How much will your long term care cost? Factors that can influence the numbers include:

• The nature of the care required;
• The duration of the care;
• Where you receive care (e.g. daycare, assisted living facility, nursing home, at home, etc.)

On average, long term care needs last around three years. But some people may need substantially more physical and financial assistance. The cost of care is also going up. The inflation rate for cost of care is about 4.1% a year, according to a Consumer Price Index survey from 2010. What this means for you is that, 10 years from now, the average long term care costs will approach $105,000 annually.

Every day, 10,000 of your Baby Boomer peers will celebrate their 65th birthdays. The collective care burden that the Boomers will place on our healthcare system – coupled with the long term structural problems of programs like Social Security and Medicaid – suggest that care may be far more costly than many planners realize.

The Cost of Waiting

Why make a decision on your long term care needs right now?

Here's the reality. You obviously can always "roll the dice" and potentially "get by" for years without ever needing insurance. But delaying your purchase can lead to surprising risks. Remember: your premium can be affected by both your age and your health. When you're young and healthy, you can more easily lock in a lower premium. If you wait to purchase until you're a riskier, older candidate, you will likely get locked into a higher premium – perhaps for decades. Plus, if you delay too long, and then you get sick or disabled, you might be ineligible for coverage entirely. The moral is: if you're in your 50s or 60s, now is the time to buy a long term care policy. You can eliminate a major source of uncertainty in your life and retain autonomy over your savings and assets as well as your future healthcare decisions.