70% of Americans over 65 will need some form of long-term care. California is among the most expensive states for it. There are two structurally clean ways to fund it from a property or business sale without liquidating other assets at the worst possible time and without the “use it or lose it” trap of old-school standalone LTC policies.
Send me the sale price and rough basis. Within one business day I'll email you the actual number and the Seller's Guide to §453. If it doesn't fit your deal, I'll tell you that plainly.
No retainer · no obligation. Hans Goldstein, a licensed insurance agent (CA Insurance License #4273294), will contact you and may discuss insurance products, including annuities.
At 3% inflation, today’s $11K/month nursing home is ~$15K/month in 10 years and ~$20K/month in 20 years. Over a typical 3-year care episode 15 years from now, that’s ~$650K out of pocket on the nursing-home path alone.
1 ACL.gov: ~70% of people turning 65 will need LTC services in their remaining lifetime. 2 Genworth 2024 Cost of Care Survey.
You sell the $2M property at age 65. You retire. You feel financially set. Then at 78, your spouse has a stroke. Or you get diagnosed with something requiring intensive care. Or one of you develops dementia and needs memory care for 4 to 7 years. The bill arrives at exactly the wrong time: the market just dropped, your retirement portfolio is down 30%, and you’re selling investments at a loss to fund $12K/month of care.
The LTC funding question isn’t “will I need this?” The question is: which bucket of money pays for it, and how do we set that bucket up at sale closing so it’s there when you need it?
From a single sale, there are two structurally clean ways to earmark dollars for LTC. Most clients use one or the other; some stack both.
The Structured Installment Sale (§453) pays you a fixed monthly stream for 5 to 40 years, owed by an assignment company and funded by a fixed annuity from a highly rated life insurer. On a $2M California sale structured over 20 years at typical carrier rates, that’s ~$8,000 to $11,000/month. That’s within $1K to $3K of the typical California in-home LTC bill, and roughly equals the assisted-living facility cost. The carrier doesn’t care if you’re healthy or in a memory-care facility. The payment shows up either way.
The asset-based LTC policy modeled here is a whole life insurance policy from a highly rated insurer (A or better by A.M. Best or equivalent) that lets you access 100% of the death benefit to pay for qualified LTC, plus an optional Continuation of Benefits rider that extends LTC coverage beyond the policy face amount, up to lifetime/unlimited. Tax-free under §7702B for qualified LTC expenses, tax-free under §101 as a death benefit if LTC is never triggered.
The key feature: there's NO “use it or lose it”. If you never need LTC, your heirs receive the tax-free death benefit. If you need LTC, the policy pays out. If you need cash for an emergency, the policy has a guaranteed cash surrender value. Premiums are guaranteed never to increase.
Leverage: ~3.4× on LTC dollars, ~1.13× on death benefit. Coverage period: 2 years Acceleration of Benefits (uses the face amount) + 4 years Continuation of Benefits rider = 6 years total LTC coverage. Year-10 cash surrender value: $77,500.
Leverage: uncapped on LTC dollars (lifetime coverage), ~0.91× on death benefit. Coverage period: 2 years AOB + LIFETIME COB rider = unlimited LTC coverage as long as you live, qualified, and need care. Year-10 cash surrender value: $62,389. Trade-off vs Plan A: lower monthly LTC limit and lower death benefit in exchange for the lifetime continuation.
Plan A vs Plan B: how to choose
The most elegant version of Way 1 + Way 2 combined: structure the bulk of your sale through SIS, then use a portion of the SIS monthly payments to fund a 10-pay asset-based LTC policy. Spread the premium over 10 years (smaller annual outlay than single-pay), keep the cash carve-out for liquidity, and get the leveraged LTC benefit when the policy completes paying. Your monthly carrier annuity covers retirement living AND the 10-pay LTC premium AND eventually covers the LTC bill itself if needed.
Traditional standalone LTC insurance has a fatal flaw: use it or lose it. You pay premium for 20+ years. If you never need LTC, the premium is gone. Pure cost. Plus traditional LTC carriers have repeatedly raised in-force premiums by 50-200% over the past 15 years, breaking the original economics for retired policyholders.
Asset-based LTC fixes both problems:
| Question | SIS Stream | Asset-based LTC 4-yr | Asset-based LTC Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100K outlay produces | Same income stream regardless | $339K LTC pool + $113K DB | Unlimited LTC + $91K DB |
| Monthly LTC ceiling | ~$5K to $11K (from SIS payment) | $4,712/mo | $3,793/mo |
| Coverage period | Pays for full SIS term | 2 yrs AOB + 4 yrs COB = 6 yrs | 2 yrs AOB + lifetime COB |
| If you never need LTC | Funds retirement normally | $113K tax-free DB to heirs | $91K tax-free DB to heirs |
| Inflation protection | Up to 3% COLA on SIS | Optional 3-5% rider available | Optional 3-5% rider available |
| Underwriting | None (sale closes) | Full medical + APS | Full medical + APS |
| Tax treatment of LTC | §453 installment tier rules | Tax-free under §7702B | Tax-free under §7702B |
| Premiums can be raised | N/A (sale-funded, fixed) | NO, guaranteed never increase | NO, guaranteed never increase |
| Cash surrender value | None (non-commutable) | $77,500 at year 10 | $62,389 at year 10 |
The LTC tax-leverage calculator models asset-based LTC specifically: you input your age, health class, and premium amount, and it estimates the LTC benefit pool, the death benefit if unused, and effective leverage. Cross-checks against a hypothetical “self-insure from a MYGA” alternative so you see the breakeven.
A 65-year-old couple sells a $3M California property. The cleanest stack:
What that buys: ~$11K/month SIS stream for 20+ years (general retirement income; naturally covers LTC if it triggers) PLUS $339K to unlimited of leveraged asset-based LTC pool (kicks in tax-free if either spouse needs care) PLUS $400K liquid cash PLUS death benefit safety net to heirs if neither spouse triggers LTC. One sale event, three funded buckets.
I’m a California-licensed insurance & annuity producer (NPN 20602398). On an LTC-funding case, my role is:
We map your sale, your health status, and your family’s LTC exposure to the right structure. No pitch. If neither SIS nor asset-based LTC fits, I’ll tell you that.
213-414-2808 Open the LTC calculator →
A plain-English guide for sellers on how a structured installment sale defers the tax when you sell a business, practice, or property. It covers the math, the alternatives, and how to tell if your deal fits.
Leave your details and the PDF downloads right away. Within one business day Hans will email a preliminary read on which structure fits your deal. No retainer. On a funded structure, the insurer pays a one-time commission of about 4% of the amount structured to the brokerage firm that places it (Hans’s share is about 2.4%; no trail). It is built into the annuity pricing, not a separate fee.
📞 Hans Goldstein · 213-414-2808 · CA Insurance License #4273294 · Independent §453 specialist · Goldstein & Co. LLC
Hans Goldstein, a licensed insurance agent (CA Insurance License #4273294), will contact you and may discuss insurance products, including annuities.
