As you approach retirement, you might be thinking about how you’ll cope with the costs of paying for long-term care, either for yourself or for a relative. Or you might find that you are caring for someone who can no longer look after themselves.
What kind of long-term care?
If you or a relative are struggling to manage with everyday living because of illness or disability, you might need long-term care.
The first step to arranging care is to ask your local authority to carry out a care needs assessment, to work out:
- What help you need
- What care is available, and
- How much of it you’ll have to pay for.
Care can be provided either in your home or in a care home. This is a big decision and will be based on your personal circumstances, such as:
- What kind of care you need
- Where you want to live, and
- How much money you have to pay for care.
Who pays for long-term care?
If the local authority decides that you have eligible care needs, they’ll carry out a financial assessment to work out how much you have to pay towards the costs of care.
The amount you pay will depend on your income, savings and assets, and, if you go into residential care, might include the value of your home.
If you have to contribute towards the costs of long-term care there are many ways to pay for it and it’s important to look at each one to see whether it’s right for you.
Getting advice to plan for long-term care
Whether you’re planning ahead for long-term care, or you need to find a solution urgently, it’s a good idea to talk to a specialist financial adviser.
We can help you work out:
- The best way for you to fund care
- Which care option best suits your needs
- How much money you might need for your care
Getting good financial advice can mean you could:
- Make a fully-informed decision about the best way to pay for care
- Be sure that your future care needs and those of your dependents are provided for
- Make the best use of your income, savings and assets, particularly if you own your home
- Have a greater choice of care-funding options that you might not have found by yourself
- Get help with claiming benefits that you could use towards paying for the cost of your care
- Get expert help with understanding a complex care system, particularly if you’re facing the stress of urgent care needs
Please call one of our advisers who will be happy to discuss Long Term Care Planning in more detail with you.
Contact our expert advisers today