I don’t think that LTC insurance really makes sense. I think it would be better to put that money in an IRA instead. If you are rich enough to afford it, then you are likely rich enough to not need it.
One way to greatly diminish your chances of needing LTC in the first place is to exercise regularly. It will greatly reduce your chances of things like a stroke, loss of mobility, diabetes related problems, mental decline, and many other health related issues that cause people to need assistance as they get older. And if you do need LTC, staying fit may mean the degree of help you need is lower and you can be independent longer and maintain a higher quality of life. So rather than spending all that money on insurance, get some exercise equipment and keep yourself healthy. Even doing simple things like going for regular walks can have a huge benefit.
After my Mom went through some long-term 24/7 nursing care before dying, I bought an interesting hybrid life-insurance/LTC policy. You could pay monthly premiums or a 1-time lump sum–if you did that they could never ask for additional premiums. It was pricy at $100,000 one-time, but if I gack tomorrow my wife gets $125,000 back and most importantly, there is no time or dollar cap on payout. Need 10 years of in-home nursing, you get it. Need 3 months and then you die you get a pro-rated payback. We probably have enough money to self-insure, but my wife has mild MS so it seemed like a good idea to buy this as a hedge to ensure there are funds available for her care if needed.
Is that accurate though? People who lead healthy lifestyles may just end up living long enough to develop dementia in their 80s and require around the clock nursing care. Basically, maybe healthy living just redistributes when you need nursing home care and you’ll require it in your 80s while someone with a worse lifestyle may need it in their 70s.
I’m not really sure what will help lower your rates of ending up in a nursing home, but living a healthy lifestyle could if anything increase your odds of ending up in one because you’ll live long enough to see your body fail in new and spectacular ways in your 80s. But I really don’t know for sure what lowers the lifetime odds of needing assisted living or nursing home care. The problem is the human body fails with age, and disability can precede death.
I know education is correlated with disability rates (more educated people are less disabled) but I think that only extends to middle age, not senior years.