shAARP Talk: Observations from AARP

Forbes: Long Term Care Insurance May Alleviate Pressure On Relatives

"Now living longer than ever before, two out of five Americans will eventually need long-term care at some point in their lives. Neither health nor disability insurance covers long-term care, leaving long-term-care insurance as the only option besides paying out of pocket." But "having long-term-care insurance alleviates the pressure on a spouse or family member to be the primary caregiver." Forbes recommends, "When shopping around for a long-term-care insurance policy, buy only from an insurer with at least $1 billion in assets as well as an A.M. Best rating of at least A-. In addition to John Hancock and Genworth, some of the best carriers include Guardian, Met Life, New York Life, Northwest Mutual and Mass Mutual. All long-term-care policies are guaranteed renewable as long as you pay your premiums."

Fortune: Gas-Guzzling Cars Predicted To Follow Smoking As Publicly Unacceptable

Alex Taylor III writes, "Simply by chance, a pair of new cars fell into my hands last weekend that perfectly demonstrated the yin and yang of today's auto industry. The Pontiac G8 was powerful, exciting, fun to drive - and as obsolete as the buggy whip. The Nissan Cube was homely, utilitarian and slow - and we all ought to get used to it, because that's what most of us are going to be driving in the future." Recently, "tobacco use finally reached the tipping point where it no longer became acceptable to light up in public." Inexorably, gas-inefficient, "high-displacement automobiles like the G8 are approaching that same juncture. At some point, people will find it sociably unacceptable to drive them. Exactly when that day arrives is anybody's guess, but it surely isn't too far off."

MarketWatch: Moving To Assisted Living Or Nursing Home Can Trigger Sale Clause Of Reverse Mortgage

Lew Sichelman writes, "Reverse mortgages are repaid from the sale of the residence when the borrower moves out." However, "according to attorney Josh Ard of Williamston, Mich., when you no longer use the home as your principal residence is defined much more broadly as it applies to reverse mortgages than it is for tax purposes and legal domicile." Ard said, "Leaving one's home for an assisted living facility or a nursing home for a matter of months is enough to trigger the due-on-sale clause for most reverse mortgage products." Michigan law allows "a person in a nursing home [to] still claim her home as her residence for property tax purposes, but moving to a nursing home would force her to pay off her reverse mortgage."