Ok, I'm covered if I die too soon. But, what if I live too long?

Living too long would seem like a blessing for most of us—how can I live too long?—but living too long in poverty? Pinching pennies while continually wondering 'What if?' That wouldn't be as much fun.

Stats

And it's not as crazy as it sounds. As it turns out, while life expectancy in this country is roughly 85, fully 50% of women and 40% of men will still be around at that age. And with life expectancies continuously rising, it's not impossible to imagine a large percentage of people in triple digits relatively soon.

So what, I've got a savings account?

Savings, pensions, RRSP's—all of them serve to protect our standard of living when we get older. Great. But our resources can only go so far. If we end up living longer than expected, we could see our finances drained with even the most rigorous planning. Since we never know when we're going to die, all of our scrounging would be educated guesswork at best,leaving us in unncessary poverty during our supposed 'Golden Years'. How do you budget for something you can't possibly predict?

You don't. You buy Long Term Care Insurance.

Long Term Care Insurance is sort of the opposite of Life Insurance. It works like this: In exchange for a one-time lump sum payment, you are guaranteed a regular, steady, risk-free revenue stream for as long as you happen to live. 

And what if I do die too soon?

Depending on the policy, your family can continue to receive that income for a set period of time after your death.