About 15 years ago, Don Brady and his three sisters convened to address their father’s need for long-term care insurance. At the end of the discussion, Don urged his youngest sister and her husband, Kathy and Jeff, to consider long-term care insurance, too. By this time, Don had been a financial advisor for about 11 years and was convinced long-term care insurance was a sound investment. Kathy and Jeff agreed. About ten years later, when Kathy was just 62 years old, she was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia. Jeff and Kathy were understandably pleased they had heeded Don’s advice.
Discussing the need for long-term care insurance, Don says, is an uncomfortable conversation for many people. Most tend to believe they will always be able to care for themselves. Unfortunately, history tells a different story. According to the U.S. Department of Human Services, 70 percent of people who survive to age 65 will need some level of paid care during their lifetimes. The statistic for married couples is even more alarming. “There is a 91 percent chance one of them will need assistance or long-term care,” Don says. The good news, however, is it can be more affordable than people think. “Everybody assumes it’s just too expensive,” Don says. “And that’s not the case.”
Don, who is one-quarter Cherokee Indian, attended the University of Oklahoma with financial help from the Cherokee Nation and a partial tennis scholarship. After earning a degree in finance, he worked in downtown Houston in the oil and gas commodities trading business for 20 years. He was successful and, admittedly, a little arrogant. Then something changed.
“In 1992, my youngest daughter was born with a severe genetic disorder that caused massive brain damage,” Don says. “That’s where my life started to change.” Don likes to quote Mark Twain, who once said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Don found out “why” in 1992 when Lainey was born. “My purpose in life is to take care of my angel daughter,” he says. “I changed into a much more compassionate, empathetic person.”
Don had been contemplating a career change, and in 1999, he took the leap and became a financial advisor. Initially, he did a lot of work counseling the parents of patients at Texas Children’s Hospital. He ultimately worked for two major companies, and started his own company, Boomer Financial Group, in 2015. Many clients thought he named the company after the “Boomer Sooner” tradition of the University of Oklahoma, but Don actually had a different kind of boomer in mind. When he worked in the oil and gas commodities trading business, most of his colleagues were older than he was, so he named his business after baby boomers. Although Don works with many people today who are not a part of that demographic, the name has stayed the same.
About a year ago, Don shifted gears. He and his wife Brenda moved from Houston to Walden on Lake Conroe to pursue a more relaxed way of life. At about the same time, he sold the wealth management side of his financial advising business so he could concentrate solely on providing long-term care insurance for his clients. Brenda joined him in the business, lending her valuable administrative and organizational skills.
Don is passionate about helping people address their long-term care needs, and has given more than 100 seminars and workshops on the topic. “I am surrounded by the need for it,” he says, noting several of his family members are now receiving long-term care. Knowing people are often reluctant to discuss the need for such coverage, he likes to say, “Let’s start the conversation.”
One thing that often shocks Don’s clients is the staggering expense of long-term care. Depending on the level of care needed, the cost can range from $5,000 to more than $10,000 per month. Dementia—the leading catalyst for long-term care—is typically diagnosed between eight and nine years before a patient’s death. Eight and one-half years of care at $10,000 per month totals more than $1 million—a sum that can cripple many retirement plans. “Medicaid doesn’t pay for it; Medicare doesn’t pay for it; Obamacare doesn’t pay for it. It literally comes out of your pocket unless you have insurance,” Don says. “It’s the second largest destroyer of retirement assets next to divorce.”
Don also knows what can happen when family members choose to shoulder the entire burden of care for relatives who cannot care for themselves. When his stepfather became disabled, his mother cared for him. “It wore her down; it took a massive toll on her physically,” he says. “It can destroy a person even more than the person who is sick.”
Fortunately, Don also has good news to impart. Most of his clients are pleasantly surprised, he says, when they discover they can acquire long-term care insurance, thereby protecting their financial assets, without writing huge checks. Boomer Financial Group does much of its business with One America, the fourth-largest mutual insurance company in the country. One America holds a unique patent that allows qualified clients to pay for long-term care insurance with tax-qualified funds, such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). For this reason, Don doesn’t use the term “purchase” when he talks about acquiring long-term care insurance. “It’s mainly a repositioning of a financial asset,” he says.
There are varying degrees of benefit coverage, Don says, with many ways to customize the financing of premiums. “The template monthly benefit is about $6,000 a month,” he says. “If you can’t afford to do that, $2,000 to $3,000 a month is still a huge help once the time comes that you need that care. Some coverage is better than nothing.” Interestingly, once a policyholder needs long-term care, policies pay the full monthly benefit amount, and spouses or other family members can receive payment for caring for the insured family member. Also noteworthy: perhaps because husbands and wives tend to watch out for each other, Don says, joint policies are surprisingly affordable. He also reports heart disease, cancer and diabetes are not necessarily disqualifying health conditions.
Although many clients put off discussing the need for long-term care insurance, Don says, they are happy and relieved when they mark the task off their mental to-do lists. “The satisfaction they have is amazing. It’s restful sleep,” he says, noting numerous clients who have acquired long-term care insurance have made claims and are now receiving benefits. “Families are grateful when the time comes that they thought to get the coverage back when.”
For more information, contact Don at boomerfingrp@gmail.com or 713-705-3433.
