Long Term Care – Planning for the Future

With my elderly Grandparents still living in their own home but needing increasing support and assistance, the thought of how I would like to spend my final years has been playing on my mind a lot lately. Would I be happy for my children and grandchildren to take me to appointments, cook, clean and shop for me and for that matter will they have the time to if they are working full time?  Will I be happy for them to nurse me, bathe me and see me at my most undignified moments as my frailty and inevitable illness prevails? For me, the answer is no.  After seeing the amount of time, effort and care my parents have to provide to my Grandparents on a daily basis, being unable to enjoy their own later years together since we their children have left home, I would not wish that on my own children. With the cost of living ever increasing and life expectancy at the highest it has ever been, it is important that everyone starts planning for their future and inevitable long term care.

With dwindling resources available to the elderly and constant changes to the government benefit system, any benefit you do receive in later life may not be sufficient to provide for the full cost of long term care.  It is also important to remember that the level of state support you receive can be different depending on whether you live in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales.  For example in England and Wales, depending on your savings and assets, you can receive means tested state assistance.  However, if your savings are above £23,250 in England, you will normally be expected to pay for the full cost of your long term care yourself.

Add in the fact that the UK Government are currently changing the way in which long term care is funded, with the details to be finalised in England by April 2016, and you can see what a minefield of considerations there are.

At Prosser Knowles, we have the expertise to guide you in your decision making process and give you advice in regards to the types of plans that can help you save for your future during your younger years and more importantly plan and provide for the level of comfort you require in later life.

For further information please click here to request a call back from one of our advisers.

Written by: Kay Crooke – Practice Manager, Prosser Knowles Associates Limited

Prosser Knowles Associates Limited is Authorised & Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate Taxation and Trusts. The information in this document does not constitute advice or a recommendation for any product and you should not make any decisions on the basis of it.  Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.