Have You Thought About How To Pay For Elderly Care?

Find out about paying for elderly care, and how you can plan ahead efficiently for the best possible later life for you and your partner.

As you approach your later years you may well be wondering about paying for care and how you might cope with the costs of care. To help you in your initial stages of planning, we wanted to provide you with this rough guide as a great start to your research:

Which Type Care Do You Want?

Care is usually needed if there is long-term illness or disability. It is possible if you are thinking about care you have an idea of your care needs for the future. It is a good idea to get a care assessment to help you understand the care you need, the care available to you and how much of the costs are down to you. With this information you can choose the type of care appropriate for your wants and needs. According to the Live-in Care Hub the decision usually comes down to live-in care, homecare services, assisted living, care in a residential home or a nursing home, depending on individual needs.

Paying For Long-Term Care

It will be your local council who decides how much help you get with care costs. The amount you pay depends on how much you earn or have coming in by the way of benefits and pensions, any savings you have and the worth of any assets. You can find out more about how to fund long term care here.

Financial Planning

Regardless of the type of care you want or need, and if you need it yet, the sooner you can get some specialist financial advice and plan for your future, the better. The Live In Care Hub No Place Like Home report showed that only 1.9% of people spoke to an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) to plan their care. A large amount of respondents also estimated the costs of care wrong. The sooner you know the costs, and how to financially plan for your care, the sooner you can have the peace of mind that you are prepared for this next stage of your life.

Planning Whilst You Can

Nobody wants to think about a time where they won't be able to make decisions about their future, but illnesses and life-altering events can happen. If you haven't put plans in place about what you do want, you may end up in a care option that you wouldn't have wished for. Your family may unknowingly place you in residential care wanting the best for you, with no idea that is the last thing you want. They might not know about homecare services and assisted living and how it is affordable in comparison to residential care.

Putting direct plans in place for your care and planning how to pay for it means that you have total control over your future.

What Next?

If you currently have no need for care, the best thing you can do is look into different care options, get financial advice on financial planning should you need care, and get some written plans in place. If you know you need care then you should get a care assessment for an insight into the kind of care you need, projected care needs and so you understand the potential costs and potential financial support.

With lots of planning and research you can have a happy, safe, independent and fulfilling later life