The potential high cost of later life care is something that could be on the horizon for many of us.
Currently, those in England and Northern Ireland who have assets of more than £23,250 will be expected to self-fund their care completely. This can mean selling the family home and spending a chunk of your savings on funding care.
Councils are becoming increasingly ruthless in cracking down on people who deliberately deprive themselves of assets by giving them away. There is no time limit on how far a Council can go back when claiming deliberate deprivation.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond, has announced that a government green paper on funding social care will explore a cap on costs. He said that the paper will put forward a number of suggestions for introducing and funding a maximum limit on the payments individuals will be required to make towards care.
Reforms to the way that social care is funded have been discussed for a while, but delays have hampered progress. In 2011, Andrew Dilnot produced a report on funding care which recommended a cap on costs. Then-prime minister David Cameron committed to bringing in an upper limit on costs, but this was not implemented.
And in December last year, it was confirmed that a previously proposed cap of £72,500 would be scrapped. The current green paper was originally promised in summer 2018, but has already been delayed until autumn.
Ways of funding social care are also under discussion, with a ‘care ISA’ and a ‘care pension’ two of the possible options. The latter has been outlined by pension provider Royal London and would combine drawdown and care insurance.
It is difficult to know what the future will hold for any of us when it comes to funding later life care. However, your Brunsdon Financial Adviser will be able to give you guidance on saving and investing for the long term and can help you make sure you are prepared for whatever the future brings.
Sources:
https://news-view.co.uk/funding-care-home-costs-with-a-care-home-isa/
Please note that this information is for guidance only and does not constitute personal advice. The information provided is based on our current understanding of the UK Department of Health legislation and Local Government and Social Care Legislation (October 2018), which may be subject to change. Brunsdon is not responsible for the content of external web sites.
