Aging Population
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America's Future Long Term Care Needs

Long-term care is more of an issue now then it ever was in the past due to our aging population. We are living much longer now than we ever did before. Along with living longer, our odds for needing long-term care increase. Many times people wrongly assume that because no one in their family needed long-term care, they won’t. What people forget is that in the past their family members probably didn’t live long enough to require long-term care! As we live longer, our odds for needing long-term care increase.

 
“Currently, there are 35 million people over 65, some 13% of the population. By 2030, the number will grow to 70 Million, or one-fifth of the population.”
National Academy on an Aging Society January 1999 as quoted in Long-Term Care: Your Financial Planning Guide, Phyllis Shelton 2001

“There are 72,000 Americans over the age of 100, and that number is expected to triple in 20 years.”
Centenarians in the United States, Census Bureau, July 1999