Do you have a family member in assisted living?

You've probably seen these facilities springing up in your community.  They generally provide room, board, 24-hour supervision and some limited medical services.  Most residents probably use their savings, retirement accounts or possibly long-term care policies to pay for the costs.  And, like most health care costs-they keep going up. 

The 2006 MetLife survey reports assisted living in the US costs an average of $2,968 per month.  The highest monthly average base cost was reported in Bridgewater, New Jersey, at $5,197, while the lowest was North Dakota, at $1,742.