In short, long-term care insurance is not for everyone. You should carefully evaluate your risk and objectives before you pull the trigger.

Long-term care insurance policy is not for everyone. For a limited population, long-term care policy makes sense as an affordable and worthwhile form of insurance. Buying long-term coverage should not cause financial hardship and force you to forego other financial needs. Whether long-term care insurance is appropriate requires a full financial analysis. For many people it is not a good idea.

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Buying a policy is a function of your age, health status, overall retirement objectives, income and wealth. If the only source of income is a minimum Social Security benefit or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), do not purchase a policy. If paying utilities, food or medicine stretches a budget; this person should not purchase a policy.

Long-term care policies are only for people with significant assets they want to preserve for family members, to assure independence and not burden family members with nursing home bills. Never buy a policy if paying the premiums will be a problem. If you have existing health problems that will result in the need for long-term care, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, no company will sell you a policy because the probability of losses exceeds the probability the carrier will earn a profit on its contract with you.