The nationwide survey obtained input from 1,299 people ages 49 to 67. Annual household income was between $25,000 and $75,000. Some 505 respondents self-identified as caregivers.

Here's the nitty-gritty of planning for long-term care:

• 72 percent of middle-income boomers have no plan for their retirement care. Only one in five have a rough plan for how they will receive the care they may need in retirement; just 8 percent have a detailed plan;  
   
• 43 percent of all middle-income boomers have not had a discussion with anyone about how they wish to receive long-term care;
   
• 56 percent have not had a discussion with anyone about how they will pay for long term care;   

• Middle-income boomers significantly underestimate the likelihood of one day needing long-term care. Only 36 percent believe they will need long-term care services, whereas the actual chance of needing care is 70 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 
   
• Eight in 10 middle-income boomers could not venture a guess on the average cost for home-health aide services or nursing home care.

More discouraging detail on paying for retirement and long term care:

• Boomers significantly underestimate the annual cost of nursing home care by estimating that a year's stay averages $46,890 when the actual average cost is nearly double, at $90,520;  
   
• More than three-quarters (78 percent) of middle-income boomers either incorrectly think Medicare will pay for ongoing long-term care or simply do not know how they will fund their care;
   
• Nine in ten (88 percent) middle-income boomers do not own long-term care insurance as a means to help pay for their retirement care, with one-third (34 percent) being unfamiliar with it altogether.