For the past two and a half years, you've seen clients' portfolios shrink and the money they had tucked away for their legacy dwindle. The only thing that grew was worry. There's no question that times are tough. But as we all deal with the post-traumatic stress disorder this grueling recession has left us with, there may be cause for hope. Hard times could finally push long-term-care insurance into the forefront of your clients' minds-you know, where it should've been all along.

Prior to the recession, the long-term-care insurance industry was clearly in trouble. Though most advisors knew that preparing for care later in life was an integral part of their clients' retirement planning, many had grown tired of bringing up a subject that most clients either ignored or were simply averse to discussing. Some certainly still tried, of course, explaining the benefits, the products and the chances that the client would need such care, based on numbers from the most recent study.

But for the past several decades, most of those conversations were met with resistance. Some clients would say they had enough saved to pay someone to take care of them should they need such service. Some would say long-term-care insurance is just too expensive. And still others found the whole idea too unpleasant even to consider. Some advisors were no exception.

"This is one of the most complicated products to understand and to sell as an advisor," says Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association of Long-Term-Care Insurance (AALTCI). "One second you're talking to clients about where to put their money, and then suddenly you have to swing over and ask them what they weigh-and not just what they think they weigh, but what they actually weigh; how tall they are; what medicines they take; what conditions they've had. That's a really personal conversation that most financial planners haven't been willing to have."

UNFORESEEN BENEFITS

In late 2007, as clients' investable income plunged alongside the Dow, clients ran for cover in cash, fixed income and anywhere else they could find a bit of solace. Spending on something far-off and abstract like long-term care seemed furthest from their minds. It was about taking things day by day-it was about survival.

The long-term-care insurance industry felt the contraction. In 2009, new business in individual plans was down 23% year-over-year; while new business in individual employer-offered plans was down 34%, according to LIMRA. New business in group plans-including sales to new employer-sponsored group plans, new participants to existing employer-sponsored group plans and new business to association group plans-was down 27%.

Then, on March 9, 2009 the clouds parted, and the cleanup after the worst financial storm in 80 years slowly began. What was left was a changed nation. People were anxious, skeptical and, most of all, frugal. The era of treating credit cards like toys and having houses on every coast had been replaced by dinners at home and micromanaging the weekly budget.

But the fear, shock and grief that followed may have actually been a blessing in disguise for the long-term-care industry. With thinner portfolios, Americans were more ready than ever to protect themselves against future risk.

Before the crisis, people thought they could self-insure for long-term care, says Jodi Anatole, vice president of long-term-care product management at MetLife. Now, with their assets depleted, they've realized that's not so easy. Advisors, many of whom had grown tired of discussing the issue with clients to no avail, were coming around as well. Suddenly, clients were calling, wanting to know what to do about long-term care.

"In the old days if you had less than half a million dollars, we'd say maybe you can't afford long-term-care insurance. If you had $4 million or more we'd say you may not need it. Now, for someone who has $5 million, we say they may still need it," says Norm Mindel, an independent RIA with Forum Financial Management in Lombard, Ill.

Beth Ludden, senior vice president of long-term-care product development at Genworth Financial, is seeing greater interest in long-term-care insurance, from both advisors and consumers. Advisors, she says, are realizing that their clients' financial plans may be derailed if they don't take the long-term-care risk into consideration.

Sales are creeping back up, too. LIMRA measures its data in quarters and thus did not have first-quarter 2010 numbers by press time, but Genworth reported 10% higher sales from the same producers they worked with last year; some are up as much as 30%. While sales aren't yet back to the 2007 high watermark, Ludden says she is definitely seeing a thaw in the market.