‘Long Term Care Insurance as a Market Is Substantially Broken’: Clark Howard Breaks His Own Rule for 36-Year-Old Officer With $2 Million

Clark Howard has spent years telling listeners to skip whole life insurance. On his October 2, 2026 show he made an exception. He said he has “a genetic disposition to having a very high percent odds of having Alzheimer’s, which one of my siblings has. My mom had dementia and that’s a risk that I face.”

Then he gave his view of a whole industry: “Long-term care insurance as a market is substantially broken.”

The caller was Jared from Maryland, an active duty Air Force officer with 14 years of service, a wife and two kids. The couple has saved over $2 million in index funds and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

Both parents were diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in their 50s. Jared puts his odds of carrying the single gene at around 50% and two copies at around 25%. At 36, he wanted to know whether to lock in coverage before getting tested.

A wrong move costs him in one of two ways. He could pay for decades on a policy the insurer is free to raise rates. Or he could learn his results first and find he can no longer buy coverage at all.

Why Clark’s Whole Life Exception Fits This Caller

Clark’s exception rests on guarantees. Standalone long-term care insurance premiums are not guaranteed. On Aug. 24, 2026, Clark explained: “Insurers can raise them to the point where they hope people leave and give up on their policy, what they call a ‘death spiral.’ A mutual insurer is less likely to do that.”

Jared buys a standalone policy at 36 for $2,000 a year.

Over time the insurer wins three 50% rate increases, and his insurance premiums rises to $6,750. If he drops the policy at 60, he has paid $48,000 and gets nothing back. He walks away right before the years he is most likely to file a claim. For the insurer, a policyholder who leaves at that point is the best outcome.

Clark’s alternative is a whole life policy with a long-term care rider from a mutual company where you’re an owner that is rated a double plus for financial strength by AM Best. The insurance premiums is locked in. If Jared needs care, the policy pays for it. If he never does, his wife and kids get the death benefit. The insurer can’t raise the price, so the death spiral doesn’t work.

The exception is narrow. On Sep. 28, Clark warned about insurance products sold with “enormous commissions and fees” that make you “our prisoner for up to 15 years.” Whole life comes with the same commission load. It only makes sense when the risk you’re covering is as concentrated as Jared’s.

Genetic Test Timing Can Lock Him Out

Federal law decides the timing question Clark left open. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act does not apply to life or long-term care coverage. That means an insurer can use a positive result once it appears in his records.

If Jared applies first, he is underwritten on his current health and coverage is locked in. If he tests first and the result is negative, he can skip coverage and save insurance premiums. If the result is positive, about 50% odds, he may be turned down for good. Testing first only helps in the good outcome and can cost him coverage in the bad one. Applying first protects his access to coverage.

Some will say $2 million lets Jared cover the risk himself. Clark’s rule is to buy insurance only when “the loss you would suffer is something that would be a big financial hazard in your life.” Early-onset Alzheimer’s in his 50s could mean years of care while his wife is working and his kids head to college. That would be a big risk, even for a family with a seven-figure portfolio.

Steps to Take Before Ordering a Genetic Test

1. Get quotes before any test is ordered. Price a standalone policy and a whole life policy with a care rider side by side. Ask each insurer, in writing, which insurance premiums are guaranteed by contract.
2. Screen the insurer the way Clark did. Only consider mutual companies. Check the AM Best rating yourself rather than taking the agent’s word for it.
3. Get the costs in writing. Ask for the commission, the surrender schedule and how many years it takes for cash value to build.
4. Add up your other income sources first. Under the Blended Retirement System (BRS), you retire with 40% of your pay at 20 years, or 60% at 30, plus the TSP match. He may have access to care through the VA system. Size the policy to cover the gap these sources leave.

When you’re looking at a decades-long risk, a insurance premiums locked in by contract protects the plan for the long haul.

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