Long Term Care Calculator

Project what long-term care will cost by the time you need it, the total cost over your expected care period, your funding gap after existing savings or insurance, and the monthly savings required to close that gap.

Quick Facts

Future cost formula
Future annual cost = current cost × (1 + inflation)^years
Standard future-value compounding projects today's care cost forward to when care begins.
Total cost formula
Growing annuity: total = future annual cost × [(1+g)^n − 1] / g
Sums a cost that keeps inflating for each of the n years care is needed.
Savings plan formula
Sinking fund: PMT = gap × i / [(1+i)^m − 1]
The level monthly deposit that grows at your assumed return to reach the funding gap on time.

Your Results

Calculated
Future annual cost
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Cost per year when care begins
Total projected cost
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Full cost over the care duration
Funding gap
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Total cost minus existing coverage
Monthly savings needed
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To close the gap by the time care starts

Ready

Enter your current care cost, timeline, inflation rate, duration, coverage, and return rate, then press Calculate.

How the Long Term Care Calculator works

Long-term care — a nursing home, assisted living, or in-home care — is expensive, and it usually is not needed today but at some point years from now, after care costs have kept rising with inflation. This calculator projects today's cost of care forward to the year you expect to need it, sums the cost across your expected care duration, compares that total to what you already have earmarked, and works out the level monthly savings needed to close any gap.

Step 1: Project the future cost of care

Costs of care rise with a compounding inflation rate, just like any other price projected forward. With current annual cost C, an assumed annual inflation rate g, and t years until care begins, the future-value formula is:

Future annual cost = C × (1 + g)t

For example, $60,000 of care today growing at 5% annually for 20 years becomes roughly $60,000 × 1.0520 ≈ $159,199 per year by the time care starts.

Step 2: Total cost across the care period

Care is rarely needed for only one year, and costs keep inflating during the care period itself. Treating the yearly cost as a growing annuity of n years starting at the future annual cost, the total projected cost is:

Total cost = Future annual cost × [(1 + g)n − 1] / g  (or Future annual cost × n if g = 0)

This sums each year's inflated cost rather than simply multiplying one year's figure by the duration, so it captures continued price growth while care is being received.

Step 3: Funding gap and monthly savings needed

Subtracting any savings or insurance value you already expect to have available (entered in future dollars, at the time care begins) from the total projected cost gives the funding gap. To find the level monthly deposit that grows the gap to zero by the time care starts, the calculator uses the standard sinking-fund payment formula, with monthly return rate i and m months until care begins:

PMT = Gap × i / [(1 + i)m − 1]  (or Gap / m if i = 0)

This is the same formula used to calculate deposits into a sinking fund or a savings goal — the monthly amount that, growing at the assumed rate of return, reaches the target value exactly when needed.

Assumptions and limits

  • The inflation rate for long-term care costs and the investment return on savings are both assumptions you supply — actual future costs and returns will differ, sometimes substantially.
  • Existing coverage is entered as a future-dollar amount already earmarked for care, and is not itself grown by an assumed return inside the calculator — grow it yourself before entering it if that better reflects your plan.
  • This is a planning estimate, not insurance, tax, Medicaid, or investment advice. Long-term care insurance pricing, Medicaid eligibility rules, and actual facility costs vary by state, provider, and policy and should be confirmed with a licensed professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the calculator project future long-term care costs?
It applies the standard future-value formula, Future annual cost = Current cost × (1 + inflation rate)^years until needed. This compounds today's cost of care forward using your assumed annual inflation rate, the same math used to project the future price of any good or service.
Why does the total cost use a growing annuity instead of a flat multiplication?
Care costs keep rising with inflation during the years care is actually received, not just before it starts. Multiplying one year's future cost by the number of care years would understate the total, so the calculator sums a growing annuity: Total cost = Future annual cost × [(1 + g)^n − 1] / g, where g is the inflation rate and n is the duration of care in years.
How is the monthly savings needed calculated?
The calculator uses the sinking-fund payment formula, PMT = Gap × i / [(1 + i)^m − 1], where i is your assumed monthly rate of return and m is the number of months until care begins. This is the level monthly deposit that, compounding at that return, grows to exactly cover the funding gap by the time care starts.
Does this calculator account for Medicaid or insurance payouts?
No. It only projects the cost of care and compares it to whatever future-dollar value you enter as existing savings or insurance coverage. Medicaid eligibility, waiting periods, and long-term care insurance benefit triggers vary by state and policy and are not modeled here — confirm those details with a licensed insurance or elder-law professional.

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