Every advisor and agent has a few planning gaps that are easy to acknowledge… and even easier to postpone.
Long-term care is the big one.
Not because you don’t believe in it.
Because the conversation tends to break down in the same predictable places:
- It gets emotional fast.
- It gets complicated faster.
- And clients hit you with the objection that ends most LTC discussions on the spot:
“What if I pay for it and never use it?”
So the plan moves on. The gap stays.
Here’s the problem: LTC isn’t a line item. It’s an event. And when that event shows up, it doesn’t politely ask for permission to enter the plan. It forces a decision—usually under pressure—usually at the worst possible time.
If you’re not proactively addressing the LTC blind spot, you’re not “waiting.”
You’re letting the timeline make the decision for your client.
The real FOMO: someone else will solve it first
I’ll say the quiet part out loud: clients don’t usually fire you because you didn’t bring up long-term care.
They leave because someone else showed them a clearer plan.
If you’re not equipped with a simple, confident framework to address LTC risk, one of two things happens:
- The client postpones until health changes and options shrink.
- Another professional leads the conversation first—and now you’re reacting instead of leading.
Either way, you lose control of the narrative. And in this business, control of the narrative is everything.
A simple framework that actually lands: three ways clients pay for care
Retirement income planning has become far more complex. When an LTC event hits, funding comes from one of three places:
1) Lifestyle
A spouse becomes the caregiver. Adult children step in. Work schedules change. Independence erodes. The “we’ll figure it out” plan becomes the most expensive plan—just not always in dollars first.
2) Income
Clients self-fund, one check at a time. It’s a slow bleed that changes retirement spending, distribution strategy, and legacy planning. The plan still “works”… until it doesn’t.
3) Leverage
A dedicated pool of dollars exists specifically for care, so the rest of the plan doesn’t have to absorb the shock.
Most clients are unknowingly headed for #1 or #2.
Your job is to help them choose #3 in a way they can say yes to.
Why traditional LTC planning stalls (even when clients agree with the need)
Traditional LTC approaches often create friction at exactly the wrong moment—right when the client is deciding whether to act:
- “This feels like money disappearing.”
- “I don’t want to pay forever.”
- “The underwriting process sounds miserable.”
- “I don’t want to fight to get reimbursed later.”
Even motivated clients can’t get comfortable with a solution that feels like a grind.
That’s why asset-based LTC has gained so much traction.
Not because it’s “better” in every case—nothing is.
But because it removes the pain points that stop action.
The asset-based shift: make LTC a planning move, not a fear pitch
Asset-based LTC changes the conversation from:
“Pay for coverage and hope you never need it,”
to:
“Reposition an asset you already have into a strategy that can increase dollars available for care—while preserving value if care is never needed.”
This is the difference between a product discussion and a planning decision.
Clients don’t want another thing to buy.
They want a smarter way to protect what they’ve built. Consider repositioning underperforming assets.
The benefits (and the exact pain each one solves)
Here’s what asset-based LTC can bring to the table—especially for clients who are stuck at “we should do something” but can’t commit to the traditional model.
1) “If you don’t use it, you don’t lose it.”
This is the objection-killer.
Clients hate the idea of paying into a plan that vanishes if they stay healthy. Asset-based designs can preserve value—often through a benefit that remains available even if long-term care is never needed.
Pain it solves: “I’m not paying for something I might never use.”
2) Leverage: turn one pool of dollars into a bigger pool for care
In the right scenario, repositioned dollars can create meaningful leverage for long-term care needs—so one event doesn’t drain the portfolio and force unwanted trade-offs.
Pain it solves: “One care event could blow up our plan.”
3) Simplicity: clients can actually understand it
This matters more than most professionals admit.
The cleanest conversations are built around clarity:
- “Here’s the asset we’re moving.”
- “Here’s what it becomes.”
- “Here’s how it protects the rest of the plan.”
When clients understand it, they act.
Pain it solves: analysis paralysis and endless “let’s revisit it next meeting.”
4) Flexibility: care doesn’t happen one way
The real-world LTC journey is messy: home care, assisted living, family involvement, changing needs over time. Asset-based structures are often built to support flexibility in how care is delivered and funded.
Pain it solves: “What if we need care that doesn’t fit the standard reimbursement box?”
5) Less claim-time friction (the hidden deal-breaker)
Many clients don’t fear LTC because they fear paying. They fear bureaucracy—the idea of paperwork, receipts, delays, and arguing about what qualifies at the exact moment they’re already stressed.
Some designs are structured to reduce that friction, so benefits are easier to use when life is hardest.
Pain it solves: “I don’t want to fight for benefits when I’m already dealing with care.”
6) Better planning: it protects outcomes, not just assets
LTC planning isn’t only about paying for care. It’s about preventing a care event from forcing:
- premature portfolio liquidation
- income plan disruption
- spouse lifestyle erosion
- legacy collapse
When you solve the LTC blind spot, the rest of the plan gets stronger.
Pain it solves: the “great plan on paper” that breaks under real life.
Reality check
If you have clients in the retirement red zone and LTC hasn’t been clearly addressed, you already know what happens:
They’ll either postpone until health limits options…
or they’ll take action after an event—when the only options are the expensive ones.
That’s why this conversation is showing up more often in review meetings. And it’s why financial professionals who have a clean framework are pulling ahead.
Don’t miss the webinar: The Asset-Based LTC Playbook
If you want the full framework—how to position it, who it fits, how to handle the “don’t use it, don’t lose it” objection, and how to keep the conversation planning-first—we’re covering it live.
The Asset-Based LTC Playbook Webinar
If LTC is a known risk in your clients’ plans and you’re not addressing it, this is your moment to close the gap before the gap becomes the event.
🗓 Tuesday, February 24 | 🕛 Noon ET | 💻 Live 60-minute session
Seats are limited. This is your chance to guide the conversation—and anchor your clients’ confidence.
RELATED READING:
Time to Update Retirement Thinking
Erick Lindewall
VP of Annuity Sales
Not your average wholesaler. Erick Lindewall brings 35 years of industry grit and insight to every conversation—and helps advisors do the same. He’s not here to push products. He’s here to engineer results.
Before joining DMI, Erick spent over 25 years as an External Variable Annuity Wholesaler—and cut his teeth as a financial advisor and sales manager before that. He’s worked across every major distribution channel. What does that mean for you? He knows what it’s like to be in your seat.
Or Call 781-919-2351
