Our financial advisor is advising we transfer some of our investment $ into a universal life insurance policy with a long term care provision (Money Guard) through Lincoln Financial. Advisor says there is no way we can lose and guarantees we will be accepted even though we have both been rejected by other LTC providers due to past medical issues. We are in our mid-60's and have excellent health now. The brochures we were given have very little information and we haven't been able to find much else through internet searches. The advisor wants us to both invest a minimum of $50,000 into this product and says we can change our minds and get this money back at any time, the money will accrue interest, will provide $150,000 nursing home or in-home care for a 3-year period and if unused will go to our heirs tax-free. We are both hearing those little voices saying "be careful" and the financial advisor is calling several times a week and has the paperwork ready for our signatures. We will do the phone interview tomorrow and he says he will know within a few hours that we are approved. Far different than our other LTC applications which took a few weeks for denial. Is anyone familiar with this company and product? Is it worth considering?

I heard this, too, the merging of one's life insurance with LTC. I was told that this is more expensive and that you can't qualify for the partnership program. Hope somebody can shed some light on this. We can't just disregard the premiums we've already paid for life insurance, right? So I'm one of those people who would like to hear more about this merging.

Thank you in advance:)

Both of you have a right to be concerned about the policy you're discussing, which is called "Money Guard".

Midwest, contrary to what your advisor is telling you, Money Guard (and other Life/LTC combo policies) medically underwrite both life insurance AND long term care insurance. If you have both been declined by other LTC companies, despite what your advisor is telling you, there is no way for him to "guarantee" that either of you will qualify for Money Guard. In fact for those who have been previously declined, Money Guard is tougher to qualify for.

If health was not an issue, an indivdual LTC policy would give you a better, comprehensive policy than the LTC benefits, which are part of Money-Guard.

The fact that your advisor is pushing you to sign an application before you fully understand what you're signing, leads me to believe he may not have your best interests in mind.

My suggestion would be to tell your advisor to back off and give you some time to review your options. I would then suggest you look for a LTC specialist who represents a number of different carriers in your state and have him/her review the medical issues that you're either dealing with now, or have dealt with in the past. Each company looks at medical history differently.

If it's determined that you are both uninsurabe then Money Guard may be an option for you. In addition to Life/LTC policies, there are also Annuity/LTC policies that you may want to consider.

Is life insurance important to you? There's no sense in buying a policy if it's not.

There is no urgency to do something tomorrow and don't let your advisor pressure you. It's more important that you look at all of your options before making a decision.


Good luck,
Arthur

If you've been declined for traditional LTC insurance, it's pretty darned unlikely you'll be approved for MoneyGuard. They underwrite this on a simple "yes" or "no" basis. Depending upon why you were declined, you may have more luck with a fully-underwritten permanent life insurance policy that offers a chronic illness benefit. This would let you get some or all of your death benefit out to use to pay for long term care. There are a few carriers that offer these - Hancock, Penn Mutual, and a few others.