General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you have 1 million saved for retirement? May not be enough. [View all]yellowcanine
(36,798 posts)of recovery from an illness - for example if some rehab is needed. And once the person no longer needs or is benefiting from the rehab, Medicare stops paying.
Medicaid only pays if assets are used up. And then there has to be a Medicaid bed available. Many nursing homes have a limited number of Medicaid beds - you either have to get on the waiting list or get transferred to a nursing home which has a Medicaid bed - which could be in another town not even close to your spouse or family.
As for SS, if there are two people getting fairly good benefits - yes, it can go a long way if there are no debts, both people are relatively healthy and there is no need for custodial care. But if one person dies one of the benefit payments goes away. A single person can collect only one SS benefit - either from their own earnings or a spouse's earnings, whichever is greater. Something to think about and plan for.
It is hard to say how much people need - everyone's situation is different. It is best to sit down with a retirement financial planner and determine how to best deal with the many possibilities given the assets which are available.