You’re 45. You’re dad is 75. He’s healthy enough, sure. Gets around OK. Except to the doctor...you have to take him there after that fender-bender he had a couple of years ago. He hates the fuss, but you both manage. It’s bonding time, anyway.

Oh, and his eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so every month you’re there helping him balance the checkbook. That print on his ledger is so tiny, after all. But, again, it’s time together: you and your father, talking about the weather and the price of gas, the presidential election and that summer you all spent down by the lake. Special time.

Think of long-term care, and your mind conjures all sorts of images. Here’s another one: you and your dad, sitting at the breakfast nook, sharing a cup of coffee and some memories while you help him with the taxes. There’s another name for it: instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).

That is long-term care. And if a loved one already needs help with IADL, it’s too late.

IT’S A PIVOTAL YEAR, 2008. You’ve read the statistics, no doubt. Watch out, because here they come: the first round of Baby Boomers are hitting official retirement age and will start pulling money out of Social Security. You know that.

But there’s more to your life than just yourself, right? For many Baby Boomers, there’s this delicate balance between caring for their children while keeping an eye on their aging parents, between college costs and the fear that, eventually, mom and dad are going to need some help. It’s not easy.

That’s why Kevin Shields wants to tell you about long-term care insurance. No one wants to talk about it, and that’s a big financial mistake, he says. There are two reasons for that: one, think of long-term care, and the first thought is about nursing homes. Second, when you’re in your 40s and 50s, you’re still young and healthy—so why even consider it? Because it’s a big financial mistake not to have it.

“Long-term care can be many different things,” Shields says. And, really, it’s more about keeping a loved one out of a nursing home than putting them in it. “People think it’s nursing home care. But it’s really assistance with everyday living activities, like dressing, bathing and preparing meals. It’s home health care, it’s homemaker services. It doesn’t have to be permanent. People can—and do—come off it.”

You’re probably thinking about it for your parents. But long-term care insurance is just like your 401k, your IRA and your mutual funds. Your financial plan is incomplete without at least considering long-term care insurance for you.

Who the heck is Kevin Shields, and why should you care what he has to say? Again, let’s answer those questions in turn.

FIRST, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND the why of it all. Shields isn’t into insurance just because he’s an insurance guy. For him, it’s not that simple.

“My grandmother was really a well-to-do woman at one point, and she basically ended up on welfare after spending eight years in long-term care,” Shields says. “So I have the personal experience.”

And he also has the stats to back up the claim that long-term care insurance is a “vital part of anyone’s overall financial planning strategy.”

Consider this: the cost, per day, of long-term care can range from $200 to $600, Shields says. Then, add in the average time someone needs long-term care—Shields says it’s two and a half years—and the costs become astronomical. We’re talking a half of a million dollars in two short years. “In my grandmother’s case,” Shields says, “she needed long-term care for close to eight years. So it does happen.”

That’s why experts are trying to get the word out about long-term care insurance. That’s because not only do Boomers themselves need it, but they can also purchase it for their folks. “People are living longer, but they often don’t have the ability to take care of themselves as they reach the older ages,” says Walter Bell, past president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. “Because these costs can become prohibitively high, interest in long-term care insurance is increasing.”

For his part, Shields is founder and president of Pinnacle Financial Services, an insurance brokerage service just outside of Philadelphia. It’s the latest stop in a distinguished career in the industry. After selling long-term care insurance, he went into management, running marketing and sales for American Travellers. He was part of the management team that took the company public in the mid-1980s before selling at a big profit to industry giant Conseco in 1996. He worked there as a senior VP, finished up his contract and started Pinnacle Financial Services.

Specifically, PFS has a division that specializes in long-term care insurance as part of a person’s overall financial plan, and the reason is simple: when Shields first started selling insurance in the early 1980s, he took on long-term care insurance as a personal mission. After all, he saw what can happen to someone’s fortune if they don’t have it. It didn’t take him long to realize he’d made the right choice even if the product was—and still is—hard to sell, Shields says.

“I think early on, (the motivation to stay in the business was) the letters and the ‘thank yous’ from the folks who really benefited from the product I sold them,” he says. “I’d get letters saying, ‘You know, I’m a single parent, and if I didn’t have insurance for my mom I didn’t know how I would survive.’ So, it’s just a valuable, valuable asset for people to purchase.”

YES, BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM. It’s awareness. It’s growing, but most people still don’t know about long-term care insurance or why they may need it.

“An older population is more aware. As people have experience in their own families, they certainly become more aware,” Shields says.

But, see, that’s the whole point. You don’t want to become aware of the need for long-term care insurance when you’re spending $600 a day to provide quality in-home care. Or when you’re just helping dad with his doctor visits. Because once you’re at that point, it’s too late. No one will write you a policy when you’ve already started down that road. “People may have heard of it, they may know it exists, but as far as being truly aware of it, it’s pretty limited,” Shields says. “A lot of that has to do with the fact that it’s not something that people go and search out. It really, to this point, is something that has to be sold. It’s just not something that folks search out.”

Thus, the conundrum: Baby Boomers are generally aware of long-term care insurance, but don’t realize they need to buy it now while it’s affordable and they can qualify After all, not only are Boomers headed in droves toward their retirement years, many are now having to take care of parents who, thanks to medical advances, are living longer and longer.

“Consumers who would like to protect their assets, minimize dependence on family members and control how they receive nursing or home care should carefully consider long-term care insurance,” says Sandy Praeger, the NAIC president and insurance commissioner for the state of Kansas. “It’s a highly individualized decision that requires people to look closely at multiple factors, including their family health history, dependent relationships and personal financial situation.”

And that’s why Boomers may both need and be in a position to effectively use it, Shields says.

“The people that really can afford to buy it and are healthy enough to purchase it, because the underwriting has gotten so strict—that’s the folks that are in their 40s, 50s, and early 60s. That’s when you should be buying it,” he says. “The problem is, they are young, healthy and who the heck is thinking about long-term care insurance?”

More and more people should be, Shields says. It’s good news that more and more are, he says: the trend in the long-term care insurance industry is that younger and younger adults are looking into it as a viable option, both because financial planners are steering their clients toward it and because long-term care insurance brokers understand America is aging rapidly and are marketing their services to this growing client base. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that by 2020, the number of people older than 65 who need long-term care services will jump to 12 million. This year the estimate is eight million.

“I think that, more than challenge, it represents opportunity,” Shields says. “And, again, it goes back to reaching that Baby Boomer age. As they age, they are becoming empty nesters. Their house is paid for, probably. They’ve inherited some money. The kids are out of college and out of the house. They are headed for retirement. So, theoretically, they are in a great position to look at long-term care, and it should be a really important part of their whole financial planning.”

For some it is, and that trend of younger people looking into long-term care options is a positive one for the overall industry, Shields says. “That’s who you want to buy the product, because they can get in at a cheaper rate and are more healthy—they can qualify for it and pass underwriting.”

Still...

“It would be great if more folks at that Baby Boomer age would seek it out,” he says. “Baby Boomers—that’s who we really need to be talking to.”

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For more information, visit PFSHealthyLiving.com