Long term care planning isn't something that people normally look forward to doing, as opposed to owning a sports car, taking the trip of a lifetime, or even acquiring a stock. You could say it's more in the castor-oil/routine physical/preventative test category of life's purchases. You know you should have it. Getting it behind you is a good thing, like jury duty.

So it's no surprise that many financial and legal advisors don't proactively bring up the topic of long term care planning to their clients, friends and relatives.

After all, who wants to be seen as strong-arming anything on a client or loved one? Especially when 'it' is an insurance product!

But like Katie Couric championing routine colonoscopies after her husband died of rectal cancer, sometimes it takes a well-intentioned messenger to bridge the gap between ignorance and enlightened action. The best messengers have seen the downside of inaction. They don't necessarily strongarm people to action, but instead remind and encourage people to look at something they'd rather ignore. Kind've like the dentist who encourages regular dental care to minimize the amount of painful and expensive procedures he must do down the road.

There are still many, many people who believe these inaccurate statements:

- Medicare pays for most long term care;
- Long term care insurance is best purchased after age 60;
- Long term care insurance is outrageously expensive;
- It's a better strategy to invest the premiums and self-insure.

These beliefs would almost be amusing if the possible consequences weren't so tragic and expensive. It would kind've be like talking to a family member or a client who didn't know that taxes had to be filed each year!

Of course it's not up to you or anyone to convince another adult to purchase long term care insurance. However, as a professional who cares about others, whether from obligation or as a practitioner of the Golden Rule, have you ever considered this:

How many individuals and families could you help if you encouraged them to get the facts on long term care insurance? While they are still healthy, and young enough to more easily afford the purchase?

Now is the time to build a long term care insurance question into every client meeting. Because, when a need for long term care arises in their sphere, and it almost inevitably will, you want to be the person they thank for encouraging them. Don't you?