One of the scariest things to hear is that you or someone you love has a chronic illness. Healthcare is costly as it is, but those expenses are exponentially higher for people with chronic or terminal illnesses. When a trip to the doctor’s office costs hundreds of dollars, what is one to do financially when they face a serious illness?
Not only do terminal illnesses make your medical bills go through the roof, but they usually put people out of work too. It’s truly a double-edged sword. No one wants to leave their family in financial distress, but it can be near impossible to get your finances in order when you’re out of work and the medical bills keep piling up. Continue reading to learn some ways you can finance your treatments for a chronic illness and stay afloat.
Cash in your life insurance policy.
Unfortunately, the only certainty in life is that someday you’ll pass away, and life insurance is there to help your family recover financially when your time comes. While it’s not the most tantalizing subject to delve into, a life insurance policy is something we all need.
Even though we’re taught to see life insurance merely as a death benefit, it’s also a great financial tool if you’re having money problems. Your life insurance policy has cash value‚Äîyou can actually look at your life insurance policy in the same way that investors look at bonds and stocks. The only difference is that your life insurance policy doesn’t reach maturity until the policyholder passes away and leaves the cash value to their beneficiaries. Until then it’s useless‚Äì‚Äìor is it?
Did you know that the policyholder doesn’t have to pass away to reap the cash value of their life insurance policy? You can sell your insurance policy to your insurance company or another third-party investor. The cash surrender value of your policy depends on how long you’ve had the insurance and how far it is from maturity. The life settlement business is huge and there’s no telling how much you could get for your life insurance on the secondary market.
Get a viatical settlement.
Viatical settlements are another great way to turn your life insurance policy into physical money. The difference between selling your life insurance policy and getting a viatical settlement is that with viatical settlements, the cash surrender value depends on the life expectancy of the policyholder. The shorter your life expectancy is, the higher the cash value of your life settlement. Furthermore, viatical settlements are only available to people whose life expectancy is less than 24 months.
American Life Fund is one of the top viatical settlement companies in the life settlement industry. However, before signing off on a viatical settlement, you need to shop around to get the highest offer for your insurance policy. Though the cash surrender value will be lower than the death benefit would ultimately have been, viatical brokers American Life Fund aim to get you up to 70% of it. Plus, once the transaction has taken place, that’s it‚Äì‚Äìyou need have no more involvement whatsoever.
Downsize.
If you’re a homeowner, your home equity is another financial tool you have at your disposal. Many seniors choose to sell their homes and move into assisted living facilities or smaller apartments as a way to save money and finance their retirements. However, if you’re dealing with a terminal illness, selling your home and downsizing is a great way to get the money you need for your treatments and living expenses.
One thing sellers can do to make their homes more attractive to buyers is to renovate their homes before putting them on the market. It’s wise to plan ahead for major renovations if you know you’re going to sell your home. It’s hard to sell your home while it’s going through renovations, so it’s best to always schedule renovations months in advance.
For terminally ill patients, medical expenses can actually exceed one’s cost of living. If you’re one of the millions of people whose finances are in despair because of terminal or chronic illness, you do have options. Even though these may seem like bleak options, remember, your home and insurance policy are financial tools.
