This article appears as part of Casey Weade's Weekend Reading for Retirees series. Every Friday, Casey highlights four hand-picked articles on trending retirement topics and delivers them straight to your email inbox. Get on the list here.

Much like many other areas in the health care world, the cost of long-term care (LTC) is rising. According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than one in four retirees will need LTC at some point in their life, costing more than $100,000.

Don’t be blind-sided: The reality is, LTC expenses can quickly deplete your lifelong savings, but the good news is, you have options and strategies available if you start planning ahead of time. Here are several ways to get your thought engine started on covering those LTC costs in retirement:

📌Retirement income and assets – Multi-millionaire retired individuals who don’t have any other coverage might decide to pay for LTC costs out-of-pocket, but again, those costs can be steep.

📌Traditional LTC insurance policies – These come with a “Use it or lose it” tagline. If unused, your beneficiaries are left with nothing, but if you end up needing extended care in the future, these can certainly help with out-of-pocket costs.

📌Hybrid life insurance/LTC – It is becoming more common for life insurance companies to offer a LTC rider. Here, beneficiaries receive a death benefit if you don’t utilize all your LTC benefits.

📌Life insurance with chronic care rider – These policies allow you to access a certain portion of your death benefit early if you need LTC.

📌Deferred income annuities – While these are used as a source of retirement income, that income can then be pulled if or when you need LTC in the future.

Bottom line: Don’t dismiss long-term care as “too expensive”. There’s more than one way to eat a kiwi.