Query concerning long-term Residency Card for non-EU Citizen

I am an American who has lived in Poland legally for five years. It is time to renew my karta pobytu, so I thought I would apply for long-term residency instead of fixed-term. I meet all of the requirements, but I asked the residency office about the repercussions if I am somehow denied this status. They recommended that I should apply for both long-term and fixed-term residency as a way to protect myself.

This seems rather strange to me - the fees would be close to 1,000 zł to apply for both. Does anyone have experience with this scenario? It appears that my current karta pobytu will expire before my long-term residency can be decided, so I risk losing my five-consecutive-year streak (a requirement for long-term) if I don't apply for fixed-term residency as well.

Thanks for any and all constructive input!

I'm also an American who has been here for 6 1/2 years with a karta pobytu valid until October 2015. I'm going to apply for a permanent card soon. As I understand it, I/you need to provide proof of our/your financial ability to live in Poland even if you don't have a work permit or a job. There may be more to it than that-married to a Polish citizen, for example-but I don't think so.My school told me to apply after receiving my current car, which I got last month, so after I file my taxes-PIT 37-I'm going to do jujst that.

I am a self-employed language teacher, so "proving" my monthly income will be the biggest hurdle. The last time I applied for my karta pobytu, they seemed all hung up on the fact that I didn't have a contract (as if a contract from a language school actually guarantees income).

When do you pay? It used to be you paid when the card was ready.
I was in a similar situation and applied for both and the lady behind the desk told me she'd just throw away the temporary application if the long term application was decided in time (which is what happened).