha, Genworth, Humana, John Hancock, Aetna, Kemper and Humana. They also offer policies for critical care, critical illness, Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplements, prescription drug plans, life insurance, annuities, identity theft protection, and life/long-term care hybrids.

Pros and Cons

LTCResourceCenters Review

LTCResourceCenters is a part of  LTC Solutions, which is an independent managing general agency based in Cape Coral, Florida. The company has been in business for over 40 years and is licensed to provide policies in all 50 states. As an independent agency, the company can place your policy with any one of several insurance carriers they work with.

They provide both traditional long-term care insurance policies, as well as asset-based long-term care InsuranceAsset Based Long-term Care policies, giving you a choice of both benefits and premiums. An example of the two plans side-by-side is presented in the screenshot below, from their website:

Pros and Cons

CLTC Insurance Services Review

California Long Term Care Insurance Services, Inc., or CLTC Insurance Services for short, is based in San Francisco and has been in business since 1997. In addition to long-term care insurance policies, they also offer life insurance with long-term care riders, annuities covering long-term care costs, life insurance covering long-term care costs, and critical illness insurance. Annuities and life insurance covering long-term care costs may be a more cost-effective way of preparing for long-term care for some consumers.

As a long-term care insurance aggregator, CLTC Insurance Services works much like GoldenCare and LTCResourceCenters in that they work with multiple providers. The policy you receive, as well as the costs and benefits offered, will vary by insurance company.

Pros and Cons

Mutual of Omaha Review

Mutual of Omaha is one of the leading insurance companies in America and has been in business since 1909. As a large, diversified company, they provide virtually every type of insurance needed, as well as investment products. They’re one of the leading providers of long-term care insurance policies, and they offer their services in all 50 states.

Mutual of Omaha is a mutual insurance company, which means you as the consumer are an owner of the company – not just a customer. They also offer multiple discounts, particularly if you have other insurance policies with the company.

Pros and Cons

New York Life Review

New York Life is a mutual insurance company, much like Mutual of Omaha, owned by its customers and not shareholders. Based in New York City, the company traces its origins all the way back to 1845. New York Life is one of the largest providers of long-term care insurance policies in America, and has partnered with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as a preferred provider of these policies.

New York Life’s long-term care policies have one of the longest coverage periods in the industry, at up to seven years. They also pay one of the highest monthly benefits, at up to $12,000 per month. The company provides both traditional long-term care insurance, as well as a combination long-term care and life insurance option.

A sample of a NYL My Care plan, from the New York Life website, is presented below:

Pros and Cons

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Getting Long-Term Care Insurance allows you to know that you’re protected as you age.

Long-term Care Insurance is beneficial for seniors and individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities. Purchasing a long-term care insurance policy ahead of time can help you save on the cost of premiums. Get a free quote today!

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How We Found the Best Long-term Care Insurance of 2022

To come up with this list of the best long-term care insurance companies of 2022, we relied primarily on the following criteria (the first three providers in this guide don’t provide specifics because they work with multiple insurance companies, but you can choose a company offered by a broker or aggregator by the provisions they offer):

Specialization

We focused on the best feature each company provides. That will help readers and consumers to determine which company will be the best choice for their needs.

Maximum Benefit

You can expect the premium cost of a long-term care policy to be higher with a larger monthly benefit. But it helps to know what the maximum is, so you can match it with the expected cost of the care.

A policy with a maximum benefit of $2,000 per month will be insufficient to cover the cost of long-term care, if that cost averages, say $6,000 per month in your area.

Benefit Period

There’s no way to know how long you may need long-term care. But having a longer-term, one covering at least several years, will offer greater protection.

Elimination Period

Though a shorter elimination period will require a higher premium, it’s important to have that option. If you have sufficient liquid assets to cover, say six months of long-term care costs, you might go with a six-month elimination period. We favored companies that offer multiple elimination periods.

BBB Rating

While it’s common to use independent financial rating services (like A.M. Best) when it comes to insurance companies, we felt it more important to include ratings from the Better Business Bureau.

While these ratings don’t indicate the company’s financial strength, they do indicate consumer experience. A higher rating means consumers are generally satisfied with the services the company provides. This will include the willingness of the company to pay benefits, among other factors.

What You Need to Know About Long-term Care Insurance

Because of the contingent nature of long-term care, long-term care insurance policies tend to be more complicated than other types of insurance.

Factors to be aware of include:

• Cost. Long-term care insurance can cost several thousand dollars per year. Premiums rise with age, as well as with the benefit level selected.
• It’s possible you may never need the policy. As noted at the beginning of this guide, about 48% of Americans over 65 will need paid long-term care assistance. But that means 52% won’t. You may be paying for a policy you’ll never use.
• Long-term care insurance isn’t the only option. Many insurance companies now offer annuities and life insurance policies with long-term care provisions. They’re generally less expensive than the premium you’ll pay for a traditional long-term care policy.
• You need to qualify for long-term care benefits. Before you’ll be eligible, you generally must be unable to perform at least two of the six activities of daily living (ADLs).
• Long-term care policies offer a variety of riders. For example, an inflation rider can be added to accommodate higher costs in the future. A return of premium rider provides for some or all the premiums paid on a long-term care policy to be paid to beneficiaries upon the death of an insured who never needed the coverage. These riders will increase the premium.
• There are several different types of long-term care. Though the classic example is a nursing home, other options include assisted living, hospice care, and in-home care. Be sure the policy you select will extend coverage to each of these options.

If you’re a first-time homebuyer, you may be feeling shut out of the market in the current fast-rising house price environment. But precisely because you are a first-time homebuyer, there may be help on the horizon. Major lenders, local governments and non-profit organizations commonly offer first-time homebuyer programs to help you purchase a home.

You may be able to get a first-time homebuyer program that provides the loan to purchase the home, the down payment, or even a combination of both. More than anything, it’s a matter of knowing what the programs are, and where to find them.

And don’t worry if you’re not technically a first-time homebuyer. First-time homebuyer programs have a very generous definition of what qualifies as a first-time homebuyer. If you haven’t owned a home in the last few years, it’s likely you’ll qualify for most programs.

What are First-Time Homebuyer Programs?

First-time homebuyer programs recognize the greater challenges first-time homebuyers have, compared with those who either currently own a home and are trading up, or have at least owned a home in the past.

Though some first-time homebuyer programs are offered as first mortgages, many more provide down payment assistance. That assistance recognizes the special difficulty first-time homebuyers have in coming up with the down payment to make that first home purchase.

Though down payment is an issue in most markets, it could be especially problematic in high-cost areas. Just coming up with a down payment of 5% on a $500,000 home in a high-cost market means a first-time buyer would need to save $25,000.

Given that many first-time homebuyers are in the low- to moderate-income range, saving that much money can take several years. While the buyer is saving the money needed, property values may continue to escalate, further increasing the amount of the down payment needed. That can lock the buyer into a Catch-22 situation of always being behind the amount of cash needed to make the down payment.

First-time home buyer programs are available to help buyers overcome that dilemma.

Common First-Time Homebuyer Program Requirements

If you’re interested in a first-time home buyer program, you should know that there are requirements you’ll need to meet.

First, a common requirement is that you cannot have owned a home within the previous three years. Under this definition, you won’t be excluded from a first-time homebuyer program even if you have owned a home in the past. As long as the ownership did not take place within three years before purchasing a new home, you can still qualify.

Another very common restriction is income limitation. First-time homebuyer programs will generally limit your household income to a certain percentage of the median household income for the county where the home is being purchased. The program might put a ceiling of 150% of the median income for the county. If the median household income in the county is $80,000, the maximum income to qualify will be $120,000.

As an example, the screenshot below shows the income limits for participation under the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) MyHome Assistance Program:

Still another limitation is property type. In most cases, you’ll be limited to purchasing a single-family home, which typically will include condominiums and planned unit developments. Manufactured housing may be permitted, but only when it is built on a permanent foundation. In addition, the property must be owner-occupied by the purchaser as a primary residence.

Finally, there’s usually a homebuyer education requirement. Because the programs are designed for first-time homebuyers, the education requirement is imposed to make sure that would-be homeowners fully understand the financial implications of the transaction they are about to enter. Typically, homebuyer education will be provided by government agencies or nonprofit organizations. You must earn a certificate of completion in the course to be eligible for the first-time homebuyer program.

How Many Types of First-Time Homebuyer Programs are There?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, first-time homebuyer programs are available for purchase money mortgages, down payment assistance, or even a combination of both.

First-time Homebuyer Mortgage Programs

These are typically low-down payment loan programs. However, they’re not necessarily designed specifically for first-time homebuyers.

For example, VA loans are designed specifically for veterans, and generally provide 100% financing. That eliminates the down payment requirement, which is the primary purpose of first-time homebuyer down payment assistance programs. VA loans also tend to be more consumer-friendly for veterans. For example, VA loans tend to be more lenient with credit than conventional mortgages.

FHA mortgages are similar, except they do require a down payment of 3.5% of the purchase price. However, down payment assistance programs are often provided in conjunction with FHA mortgages, resulting in zero-down payment. This is especially true with down payment assistance programs provided by local governments. Meanwhile, FHA is more flexible in evaluating your credit than conventional mortgages are.

Not to be outdone, conventional mortgages also offer advantageous first-time homebuyer loan programs.

For example, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as “Fannie Mae”, offers their HomePath program. The program provides homebuyers with exclusive access to repossessed properties before they are made available to investors. That will give homebuyers an opportunity to purchase these properties at a lower price than might be the case in an open bidding situation. In addition, buyers are able to purchase these homes with a down payment of just 3% of the purchase price.

In addition, Fannie Mae offers the ability for homebuyers to purchase homes with up to 105% of the value of the property by using a subordinate lien in conjunction with the first mortgage. The lien must be an eligible Community Seconds loan.

In yet another benefit of the program, Fannie Mae reduces the cost of the private mortgage insurance required for the first mortgage. However, it does require a minimum credit score of 680, which may require some first-time homebuyers to consider an FHA loan instead.

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Down Payment Assistance Programs

One of the biggest obstacles to home ownership for first-time homebuyers is coming up in the down payment. But if you qualify as a first-time homebuyer, there are often down payment assistance programs that will cover your down payment. Some will also provide additional funds to cover closing costs if those will not be paid by the property seller.

Down payment assistance programs are commonly offered by local government agencies, including states, counties, and even cities. Others are provided by nonprofit agencies.

Down payment assistance programs can come in the form of either a loan or a grant. And in many cases, a down payment assistance loan will be forgiven if you meet certain requirements.

Down Payment Assistance Loans

An example of down payment assistance is, once again, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) MyHome Assistance Program. The program offers a deferred payment junior loan of the lesser of 3.5% of the purchase price or appraised value with down payment and/or closing costs, or $15,000, whichever is lower. However, there is no cap on the loan amount if the homebuyer is an employee of either a school or fire department, or those purchasing new construction homes, or manufactured homes.

First-time homebuyers cannot apply directly with the Housing Authority for the loan. Instead, CalHFA makes the loans available through approved lenders. Interest rates will vary based on your financial circumstances, as well as lender fees and other factors. The program does require homebuyer education.

Because it is a deferred loan, it is considered a “silent second”. That means payments on the loan are deferred so you don’t have to make any until the home is sold, refinanced, or the loan is paid in full.

Most states offer some type of down payment assistance loan program, though the specific details will vary from state to state. Check with your lender or do a web search using “(YOUR STATE) down payment assistance programs”.

Down Payment Assistance Grants

Some down payment assistance programs start out as loans, but eventually convert into grants. These are commonly referred to as forgivable loans.

For example, you may receive second loan proceeds from a government agency, but the loan may be forgiven if you remain in the home for at least five years. Such loans often carry 0% interest rates, which ultimately makes them grants, or loan/grant hybrids.

An example of this type of loan is the Chenoa Fund. It’s a federally chartered, public purpose driven government agency that exists to provide affordable and sustainable homeownership to creditworthy borrowers who lack the funds to make a down payment. And fortunately, it’s available nationwide.

The fund will provide down payment assistance to cover a down payment of 3.5% (FHA) or 5% (conventional) of the purchase price of the property. The program has no income restrictions, but your income cannot exceed 115% of the median income level in your area to be eligible for loan forgiveness.

The program does have credit requirements and is not restricted to first-time homebuyers alone.

The screenshot below provides a summary of the program benefits and requirements:

Where to Start Your Search for First-Time Homebuyer Programs

Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage

Rocket Mortgage is the origination arm of Quicken Loans, which is the largest retail residential mortgage originator in the country. You’ll apply for your loan through Rocket mortgage – generally on the mobile app – but the loan will ultimately be funded by Quicken Loans.

Rocket Mortgage operates entirely online, and provides conventional, FHA and VA mortgages. Because the entire process is online, they can process loans faster than much of the competition. This is because they can often obtain verification of employment and savings directly from employers and financial institutions. That will eliminate much of the documentation typically associated with the mortgage application process.

Veterans United

As the name implies, Veterans United specializes in VA mortgages. In fact, they’re the largest VA mortgage lender in the country. It’s not hard to see why. The company regularly consults with former senior enlisted members of each branch of the US military. This helps to make the lending process as comfortable and accommodating as possible for veterans and active-duty members of the military.

They also have the advantage of having their own network of real estate agents, under Veterans United Realty. Since VA loans are a special type of mortgage, there are certain requirements a real estate agent will need to be aware of. Because the network is comprised of agents experienced in VA mortgages, they’re better able to serve the needs of veterans, current military members, and their families.

Credible

Credible is an online loan aggregator. They provide student loans, student loans refinances, personal loans, and credit cards. But they also specialize in home loans, including first mortgages.

Because it is a loan aggregator, you’ll complete a brief online application, and receive loan quotes from multiple mortgage lenders. You can then choose the lender offering the program and pricing that will work best for you. In this way, Credible is an excellent choice if you’re looking to shop for the best lender for your home purchase.

loanDepot

loanDepot is a nationwide mortgage lender providing conventional, Jumbo, FHA and VA loans. Much like Rocket Mortgage, it operates as an online lender. You’ll complete the loan application online, and upload any documentation directly onto the website. Because it is an online process, it can be handled either from your home or your place of employment.

What are the Benefits of First-Time Homebuyer Programs?

• Covers your down payment, and sometimes closing costs, enabling you to purchase a home with no money out-of-pocket.
• Recognized programs that can work with conventional, FHA and VA first mortgages.
• Though many do have minimum credit score requirements, you don’t need perfect credit to qualify.
• Programs generally target those who fall in the low- to moderate-income category.
• Many down payment loan assistance programs offer loan forgiveness, eliminating the need to make repayment.

Are there any Drawbacks to First-Time Homebuyer Programs?

• With many first-time homebuyer programs you will be required to meet certain income standards. They are not typically available to the general home buying public.
• Programs are available only for owner-occupied primary residences, not vacation homes or investment properties.
• Because you won’t be making a down payment, you’ll have no equity in the property you’re purchasing. If the property value declines significantly, you could be in a negative equity position for many years.
• The 0% equity situation can also lock you into staying in the home for many years. If a home turns out to be the wrong choice, you’ll still be locked in.
• If you don’t stay in the home long enough to qualify for loan forgiveness, you’ll be required to pay off the down payment assistance loan balance upon the sale of the property.
• Refinancing the home or converting it to an investment property could also trigger a repayment requirement.
• Some down payment assistance loan programs do require monthly payments, including interest.