Worried about care fees

Worried about care fees

Planning for later life care fees is something to plan for, the thought of dying while pulling up your anchor while on a sailing boat or dying peacefully in your sleep with no discomfort or ailments would be most peoples preferred option in later life.

Unfortunately care fees are likely to be a concern for many families as life expectancy is improving thanks to medical science advancing, however the lack of understanding in the 20^th century on how our diet, alcohol consumption or smoking habits would affect us in later life, this is now coming back to haunt many of the older generation and even those that lead a healthy lifestyle are still suffering from illnesses normally experienced by those living longer than most.

The ramifications of certain sports such as football and boxing have been in the headlines for several years as many sporting legends are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s as they reach their pensionable age and the worry of care cost in retirement becoming a pressing concern for them and their families.

Life expectancy has jumped by 10 – 20 years but these additional years are likely to be filled with trips to the GP and full of hospital appointments so planning for care fees in later life should not go ignored.

How do you pay for care? and can you afford to, unless your assets are all ringfenced with no income being produced, local authorities will look to place their shovels into your pockets or your parents’ pockets until they are fully depleted, but there is talk of the person whom care is needed will not lose their home in the future.

Do you want to be cared for at home? Or move permanently to a care home? giving away money you may feel is a clever way to avoid care costs, but there is something that is referred to as ‘deprivation of assets’ this means you cannot give money or assets away, well knowing that this money or asset will be required to cover care fees. If you have any concerns about you or a family member needing care in the future, seeking financial advice with Woodward Financials is a good start, we can help.

How have we helped clients in the past, we have attended means assessments meetings with local authorities, the outcome: £400,000 was not included in the means assessment calculations for one family. Outcome no care fees to pay. It just so happened that advisers at Woodward Financials knew the mechanics of the products held by the client better than those in local authority.

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