The runway
How long will Mom's savings last paying for home care?
This page supplies no price. How long will Mom's savings last paying for home care is a worksheet you fill in with three numbers you already have, or can get on the phone tonight: the rate the agency quotes you, her monthly income, and what is in her accounts. You do the math. We print the blanks. Rate questions go to (314) 405-0887.
The Administration for Community Living says someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their remaining years. That is a population figure, not a prediction about Mom. It is a reason to put her numbers on one sheet.
Source: ACL, How much care will you need?, opened September 10, 2026.
How do I pay for a caregiver for my mother?
Most of the hours that are meals, bathing and dressing, a ride, a reminder for the tablets in her own box, and a person in the house are paid from her money. That is private pay. Medicare does not pay for long-term care. Medicare.gov says long-term care includes help with personal care such as dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom, and that you pay all costs for non-covered services. Do not wait for a Medicare line to cover a companion shift.
Other pipes can take some of the load after they open: a long-term care policy that starts to pay, a VA pension decision including Aid and Attendance, a MO HealthNet approval. Until one of those three events happens, the worksheet is income plus savings against the hours you actually book. If you manage her money, CFPB publishes guides for that job, including agents under a power of attorney and government fiduciaries who handle Social Security or VA income. This worksheet is the budget, in her numbers.
Sources: Medicare.gov, Long-term care; CFPB, Managing someone else's money. Opened September 10, 2026. Guides: agents under a power of attorney; government fiduciaries.
Private pay home care: what does that mean?
Private pay means the household pays the agency from Mom's money, or from yours, without a public program or an insurance claim covering that invoice. It is the default pipe into hours at home. The rate is the number the agency quotes you on the phone. This page prints a blank for it on purpose. New Plan Care does not post an hourly figure, and this desk will not invent one. Write the rate you were quoted. If two agencies quote you, run the sheet twice. Hours per week is the other blank: the hours someone actually has to be in the house.
This page supplies no price, no range, and no sample math with dollars in it. The only hourly figure on the sheet is the one you write after someone quotes it to you.
The worksheet you fill in
Copy this table into your spreadsheet. Every cell that matters is a blank. Proof of Social Security income is a letter from my Social Security, including the representative payee view if you have been appointed. This desk does not invent a benefit amount.
| Cell | You write | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly income: Social Security | __________ | Proof of income letter from my Social Security. Do not guess. |
| Monthly income: pension | __________ | The deposit on the bank statement, or the plan's statement. |
| Monthly income: other | __________ | Annuity, rental, a surviving spouse benefit. Write only what actually arrives. |
| A. Monthly income, total | A = SS + pension + other | You add the three lines. |
| B. Savings and investments | __________ | Checking, savings, brokerage. Not the house. Not a number from memory. |
| C. Quoted hourly rate | __________ | The number the agency quotes you on the phone. This page prints a blank. |
| D. Hours per week | __________ | The block you are actually booking, not a hope. |
| E. Monthly hours | E = D × 52 ÷ 12 | You do the math. |
| F. Monthly care figure | F = E × C | You do the math. No example rate lives on this page. |
| G. Monthly gap | G = F minus A | If G is zero or less, income is covering these hours at the rate you wrote. |
| H. Months of runway | H = B ÷ G | Only if G is greater than zero. You do the math. That is the savings question. |
If G is greater than zero, H is how many months the savings close the gap, if nothing else changes.
Source: SSA, my Social Security and representative payee account, opened September 10, 2026.
What happens when a policy, a VA decision, or MO HealthNet starts to pay?
Three events shorten G, which lengthens H. None of them is a rate this site prints.
- A long-term care policy starts to pay. Write the benefit on the "other" income line only after the first payment arrives. Until then it is a maybe, and a maybe does not belong in H.
- A VA pension decision, including Aid and Attendance. Those benefits are monthly payments added to a VA pension for qualified Veterans and survivors who need help with daily activities such as bathing, feeding, and dressing. From December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026, the net worth limit is $163,699. For a Veteran with no dependents who qualifies for Aid and Attendance, the Maximum Annual Pension Rate is $29,093. That is VA's published MAPR, not a check this page can promise. Do not plug it into line A until it is deposited.
- A MO HealthNet approval. Missouri's Medicaid program is MO HealthNet. The state's healthcare page and the apply page are the doors. Eligibility is the state's decision. When an approval is in hand, the hours the state covers come off the private-pay side of the sheet.
Re-run the sheet on the day one of those three events happens, not on the day you mail the application.
Sources: VA, Aid and Attendance and Housebound; VA, current pension rates for Veterans; Missouri DSS, Healthcare (MO HealthNet) and apply. Opened September 10, 2026.
Call an elder law attorney before the money is gone, not after. The worksheet tells you when H is getting short. This page does not apply VA or MO HealthNet rules to her numbers.
When do I call an elder law attorney?
Before the money is gone. If H is a small number, or if someone wants to move money so a program might pay later, stop. This desk does not plan a spend-down. Find an elder law attorney through MissouriLawyersHelp.org. Ask about fees first. Take the worksheet, the benefit letter, and the last three bank statements. Keep records. CFPB's guides are written for that job.
What to do tonight
- Write line A from actual deposits. If you need a Social Security proof of income letter, use my Social Security.
- Write line B from statements you can hold. Checking, savings, brokerage. Skip the house.
- Ask an agency for the hourly rate for the hours you need. Write that number on line C. This page will not fill it in. Rate questions go to (314) 405-0887.
- Write hours per week on line D. Do the math for E, F, G, and H. If G is greater than zero, circle H.
- If H is short, talk with an elder law attorney this week. MissouriLawyersHelp.org is the public door.
When to ask the care team or the doctor
Hours per week is also a clinical cell. How many hours she can be alone, whether nights are different from days, and whether the need is likely to rise are questions for the physician who treats her. A non-medical caregiver does not decide what a symptom means and does not change a dose. If a VA Aid and Attendance claim needs an examination form, that is a medical examiner's section. If home health visits are already in place, those visits are not the hours on line D. Keep them on separate lines so the worksheet does not pretend Medicare is paying for the companion shift.