Ask any woman about long-term care, and she'll tell you it's not about insurance. It's about her family and her quality of life. It's about understanding the twin risks of LTC that women disproportionately face, determining what those risks mean to her and her loved ones, and guiding a proactive planning process. Women are in double jeopardy here because they are often both caregivers and receivers. This double jeopardy presents significant financial dangers.

RISK ONE: CAREGIVING

For many women, the first exposure to LTC occurs when they provide services or financial support to a loved one. Women are the vast majority of professional or formal caregivers; they're also the primary deliverers of informal home care. Approximately 75% of those providing home care are female, most often daughters. Women also spend 50% more time giving care than men.

While the high cost of facility care is common knowledge, the costs and consequences associated with giving care in the home are less well known. Consider these stark realities:

* Nationally, more than 6.4 million working women provide direct or indirect caregiving assistance. By 2010, 10.1 million employed women will bear this burden. As boomers age, these numbers could double by 2050.

* According to research from the National Center on Women and Aging, family caregivers lose an average of $659,130 over a lifetime in reduced salary and retirement benefits.

* Forty-four percent of female caregivers report high levels of physical strain or emotional stress, while employed caregivers are more than twice as likely to develop depression.

* Women who become caregivers are nearly three times more likely to end up in poverty and five times more likely to depend exclusively on Social Security.

RISK TWO: CARE RECEIVING

Lack of preparation about her own future care significantly magnifies a woman's financial risks. The chances the general population will need LTC is about 50%; for women over 65, it's more than 70%. Women are also more likely to be cared for in a facility and for a longer period of time. Seventy percent of nursing home residents are female, with an average stay of 3.7 years versus. 2.2 years for men. As a result, the average American woman is likely to incur more than double the LTC expense of the average male.

RISK THREE: DENIAL

Despite this double jeopardy, women have a disturbing tendency to avoid the subject of LTC. Consider:

* A Securian Financial survey found that 84% of respondents whose parents required care in their final years said no plans were made ahead of time.

* Just 18% of women talked to their spouse or partner about LTC, according to Prudential Financial research.

* Only 35% of women in a 2009 survey by America's Health Insurance Plan said they had thought about or planned for how they will cover LTC costs.

CALCULATING RISKS

To develop a well thought-out plan, the advisor must determine what the client understands about her risks and if she's taken any steps to reduce them. This means uncovering the client's own potential for needing care, as well as the likelihood that she will have to provide care for her parents, spouse or both.

Retirement plans that exclude the financial impact of being a caregiver shortchange many women. If indications are strong that a client will be a caregiver, the advisor needs to help develop realistic assumptions and incorporate them into her financial plan.

Regarding the client's own needs for future care, building her awareness begins with questions like:

* How likely do you think it is that you might need LTC?

* How familiar are you with different LTC arrangements and their costs?

* What plans have you made with your family should you require LTC?

Developing a personalized estimate of a client's LTC costs can be an eye- opening exercise. For a particularly good tool, go to www.medicare.gov/LTCPlanning. Beyond providing a wealth of unbiased information, the site features a personal calculator that gives an individualized projection of care costs and probability based on gender, age and health history factors. Geographic differences in care costs are also incorporated into the estimates. Once a client understands her risks, the advisor will analyze her financial preparedness to meet them. With the help of planning software, this step looks at projected sources and uses of cash in the likelihood of LTC, and how it will impact a spouse or dependents.

When analyzing LTC risks, remember that most planning software has serious limitations, says Craig Lemoine, CFP and assistant professor of financial planning at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. An expert in software programs, Lemoine has extensive financial planning experience as well. Here are the primary questions he asks when evaluating LTC planning applications: