By Juliette Fairley
When financial advisor Andy Szkaradek consults with retiring clients who are over 60 years old, the challenge lies in estimating the future cost of home health care, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

"If you don't know what the costs are, it's tough to plan for them," said Szkaradek, owner and president of Strategic Wealth Solutions in Coral Springs, Fla.

Two-thirds of those aged 65 and over will need long-term care in their lifetimes, according to a 2012 study by Genworth Financial, an insurance holding company headquartered in Virginia, which recently launched a caregiving support service called AARP Caregiving Help and Advice From Genworth in alliance with American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

"There's no one great resource. I go on the Internet, find different costs for assisted living, nursing homes and home health agencies and calculate an estimate using an average," said Szkaradek, who includes 6% to 7% for inflation.

According to Genworth's 2011 cost of care survey, the national median monthly rate for a single occupancy room in an assisted living facility is $3,261 compared to $193 a day for a semi-private room and $213 a day for a single-occupancy room in a nursing home. The national median rate for home health care ranges from $18 to $19 an hour for home health aide services to $60 a day for adult day health care in a community  setting.

Genworth's subscription based website costs $12.99 for six months.

"Our product saves people time and effort," said Jowynna Michel, operations leader for Genworth's caregiving division in Boston.

The Atlanta Capital Group relies on industry studies and national data issued by the AARP and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors to determine cost of care, but the data doesn't include forecasting.

"Projections would be nice to have because most people underestimate the cost of care," said Jody Young, senior managing partner with Atlanta Capital Group in Atlanta. "Without accurate cost analysis and adequate funding in place seniors could find themselves in subpar, substandard facilities or their children saddled with elder care."

AARP Caregiving Help and Advice From Genworth (www.Genworth.com/caregiving) is a long-term database that helps people plan for long-term care by predicting cost of care by zip code over the span of ten to 20 years based on an individual's particular illness.

"It's a good planning  tool that helps advisors estimate how much care will cost based on geographic region and the degree of care required, which is determined through an online personal assessment questionnaire ," said Michel.

The tool could come in handy for financial advisors new to the niche since developing an expertise can take years.

Seattle-based financial advisor Ted Markow spent the past 20 years developing cost projections based on experience and his professional network.  Markow uses data from the State Department of Health and Social Services, nationwide studies issued by long-term care insurance companies and information culled from conversations with care coordinators, hospital discharge planners and care managers referred to him by elder law and probate attorneys.

"For projections, I use current cost of care and an escalation factor, which is higher than the current CPI because the cost of care has been going up faster than inflation," said Markow, founder of the Markow Financial Group, which has $70 million in assets under management and a practice made up of 40% who are senior citizens already living in a caregiving environment.

Szkaradek looks forward to testing the new tool.

"Prior to incorporating it into my practice, I'd want to know where the numbers came from and what data they used to come up with the actual costs," said Szkaradek.

According to Genworth, data used in calculating cost of care comes from the long-term care division's proprietary research developed over 40 years at Genworth.

About 65% of respondents to the 2012 Genworth survey said it took an urgent event, such as a hospital stay or emergency room visit, before they realized a loved one needed long-term care.

"People are living longer and when you live longer you tend to get an illness that has to be accounted for but setting aside too much money can be a problem too," said Markow. "If the cost analysis rate is too high, clients will have more money than they need, which means the beneficiaries will get more at time of passing."