Are you physically preparing for retirement yet?

Both of my parents ended up living in a nursing home at the end of their lives. Fortunately for my Mom, she didn't spend very long there. I don't remember how long it was, but it wasn't very long. 

My Dad got to spend his last 2 years in various types of long term care homes. During his last 18 months his nursing home bill was around $7000 per month. I don't know anyone who wants their life to end this way. We might not be able to prevent ending up in a nursing home, but we can limit the amount of time we end up spending there if we take care of our physical strength as much as possible as we age.

I was looking at old blog post and this one caught my attention.  Post from August 21, 2012

I wanted to see how much the cost of long term care went up between 2011 (Annual cost range from $16,156 to $54,750) and 2013 (Annual cost range from $17,875 to $70,445) depending on the type of long term care.

Most people know that it is a great idea to financially prepare for retirement. They also know that the earlier they start, the easier it is to build a bigger nest egg.

The same rules apply to being physically prepared for retirement.  The earlier you start, the better. When people picture their retirement, they picture being able to enjoy the freedom to do things like travel, visit friends and enjoy the freedom they deserve. Unfortunately, most people will have too many physical challenges to enjoy retirement like they should.

According to Genworth Financial, at least 70 percent of people over 65 will need long term care services and support at some point in their lifetime.

http://www.genworth.com/content/products/long_term_care/long_term_care/cost_of_care.html

No one pictures this happening to them.

According to the According to the Centers for Disease Control:

   One out of three adults age 65 and older falls each year, but less than half talk to their healthcare providers about it.

    Among older adults (those 65 or older), falls are the leading cause of injury-related death. Falls are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. In 2008, over 19,700 older adults died from unintentional fall injuries.

What are you doing to minimize the chances that it happens to you? Look at the current cost of this long term care. (Annual cost range from $16,156 to $54,750, depending on the type of long term care)  If you really want to be scared you can calculate how much this will cost in the future. It is much cheaper to work on your physical abilities before you lose them than to require long term care 

Having worked with clients as old as ninety-five, I have become an expert at what happens to our bodies due to aging and the lack of properly maintaining them. How many people work on their ability to extend and rotate their thoracic vertebrae? How many of us work on the ability to squat deep enough to move our knees between our hips? Even though I am fifty years old, I am already working on being able to physically handle the challenges that aging will give me.

What are you doing to prepare for those challenges?