All of the modeling I've done until recently assumed a maximum age of 100. It would seem that living longer requires more assets at the outset of retirement than does dying at, say, 85. I recently tested that theory and was surprised to find that, in my case, my standard of living was lower if I died at 85 than if I survived to 100.

I used special expenditures to enter projected LTC expenses at EOL for each husband and wife. I entered the amount for each person so that there are two entries for each year labelled as nursing home expense. The standard tables all incorporate this amount correctly. However, the survivor tables also report the total special expenditures for both persons. In the survivor tables, is there a way to remove the special expenditures that are associated with a deceased spouse, so that the survivor calculations are not burdened by that amount?

My wife and I are fortunate to have assets at a level where it is recommended we consider purchasing long-term care insurance. I understand that Economists feel that the purpose of insurance is to pay for very expensive but unlikely events, so we should self-insure against affordable but more likely events.

My question is: how do I use ESPlanner Plus to determine the level of long-term care insurance coverage we should purchase?

I wish to purchase and enter long term care expenses. Is the "special expenditures" the proper method for entering or should these numbers be budgeted in "consumption"?