How Retirees Should Fund Long-Term Care

On Episode 152 of The FIRE Podcast, Lucas and Luna tackle one of the most overlooked costs in a FIRE plan: long-term care. While most planners assume Medicare covers everything in old age, the reality is that Medicare does not pay for custodial care, leaving early retirees exposed to six-figure annual expenses. Lucas walks through the actual numbers — the median cost of a private nursing home room, the state-by-state variance, and the probability that a 65-year-old will need some form of long-term care. The conversation drills into the different funding options: self-insuring, buying traditional long-term care insurance, hybrid life insurance policies with a long-term care rider, and Medicaid planning. Lucas argues that the classic FIRE approach of 'just self-insure' is riskier than most assume, especially for sequence risk and portfolio longevity. Luna brings up the emotional side, noting how caregiving often falls on family members, which is a financial blind spot many planners miss. They close by sketching a practical framework: run your numbers, consider a hybrid policy if you're in your 40s or 50s, and build a plan that protects your partner and your portfolio. This episode gives early retirees a clear-eyed look at a cost that can derail even the best FIRE plan. #LongTermCare #FIRE #EarlyRetirement #RetirementPlanning #Medicare #MedicaidPlanning #Caregiving #NursingHomeCosts #SelfInsuring #HybridPolicies #Finance #PersonalFinance #Retirement #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #RetirementSecurity Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo