Does your holistic approach to longevity include financial strategies?
Smart long-term care (LTC) planning synchronizes money strategies with physical, mental, and emotional wellness goals. It also goes far beyond a 20-year retirement plan. To avoid outliving your assets, you need a holistic multi-decade approach that extends well into your 90s, or even by age 100.
Add these key action items to your LTC checklist.
1. Stress Test Your Longevity Plan
A standard retirement plan may fail to provide the type of holistic senior security you want if it’s not tested on various scenarios, like potential inflation spikes or market crashes.
Wealth management firms and financial planners use stress-testing methods to ensure retirement plans are resilient enough to withstand tough economic conditions. These industries leverage the latest actuarial expertise and longevity data to test for long-term security, pointing to Abacus as an example.
2. Put Spending Guardrails in Place
Rather than sticking to a rigid percentage rule for retirement fund withdrawals, like the initial 4% withdrawal rule, guardrails use market performance to adjust retirement spending for a longer term. It’s a more dynamic approach that helps reduce cash outflows during economic downturns, while allowing reasonable spend increases during bull markets.
3. Maximize Your Retirement Income
Did you know that delaying your Social Security can increase your yearly benefits for every year delayed?
This strategy will help you maximize your retirement income. Check the SSA’s latest benefits planner to see the rate of increase for seniors born within birth year brackets.
4. Build Your Longevity Cushion
An emergency fund may not be enough to finance sudden medical expenses or senior safety upgrades.
Instead, build a more reliable cushion by putting money into low-risk strategies like certificates of deposit (CDs) and high-yield savings accounts. Even a 2% increase in savings can make a considerable difference, with spending guardrails. This approach prevents stock sell-offs during market downturns, creating a buffer against potential healthcare inflation.
5. How to Diversify for Longevity
Traditional retirement portfolios are often built on 50% stocks and 50% bonds, but this split strategy may not be enough to hedge against long-term market volatility.
Smart diversification creates a more resilient portfolio through assets like real estate (REITs), private credit, or commodities. Products like longevity insurance or deferred annuities payout by age 80 or 85, creating a stronger financial buffer for your most vulnerable senior years.
Invest in the “silver economy!” Diversify your portfolio with relevant age-tech investments in elder-care robotics, senolytics, and IoT-connected products for seniors.
6. Plan for Complex Care
Look into hybrid life insurance policies with add-ons for long-term care services. You’ll have a secure cushion to work with if you need it. If it goes unused, it’ll pass on to your family through an estate planning strategy.
Health savings accounts (HSAs) roll over and grow tax-free, ideal for LTC strategies. You can use HSAs to fund medical expenses at least through your 80s.
Digital vaults also store essential information like powers of attorney and healthcare action plans, as part of a smart estate planning strategy.
Plan for the Long Haul
If LTC planning were a puzzle, what pieces are you missing?
Stress-test your portfolio, include spending guardrails, maximize your social security, build a real financial cushion, think bigger than stock-and-bond splits, and plan for complex long-term care.
Look at every angle to ensure you’re secure through your 90s and beyond.
Journalist Chloe Rivera studied at the University of Missouri and has covered mindful, stylish living since 2013. She joined us in 2025 to curate realistic routines, budget-friendly décor, and community stories that help readers craft balance without perfection pressure. When offline, Chloe volunteers at urban farms, photographs street style, and hosts weekend swap parties for preloved clothes and books in her neighborhood.
