Monday, August 15, 2011

National Assisted Living Week

Americans are living longer than ever before.  Ultimately, many of us will require nursing home care or assisted living. How many? Studies indicate that one in two women and one in four men will live in a nursing home at some point in their lives.

The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL), a division of the American Health Care Association (AHCA), helps Americans celebrate our aging citizens each year with an official National Assisted Living Week. In 2011, the celebration runs from September 11th through the 17th. During this time, assisted living facilities and nursing homes across the country will bring together nursing home residents, staff, families and community members for events, promotions and games honoring seniors.

This year’s theme is Forever Proud. It was chosen, in part, to remember the tragic events of 9/11/01ten years ago and how our country pulled together in a spirit of unity and pride afterwards. On another level, the theme was chosen to address pride in other areas as well: pride in a lifetime of work well done; pride in skills mastered and goals accomplished; pride in the achievements of family and friends.

As estate planning attorneys, we applaud the efforts of the NCAL and hope that you will take part in this year’s celebration. We also hope that National Assisted Living Week serves as a reminder to you about the importance of long-term planning. If your current plan does not incorporate legal tools and strategies to protect your assets against the high cost of nursing home or assisted living care, now would be a good time to contact an estate planning firm in your city or town. 

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