Gloucestershire IFA: Independent financial services brokers based in Cheltenham offer lifetime financial planning and wealth management

Long Term Care Planning - Introduction

With people living longer, many of us could look forward to 20, or even 30 years or more of retirement. But the chances of being perfectly healthy and able throughout that time are, unfortunately, not so good. The need for long term care and how it should be paid for is arguably one of the greatest causes for concern among our growing elderly population.

Statistics show that from age 60, one in three women and one in four men will require some form of care on a long-term basis. Almost half a million people are in long term care (residential care homes and long stay hospitals). One of the problems for the current generation of elderly people is that they were brought up to believe that the State would look after them. Sadly this is not the case.

How and where you receive the care that’s best for you will depend on the type of help, and how much of it, you need. There are a number of options available, ranging from care in your own home, through sheltered housing and care villages, to residential care homes with and without nursing care.

As well as the confusion and emotional upheaval, you may also be faced with some difficult practical decisions, not least of which is whether or not you need to pay for care and if so, how best to fund it. Many people do not realise that care is no longer provided free of charge - but whether you receive it in your own home or in a care home, one way or another it has to be paid for. With care homes often costing in excess of £20,000 a year, and those that provide nursing care even more expensive at an average of £28,000, the funding of care can be a major concern for most people.

Paying for care yourself
If you have to pay for or contribute towards your own care, there’s no doubt that it’ll be expensive. You may find that you have to compromise on some of your personal preferences and choices - they may have to be sacrificed to the overriding financial reality of how to afford the care you need.

And how do you afford it?
Are you entitled to any help or do you have to pay all the costs?
What if your assets are not enough to meet the costs directly?
If you need to move into a care home, will you have to sell your home to pay the fees?
If so, what happens to the inheritance you had planned for your heirs?
And what happens when the money runs out?

Everyone’s financial circumstances will be different, as the need to depend on others for help can affect any of us, without regard to wealth or social position. You may be confident that you can afford to pay for your care outright, but that does not mean you would not want to consider some of the funding options available.