Protecting your family is the single most important thing any individual can plan for during his or her life. Buying life insurance can be confusing, and a frustrating process. Look for a company that has at least an AA-rating or above. Independent ratings agencies like Moody’s or Standard & Poors base create a list based upon strength. There is nothing more sad than a family who cannot take care of an aging member.

If you can’t take care of yourself when you’re old, there are plenty of resources from which to choose: home-health services, adult day-care centers, assisted-living facilities, or nursing homes. How does one pay for such long term care? The average rate for a private room in a nursing home can be $181 a day, or about $66,000 a year, according to a 2003 survey by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Do the math and by 2021, and the average rate will have risen to about $480 a day, or $175,200 annually.

What is long-term care?

Health insurance pays your doctor and hospital bills if you get sick or injured. Long-term care insurance goes beyond medical care and nursing care to include all the assistance you could need if you ever have a chronic illness or disability that leaves you unable to care for yourself for an extended period of time.

One can still live at home with Visiting nurses, home health aides, friendly visitor programs, home-delivered meals, chore services, amongst others. These services are becoming more common and are easily found within most communities.

Are you likely to need long-term care?

Most people never consider that they may become old and disabled and in need of home care. But about 19 percent of Americans aged 65 and older experience some degree of chronic physical impairment. Among those aged 85 or older, the proportion of people who are impaired and require long-term care is about 55 percent.

This is a growing concern in America as the population is growing older, and the group over age 85 is now the fastest-growing segment of the population. While certainly older people are more likely to need long-term care, your need for long-term care can come at any age. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that 40 percent of the 13 million people receiving long-term care services are between the ages of 18 and 64.

Thus long term care insurance is something that can help provide for a distinct possibility , while protecting yourself and your family from a possible health disaster.

After the updating of the laws concerning vehicle donations to charity, cars that are not running have been donated at a lower rate than was the case only some years ago, but even so, it doesn’t mean you have to keep that old car. It’s still possible to donate it to charity, albeit the tax deduction reward has been considerably reduced.

Normally, when you donate a vehicle that no longer runs, it will get towed away and sold, in essence, as a parts car. Though the majority of auto donations for autos in such a state are handled by a third-party (usually a for-profit company) agent as opposed to the charity itself, you are still able to get the old jalopy hauled away.

Nevertheless, you should know that that the deduction value which you can claim for a car sold on the wholesale market is considerably limited by the fractional amount it is likely to be sold for in addition to the overhead fees that are taken off the top by a third-party agent, the remaining value that is in fact given to the charity from the sale of the donated automobile is the extent of what may be written off under the new laws.

Ordinarily, the highest values for donated vehicles are obtained for cars and trucks that are still roadworthy, although some agencies will take some broken down cars and trucks for repair. If you can find an organization that has an ongoing mission of automotive training, even a non-working car has the possibility to be deducted at the higher “fair market value” in such cases.

Consequently, no matter how much it’s not running, such donated vehicles are still accepted by a numerous charities which accept automobile donations. Frequently, they will be bigger or national charities that don’t have a particular mission based on getting running cars to people. Unless there’s something especially cool or unique about your donated vehicle that would make it an ideal project car, you can presume that it will be sold for scrap or parts at a wholesale auction.

In spite of alterations to the law, there are still a lot of places that accept donated cars that are no longer running. The thing you have to consider is whether or not it has possibility of being fixed up for sale as a running vehicle.