As millions of Baby Boomers head into their retirement years, it's surprising how few actually know that the government provides little more than a few weeks of financial support for home-based or nursing home care.

They are also unaware that the average person needs it for at least a year.

A 2011 Metlife survey says the national average private room rate at a nursing home was $239 per day or $87,235 annually.

Long-term care insurance (LTC) may be one solution for those who need to bridge the gap between their savings and the actual costs they'll face.

If you need life insurance, now may be the time to buy it.

Life insurance premiums have dropped over 15% over the last few years, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In fact, premiums are less than half of what they were just a decade ago.

There are two basic types of life insurance policies that have lowered their premiums: terms and permanent.

Most Americans are not prepared to deal with the possibility of becoming disabled due to sickness or injury and leaving the workforce for an extended period of time.

In fact, more than half of U.S. adults said they would be unable to pay their bills or meet expenses if they became disabled and could not work for a year or longer, according to a recent National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) study.

Recently, two pieces of legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 were signed into law.

Together, these pieces of legislation make the most significant reform to health care in the United States since the enactment of Medicare. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, approximately 32 million currently uninsured Americans will have health insurance, at a cost of about $940 billion. A major component of the reform legislation is the creation of state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program Exchanges to provide health insurance for low-income individuals and small businesses. The following is a brief description of some of the most important provisions of the health care reform legislation.