How to Insure Your Income: Long-Term Care & Life Insurance as Income Protection Conclusion

Probably the most important reason for purchasing LTC insurance is protection of assets. Most people accumulate assets during their working years and rely on these assets to add to economic security during retirement, by contributing to monthly income or providing funds for emergencies. Since nursing home costs are substantial, an uninsured confinement in a nursing home could rapidly deplete, and even wipe out, assets that were accumulated over many decades.

LTC and life insurance can be structured to protect income -- and even generate streams of income for you or your beneficiaries. But these kinds of insurance are not, strictly speaking, disability insurance. They are indirect coverage, at best. If you're severely disabled, disability income insurance is the most effective form of protection.