Sponsored by Keibler & Sutherland
By Tiffany White

Being able to minimize your loss of assets is difficult if you’re not careful about the financial decisions you make.

Photos by Melissa Donald

Roy Keibler, founder of Keibler and Sutherland, dba Keibler and Associates, Inc. shares three mistakes you should avoid making to protect your assets and ensure that you can afford longterm healthcare in the future.

  • Adding your children’s name to your deed, brokerage accounts or stock accounts. “Let’s say you’re sued because you are in a car wreck and now you are at fault. All of your parent’s assets are now owned equally by you and if you lose the lawsuit so does a parent which means all the assets that your name is on are at risk,” he says.
  • Not thinking before you give. If you apply for Medicaid benefits, Medicaid will review the gifts you’ve given in the last five years. Roy says the gifts will be counted as part of your assets, and Medicaid will assign a penalty for any gift that has been given.
  • Not buying long-term care insurance. Buying long-term care insurance while you are in good health is a wise option for making your financial situation easier in the future. “There are also life insurance care policies that have long-term care riders on them and can be used to pay for long-term care costs,” he says.