Paying for care: the guides
Senior care is the largest unplanned expense most families ever face. These guides cover the payment rules in plain language — what Medicare covers, what Medicaid requires, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost families the most.
How to pay for assisted living
Almost nobody pays for assisted living with one source of money. They work through a sequence, and the sequence matters, because spending the wrong asset first can cost you eligibility later.Read the guide →Medicare vs. Medicaid
These two programs sound alike and are constantly confused. One is insurance for people over 65 regardless of income. The other is welfare with a means test. Only one of them pays for the long term.Read the guide →Assisted living vs. nursing home
The decision is not about which is better. It is about how much medical supervision the person actually needs today, and how that is likely to change.Read the guide →Medicaid spend-down rules
Most people who end up on Medicaid for long-term care did not start out poor. They spent down, and the rules governing that process are the single most consequential thing to understand before moving money.Read the guide →Start with the numbers, then the rules
Two questions decide almost everything. What will care cost in your state, and how long will your money last at that cost? The calculator answers both in about thirty seconds, using the same dataset behind every page on this site.
Once you know the gap, the guides above tell you which funding source fills it, and in what order.