How to invest my dad's money
carolanne said:
@conanrob it is horrifying. After how hard my parents worked and all they gave to our country (dad was a fighter pilot in Vietnam) it was appalling that she had to essentially become a pauper in order to be cared for adequately. Honestly is we had known she was only going to live two years from her first illness, I would have moved her in with me and used her savings to pay for her care. But we had no idea how long she would live, so figuring out what to do was extremely difficult.
In NY you can gift the money and then only a portion of it is considered for the Medicare look back. There is an entire complicated formula and way of doing it so the 2 or 3k we spent for the elder care attorney was invaluable
The veteran's benefits didn't help?
sac said:
carolanne said:
@conanrob it is horrifying. After how hard my parents worked and all they gave to our country (dad was a fighter pilot in Vietnam) it was appalling that she had to essentially become a pauper in order to be cared for adequately. Honestly is we had known she was only going to live two years from her first illness, I would have moved her in with me and used her savings to pay for her care. But we had no idea how long she would live, so figuring out what to do was extremely difficult.
In NY you can gift the money and then only a portion of it is considered for the Medicare look back. There is an entire complicated formula and way of doing it so the 2 or 3k we spent for the elder care attorney was invaluable
The veteran's benefits didn't help?
In my grandmother's case VA assistance kicked in after her money had run out. I don't know if this is a requirement, or if it was just timing on our part.
I assume you look at the elderly person's state of residence when deciding on gifting rules not the state of the receiver of the gifts?
conandrob240 said:
I assume you look at the elderly person's state of residence when deciding on gifting rules not the state of the receiver of the gifts?
Aren't they federal rules?
it doesn't sound like it from what has been posted above. See carols he's post about gifting in NY and what counts towards pay down
@conanrob240 that is correct. Medicaid rules vary from state to state. We considered moving mom here with us, but then we would have had to start all over again with a new attorney and new application.
@sac, unfortunately, I was never able to get anywhere with the VA in the county my mom lived in. The nursing home was in a different county, and that VA was very responsive. Unfortunately any applications had to go through her county of residence. I could never get any answer or return call from her home county and things had to be decided fairly quickly as mom's medical situation went down hill quickly.
I all worked out ok in the end, but it was so stressful as we were going through it. And, my mom had made most things very easy for us.
How do you guys feel about credit unions? My research on CDs and High Yield accounts uncovered that most people have been more satisfied with the services provided by credit unions than traditional banks. In fact, according to Consumer Reports, credit unions received the best overall ratings for these types of services, with small local banks second, and large banks (BofA, Chase, etc.) last.
bklyngirl said:
How do you guys feel about credit unions? My research on CDs and High Yield accounts uncovered that most people have been more satisfied with the services provided by credit unions than traditional banks. In fact, according to Consumer Reports, credit unions received the best overall ratings for these types of services, with small local banks second, and large banks (BofA, Chase, etc.) last.
Credit Unions are good as long as they have F.D.I.C. insurance on the accounts. I suspect they all do.
What "services" are you looking for? The research is fine but if you have some $ in a bank and you don't really do anything with it, what services do you really have to be satisfied/dissatisfied with?
was looking at CD rates. The credit union rates actually stink, but they came up in my research.
Best one-year CD rates are 1.25% - 1.30%. Capital One Money Market offers 1% ($10,000 min deposit), and the money can be withdrawn any time. Just another option.
One of the problems with l-t-c insurance is that insurance companies underestimated the hit they would take. As a result, some companies stopped offering the policies altogether while others still offer them but with higher premiums and reduced coverage. It's a tough call -- weighing high annual premiums against $100,000/year possible care costs. Some people take the coverage but then find they can't keep paying the premiums. Others take the coverage but without an inflation factor built in.
We decided to take the coverage because (1) we hoped to be able to remain in our home with care, and (2) we didn't want to saddle our kids with the tough decisions that we ourselves had to face with our own parents. But we have many friends who opted not to take it, for various reasons. It's a hard personal decision that requires research and careful thought.