At home
Help from family members, paid caregivers, or a combination. It is where most care begins and where most people say they would prefer to stay.
Long-term care article
Long-term care planning for women in Wisconsin.
Long-term care planning for women means preparing for two possibilities at once: the chance of providing extended care for someone else, and the chance of needing it yourself. A plan looks at who would provide care, where it would happen, what it could cost locally, how it would affect retirement income and a surviving spouse, and which funding approaches are worth reviewing — before a decision has to be made in a hurry.
By Sarah DePover, MBA · Published and updated August 17, 2026 · 10 minute read
Why this lands differently for women
Many women carry both sides of the care question.
In a lot of households, the person who ends up coordinating care for an aging parent is a daughter, a daughter-in-law, or a wife. She takes the calls, drives to the appointments, learns the paperwork, and sometimes cuts back her own hours to do it. The Administration for Community Living, in its caregiving resources for older women, notes that caregiving responsibilities fall disproportionately on women and can affect their own financial security and health.
The second half is quieter. Women, on average, live longer than men, which means a woman is more likely to be the one still living in the house after a spouse’s care event has already drawn down savings — and more likely to eventually need paid care herself, because there may be no spouse left at home to provide it informally.
None of this is universal, and none of it is a prediction about any one person. It is simply why the planning conversation for women often has to hold two timelines: the care you might give, and the care you might need. Sarah works with clients of any gender; this page focuses on the pattern because it is the one most often left unplanned.
What it includes
What long-term care means, and where it happens.
Long-term care usually describes ongoing help with everyday activities — bathing, dressing, eating, moving around, managing medication — rather than a single medical treatment.
Adult day programs
Daytime supervision and activities outside the home, often used to give a family caregiver working hours back.
Assisted living
A residential setting with support for daily activities, with services and pricing that vary widely by community.
Memory care
A setting structured around cognitive decline, typically with additional staffing and security.
Nursing homes
Higher-acuity residential care, sometimes entered after a hospital stay and sometimes as needs progress.
Moving between settings
Needs change. Many people use more than one setting over the course of a care event, which is why a fixed assumption tends to age poorly.
Medicare
Medicare and custodial care are not the same thing.
Custodial long-term care
Medicare generally does not pay for non-medical custodial care — help with daily activities — when that is the only care a person needs. This is the category most families mean when they say “long-term care,” and it is the one most often assumed to be covered.
Skilled care
Skilled nursing facility care and skilled home health care are a different category and can be covered, but coverage is subject to eligibility requirements and limits. It is not a substitute for a long-term care plan.
Reference: Medicare.gov — Long-term care coverage (opens in a new tab).
What to model
Seven financial questions worth putting on paper.
These are the questions Sarah works through with households. Answering them does not require choosing a product.
Care setting
Would care most likely start at home, and what would trigger a move to assisted living or a nursing setting?
Family roles
Who is actually expected to help — and has that person agreed, in words, out loud?
Retirement income
Which income sources would absorb care costs, and what would that do to the rest of the plan?
Surviving spouse
If one person needed years of care, what income and assets would remain for the other?
Liquidity
Could the household pay for care without selling something at a bad moment, or borrowing?
Inflation
Care costs generally rise over time. Does the plan assume today's prices or future ones?
Existing coverage
What do current policies, employer benefits, and older contracts already provide — if anything?
Funding approaches
How families generally pay for extended care.
Stated neutrally. None of these is right for everyone, each carries tradeoffs, and underwriting, availability, and costs vary by person and contract.
Personal assets and income
Paying directly from savings, investments, or retirement income. It preserves flexibility and keeps the full cost on the household balance sheet.
Family caregiving
Unpaid care from a spouse, daughter, son, or other relative. It is common and meaningful, and it can affect the caregiver's earnings, career, and health.
Traditional long-term care insurance
Coverage designed for qualifying long-term care expenses. Premiums, medical underwriting, elimination periods, benefit limits, exclusions, and contract terms all apply.
Life-insurance-based or hybrid approaches
Life insurance with a long-term care benefit rider, where available. Requires underwriting; features, availability, costs, and policy values vary by contract.
Public programs, subject to eligibility
Programs such as Medicaid have financial and functional eligibility rules. Whether and when they apply is a legal and eligibility question for an appropriate professional.
A combination
Most realistic plans mix approaches — some coverage, some savings, and a clear, spoken agreement about family roles.
For a fuller look at what care can cost and how those numbers enter the conversation, see the 2025 cost of long-term care for Wisconsin families.
Wisconsin resources
Independent places to start locally.
These are public resources listed for reference. Sarah and Northwestern Mutual are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government agency.
Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs)
Wisconsin’s ADRCs are county-level public points of contact for information about aging and disability services, local options, and programs. Many families use an ADRC as a first call when a parent’s needs change.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services — Aging (opens in a new tab)
Caregiving resources for older women
The federal Administration for Community Living publishes a resource guide on caregiving for older women, including the financial and personal effects of caregiving responsibilities that fall disproportionately on women.
ACL — Caregiving Resources for Older Women (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Practical checklist
What to gather before the conversation.
- Write down who in the family would realistically provide care, and confirm it with them directly.
- Note whether care at home, near family, or near medical providers matters more to you.
- List current policies and employer benefits, including anything purchased years ago.
- Call two or three local providers in the area you would actually use and ask for current rates.
- Sketch what an extended care event would do to retirement income for the person not receiving care.
- Identify which assets could be turned into cash quickly, and which could not.
- Note your health history honestly — it affects eligibility for insurance-based approaches.
- Decide who holds the documents, and where they live.
- Set a date to revisit the conversation, rather than leaving it open-ended.
Timing
When to start the conversation.
Earlier generally means more options remain open — though nothing about eligibility, cost, or outcomes can be promised.
While healthy and working
Health history is part of eligibility for insurance-based approaches, so waiting is itself a decision.
When a parent's needs change
A parent's care event is often what prompts an adult daughter to look at her own plan for the first time.
During a retirement review
Care costs and retirement income are the same conversation, especially for the spouse who lives longer.
How Sarah helps
A Waukesha advisor whose primary focus is this.
Sarah Elizabeth DePover, MBA, is a female financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Long-term care planning is her primary practice focus, and she works with women, couples, families, and business owners across Waukesha, the Milwaukee metro, and southeastern Wisconsin.
A first conversation is a conversation. She asks what your household would actually do, walks through the questions above, and helps you see where the plan is already fine and where it is thin. Where products come up, they come up with their tradeoffs, underwriting requirements, and costs described plainly — and only after the planning questions have been answered.
Related pages: your financial plan as a caregiver, who pays when a parent needs care, long-term care planning, women and wealth, retirement planning, life insurance, and financial planning in Waukesha, WI.
To talk it through, you can schedule a call on Sarah’s calendar (opens Sarah's scheduling calendar in a new tab) or send a message through the contact form.
What the first conversation covers
- What your household would do if care were needed next year.
- Who is expected to help, and whether they know it.
- What existing policies and benefits already provide.
- How care costs would interact with retirement income.
- What a surviving spouse would be left with.
- Which questions belong with a CPA or attorney instead.
Family Protection & Long-Term Care Conversation Checklist
Bring structure to the conversation at home.
Request the checklist and it opens right here on this page — nothing is emailed and there is no attachment.
FAQ
Questions women ask about long-term care planning.
References
Sources cited on this page.
- Medicare.gov — Long-term care coverage (opens in a new tab)
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services — Aging (opens in a new tab)
- Administration for Community Living — Caregiving Resources for Older Women (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
This article is educational and general in nature. It does not provide individualized financial, tax, or legal advice, and it is not an offer, application, or recommendation of any product or strategy. Insurance products are subject to medical underwriting, exclusions, limitations, and contract terms; availability, eligibility, costs, and outcomes vary by person and are not guaranteed. Medicaid and other public program eligibility questions should be reviewed with an appropriate professional. Sarah is not affiliated with any government agency. Contact Sarah with questions.
Plan before it is urgent