Elder Care Cost Planner Calculator
Estimate total elder care costs by setting, duration, inflation, and benefit offsets (Medicaid, VA, LTC insurance).
Medical Disclaimer
This calculator is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about your health. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of results from this tool.
Inputs
Results
Monthly cost (adjusted)
$5,350.00
≈ 5 smartphones
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the current level of care needed: in-home care, assisted living, or skilled nursing.
- Enter the number of care hours per day and the local hourly or daily rate.
- Enter the expected duration of care in months or years.
- Review Total Care Cost and Monthly Cost to budget for elder care expenses.
- Use the estimate to compare care options and plan funding strategies including long-term care insurance.
What each input means
- Care Setting
- Select care setting.
- In-home hours/week
- Hours of in-home care per week (only applies to care setting 1). Standard is 44 hrs/week.
- Duration
- Expected duration of care in months. Average nursing home stay is ~2.5 years.
- Geographic cost adjustment
- Regional cost adjustment vs national median. E.g., +30% for NYC, -20% for rural South.
- Annual care cost inflation
- Annual rate of care cost increase. Historical average is ~3-5%.
- Medicaid Eligible
- Medicaid benefit eligibility.
- VA Benefits
- VA benefit eligibility.
- LTC Insurance
- Long-term care insurance coverage.
- LTC daily benefit
- Daily benefit amount from LTC insurance policy. Only applies if LTC insurance = 1.
What each result means
- Monthly cost (adjusted)
- Monthly care cost after geographic adjustment, before benefit offsets.
- First year annual cost
- Total cost for the first year of care.
- Total cost over duration
- Cumulative care cost over the full duration, accounting for inflation.
- Final month cost
- Monthly cost in the last month of care (reflects inflation).
- Net monthly out-of-pocket
- Monthly cost after Medicaid, VA, and LTC insurance offsets.
- Total out-of-pocket
- Total out-of-pocket cost over the full duration after all benefit offsets.
- Savings needed
- Total savings needed to self-fund the out-of-pocket portion of care.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersCare Setting = 3, In-home hours/week = 44, Duration = 24, Geographic cost adjustment = 0 = 9 input(s) provided
- Calculate Monthly costMonthly cost = baseMonthlyCost * (1 + costAdjustmentPct / 100)5350 = $5,350
- Calculate First year annual costFirst year annual cost64200 = $64,200
- Calculate Total cost over durationTotal cost over duration133352 = $133,352
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