Horace Bone is a native of Raleigh, NC and graduated from North Carolina State University with High Honors. He studied in Germany as a German Academic Exchange Fellow and has completed a PhD degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Horace's relationship with his clients changed February 16, 2007. On that day his mother died, just shy of age 98. She had spent the last five years receiving in-home, round-the-clock nursing care. Her savings were decimated by the cost of long term care; her home, mortgaged.
Horace had been Mary Jo's primary caregiver for years until her dementia finally required continual care. "I must have taken over a thousand phone calls from her over the last 10 years", says Dr. Bone. "I once asked her if she knew whose number she was ringing when she dialed my number. She said, 'That number rings a lot of places!' I'm glad she never knew that number rang at my desk every single time she dialed it. "
Today, Horace helps his friends and their parents avoid the situation in which his mother found herself. "You need not lose assets and the home in order to qualify for government assistance," says Dr. Bone. "If someone needs long term care, and over 50 % of us will, that person will either spend down assets until he or she qualifies for governmental assistance, or he or she will plan ahead and be able to qualify for assistance long before the assets and the home are lost. "
Optimally, the best time to plan is when someone is healthy, and he or she can incorporate long term care planning into their estate and tax planning, along with guaranteed retirement income planning. However, a spouse may currently be in a nursing home or about to be admitted. This situation calls for immediate crisis planning. A number of moves should be taken to protect the at-home spouse and the home. A delay may cause the loss of the home and the impoverishment of the at-home spouse. "We are our brother's keeper", says Dr. Bone, "and that is the principal way we differentiate ourselves from the big planning firms and brokerage houses. Our service is personal, and we share the successes and failures of our clients."