Help clients understand and prepare for the challenges of long-term care

06/22/2026 — Attitudes about long-term care (LTC) have remained consistent over time, with many people underpreparing for their potential LTC needs and overestimating the cost of long-term care insurance coverage. Both can lead to financial challenges, if and when long-term care is needed in the future.

As a financial professional, your guidance can be essential for clients who are looking to incorporate long-term care costs into their financial plans. This year’s Nationwide Retirement Institute^® Long-Term Care Survey revealed that clients value guidance from a financial professional to understand LTC and prepare for these eventual costs. 

Among US adults aged 30+  with HHI $75K+, just 18% have discussed LTC costs with a financial professional and around 2 in 5 (37%) have not even considered talking to their financial professional about LTC costs. This is a planning gap that you can help to close. Our survey shows that people are open to professional guidance with LTC planning; nearly half of survey respondents (49%) acknowledged the importance of discussing long-term care costs with a financial professional.

LTC awareness is high, but so is LTC confusion

A majority of Americans age 30+—nearly 3 in 4 of those surveyed (72%)—say they’re knowledgeable about long-term care. That includes 22% who consider themselves very knowledgeable on the topic. But the accuracy of what people know about LTC is up for debate. For example, just over one-fifth of survey respondents (21%) said they have long-term care insurance, yet LIMRA estimates only 3% of Americans over age 50 have any LTC insurance protection.¹

Nearly half of respondents (48%) say they plan to rely on Medicare or Medicaid to cover long-term care costs, but Medicare does not pay for care related to chronic, long-term illnesses. This highlights an important opportunity to raise awareness and help people better understand their long-term care coverage options.

Some of this confusion can be cleared up with guidance from a financial professional. Our survey found that working with a financial professional is associated with higher LTC knowledge, compared with those who aren’t currently engaged with a financial professional (84% vs 62%). 

People are becoming more knowledgeable about long-term care (LTC), but that knowledge isn’t always translating into action. Just 41% of respondents say they plan to purchase long-term care insurance, while just over one-third (35%) don’t plan to at all. Instead, more people expect to rely on personal savings to cover these costs

These datapoints highlight a gap between awareness and preparation, creating an opportunity for you to help clients take proactive steps to plan for their future LTC needs and reduce the burdens on their families and caregivers.

Non-financial concerns enter the LTC planning conversation

The potential financial impacts of long-term care remain a top-of-mind concern for most people, but beyond the financial decisions are a range of other factors that have an influence on how people are thinking about these challenges. 

For example, the desire to stay in familiar surroundings to receive long-term care remains strong. A majority of people surveyed (73%) would most prefer to stay in their own home or a loved one’s home should they need long-term care. However, there’s a disconnect between how Americans want to age and how prepared they are to do so.

• Only 37% have created a savings or investment plan to cover LTC expenses.
• 28% have identified who their future caregivers may be.
• 22% have modified their homes to support aging in place.

View the infographic

Another worry many people have when considering long-term care is making these decisions on their own. Three in four people in our survey said they were concerned about making the wrong care decision if they were alone. A higher percentage (84%) were concerned about not having someone to advocate for them if they were living alone.

For financial professionals, it’s important to recognize that LTC planning is about far more than finances. People want to age with dignity and maintain their independence for as long as possible. They also want to know that someone they trust will be there to help make decisions on their behalf. 

Despite these wishes, many survey respondents haven’t had the necessary conversations with family members or future caregivers, or made plans for their potential LTC needs in the future. Financial professionals can play an important role by facilitating LTC planning conversations with clients and their family members.

Caregivers have personal experience with the challenges of LTC

Caregivers reported spending on average 22 hours per week performing caregiving duties and incurring $382 per month on average in non-reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses as a caregiver. 

The insight that caregivers have acquired through their experiences can be a big influence as they consider planning for their own long-term care needs. Some of the most notable learnings among caregivers from their own experience include: 

• 80% observed challenges during the long-term care decision-making process.
• 65% were surprised how physically and emotionally demanding caregiving can be.
• 57% were surprised how expensive caregiving can be.

The positive news is that these challenges seem to make LTC planning a priority that leads to action. Caregivers are more likely than others to have already created a savings or investment plan for future LTC costs (40% vs. 31% for non-caregivers). They’re also more likely to have identified their own caregivers should they need long-term care themselves down the road (34% vs 20% of non-caregivers). 

People value professional guidance to meet LTC planning challenges

Caregivers exhibit strong interest in discussing long-term care planning with a financial professional, but many others haven’t done so yet. When people don’t plan ahead, they often find they have to make complex financial and health care decisions when they have an immediate LTC need and not much time to make prudent decisions.

Having a plan in place can help your clients protect their finances, reduce stress on loved ones and be able to choose the type of care they want. Taking action earlier can make a meaningful difference for clients and their loved ones when navigating LTC decisions.

LTC planning can also go a long way toward strengthening your relationships with existing clients and attracting new ones to your practice. In our survey, 72% said they’d be likely to switch to a financial professional who could show them how to navigate future LTC costs.

Having access to resources and tools can help you plan client conversations around long-term care and encourage them to take the steps to put a plan in place for their future needs. When you work with Nationwide, you have a company behind you that understands what goes into a financial plan for long-term care and how to help you implement it.