Peace of Mind with Genworth #LetsTalk

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Genworth. I received a promotional item to thank me for participating.

My husband and I both experienced the loss of our maternal grandmothers since we've been married, and it's generated some important conversations between us especially concerning the long term care of our own parents. Insurance provider Genworth realizes the importance of such conversations and has launched its "Lets Talk Tour" to get Americans to start discussing and planning for long term care.

With my late Grandma Emma at my bridal shower in 2009

What exactly is long term care? It's assistance that helps people with issues often related to aging for an extended period of time either in-home or at a facility. It's not the most exciting topic to think about, but it's one that we need to be sure to have with our loved ones. My readers are mostly in the same demographic of having parents in their 50s and 60s - the age that's it's critical to have these talks especially as Americans are living longer. However, while Genworth research shows that 75% of seniors are comfortable talking about aging, less than 20% of their children broached the topic.

While I haven't explicitly asked my parents what their own plan is, I have talked to them about the disparity I've seen in how we handle aging in the U.S. vs. what I saw when I visited Nigeria and saw Uka's grandma right before she passed away. It's definitely the "American-way" to put the elderly in facilities and while I wouldn't want to do that to my parents and instead honor them the way I see in the Nigerian tradition by taking care of them, I cannot predict the medical care or assistance I might need in doing so. That's where long term care insurance like Genworth's would be helpful.

The "Let's Talk Tours" are spurring the education and dialogue on the topic and while they've already visited NYC, there are upcoming tours in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas which you can learn more about here. Also, check out this quick recap of the NYC tour featuring Rob Lowe which happened last month (on the day Grayson was born in fact!):

 

If you're like me and thinking about longterm care, please visit Genworth's Let's Talk Tour page and get inspired to have the conversations with your older loved ones. Start with a simple question over a cup of coffee: "How do you want to age?" and go from there. The peace of mind is worth it!