There’s a stereotype about retirement, and it lives in Florida. Yes, most people assume that when aging Americans retire, they relocate en masse to The Sunshine State.
On the contrary, though, many people dream of moving their retirement overseas instead. To that end, Bankrate.com recently raised an interesting question: can you take your long-term care insurance overseas?
Technically? Yes. You can take it there. But how well will the policy pay out on another continent?
Unfortunately, most U.S. long-term care policies provide few if any benefits overseas. The issue isn’t so much your policy as the way healthcare works elsewhere. Most other countries simply don’t have an insurance system that resembles ours, so the benefits don’t translate, so to speak.
There are exceptions. A few American long-term care policies do include specific foreign-country provisions. Those are uncommon, though.
So what can you do? Believe it or not, most other countries don’t even offer long-term care policies to speak of (again, they don’t make much sense in their healthcare systems.)
Banknote.com recommends, though, that you hold onto your policy even if you are determined to cross the pond for retirement. After all, you never know when you might want to come back. As long as you continue to pay your premiums, your policy should remain in effect stateside.
That said, it’s important to remember that long-term care insurance is just one piece of a very big puzzle. The best approach to funding for long-term care is a multi-faceted one, including estate planning, health insurance, Medicaid, and much more.
At Medina Law Group, we can help you put together a long-term care plan that makes sense for you — even if you’re planning to spend your retirement years outside of the United States. Call us today to find out how we can help.