The Value of Planning Ahead

ChooseHome members: Bill and Sonya Morrison

Sonya Morrison just got done running the New York Marathon — for the fourth time. Her husband, Bill, joined her the first three times but prefers cycling and swimming along with golf. The Morrisons recently returned from a weekend trip in the Adirondacks where they went skiing.

Sonya is also an artist who paints often in the cozy studio space inside their three-story Colonial Williamsburg home that dates back to 1928.

The former triathletes don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon, and as 63-year-olds, they don’t have any major health concerns. But as a career financial planner, Bill understands how important it is to be proactive preparing for the future. That’s why he and Sonya selected to be part of Riverside’s ChooseHome membership-based program designed for healthy, active, older adults who want to ensure that they can age in the way – and the place – they choose.

“I know how long term care insurance works,” Bill said. “When someone is sick in your home, you really don’t feel like going through the hoops of filing an insurance claim. ChooseHome is integrated with coordination. You meet your personal services coordinator when you are healthy. If something were to happen, they take care of everything.”

Many alternative long term care policies have limitations, Bill said. “With most plans, you have to be in a nursing home for 90 days. Well, if you’re in a nursing home for 90 days, you’re not in any shape to fill out claim forms. It can be two to three months before you’re approved. That’s all stuff you don’t feel like doing when you’re needing care. That’s why ChooseHome is a better option. They do all the legwork for you.”

Bill and Sonya are parents to two adult children: Casey, a physical therapist in Virginia Beach, and Addy, an Emmy Award-winning producer of movie trailers in Manhattan.

“We want them to visit us to visit us — not to get us to the bathroom!” Bill said.

Bill and Sonya don’t anticipate needing help with ChooseHome for years, decades perhaps. Sonya’s healthy gene pool includes her father, 89, who raises hogs and trains dogs on 5 acres in Deltaville. Neither of the Morrisons wants to leave their home for a residential facility if either becomes seriously ill.

“What I like about ChooseHome is the money will be provided should you need someone to come to your home instead of going to a home,” Sonya said. “I don’t want to go to a home. I want someone to come to my home if I ever need that.”

Bill urges his own clients not to wait until their health deteriorates when considering long term care insurance. “You should have coverage for the possibility that your kids will have to come take care of you,” he said. “When I see kids that have someone who is disabled or needs care, the biggest breath they let out is when I inform them that coverage is already in place.”

Knowing they’ll never be a financial or health burden for their daughters is a relief, the Morrisons say. Rather than worrying about the future, they can enjoy the present that includes anticipating Casey’s upcoming wedding, trips to New York City to see Addy and time together playing their favorite new sport, pickleball.