How to pay for care?

While I don't mind using any investments or savings to pay for care I would like to be able to leave a legacy to my children in the form of our house.both my husband & I worked really hard to own our own property & we paid nic & tax all our working lives also we employed people who we paid nic for .so it would be comforting to know we could leave something for future generation in the form of property..

One of my friends idea: A bit tongue in cheek, but it has its merits?

Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home. This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks. They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out. They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them. A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education. Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request. Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens. Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls. There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to. The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out. ----------------------

Love it !

olliesgran - send that to Downing Street.

Jangly, couldnt agree more. It is what my children did, but there are many people earning £15 - £20,000 who are taxpayers and in my area where rents, even for a flat share start at around £500 a month and where the cheapest property is over £120,000 it is going to be very hard to save the £50,000 plus deposit they will need to get on the housing ladder. If they are paying back a student loan as well......

An elderly relative was in a residential home with dementia for many years and had no other home. Almost all of her state pension was used to pay her contribution to the fees. She became very ill, was hospitalised,was stabilised and now receives round the clock care in a nursing home with the NHS paying the full fees.She is far too ill to need any money or have any expenses at all.Thus her state pension accrues in the bank and on her death will presumably go to relatives. It seems uneconomical to say the least for the state to be paying her retirement pension and also meeting the full cost of her nursing care with no contribution from her.
Does anybody know if this situation is correct?

Nowadays people have to make a contribution to their care fees if their savings are above approx 12.5K.

Once they drop below this amount the Local Authority will fund the care but they will also take the person's State Pension, leaving them with a pocket money allowance of approx £22 pw.

It seems that once they become ill enough to need continuing health care and are assessed as such by the NHS then the NHS pay the full nursing home fees thus no contribution is needed from the person who is ill. Presumably this is cheaper than keeping a person in hospital indefinitely.

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Reported - it's an advertisement for a consultancy.

I like your post about living in a caravan, crimson! (Although being Edna might be too much of a downfall )
It's difficult to see why any young person would want to get on the property ladder if they're going to be in the same position we are in when they become old and ill. May as well rent.
BTW you can't just sell your house to avoid care fees - there has to be a gap of at least 7 years between the sale and your needing care.

My mother and father split their home into tennants in common.
My mother did not want the half of the house she earned to go to another family if Dad ever got re married or have her money used towards his care.
This did work well as I was widowed and I was retired shortly after so I sold my London house and moved in with Dad in Birmingham.
I did check the situation in case he had to go into care and I found as I was an owner occupier the council could not take any of the house.
Dad had very little savings so all the council could have taken was his pension.
Hapily Dad never went in to care and spent his pension on things he wanted.

Frank

We had to sell my mil's flat to pay for her care- and we all felt that was fair enough. My parents savings all went that way too. Why should we expect the tax payers to fund our parent's care if they have the funds. Why do we have the automatic right to inherit from them- especially as a house bought for perhaps 5000 is now worth 500000?

Why should those who don't own a house expect tax payers to fund their care in old age? They may have spent their entire earnings throughout their lives on holidays and gambling. Is that fair?

hunterf I came from near Brum. Went to uni there as well. Where are you?

Ana, you can't make generalisations like that about people who can't afford to pay for their care. There are many reasons for people being without resources - or, to put it bluntly, being poor - and gambling and taking holidays are rarely among them, no matter what certain tabloids would have you believe. And no, I'm not trying to start another 'newspaper war' on Gransnet. There are many people who have spent their working lives in low-paid but necessary work - carers, cleaners, local council manual workers to name but a few. Where would we be without their services? They probably don't own their own properties, may even have lived in subsidised social housing all their lives; may have struggled to bring up their families on a shoestring. I don't begrudge my taxes being spent on their care, better that than on Trident missiles.

jeni

I live in Sutton Coldfield.

I remember it well . Sutton park. Went to the international scout jamboree there when I was abou 12. Used to walk round it! Always wanted to live in Roman Road.

I agree with Ana

Richer people have paid more in taxes and NI so they are more entitled to free and better care than poorer people.

Sorry, disagree for each according to their needs regardless when it comes to old age!

I wasn't making a generalisation, anno. I was giving a specific example, not implying that all people who can't afford to pay for their care are shiftless skivers! I don't think my post warranted such criticism.

my beloved late father in law lost all his savings to pay for his care, I had POA for him and it broke my heart, as the home was not fantastic, I had to keep on the case all the time, sadly he had dementia and was doubly incontinent it was so sad, but he had nearly 90 good years before becoming so ill and we managed keep him at home up until last few months.

I felt it ws slightly unfair when a lot of residents did not pay anything, but hey when is life fair??

Quite. My mother used a lot of her savings when she went into care.she hated it. But she was unsafe on her own. Was setting fire to things. Smelling. Doubly incontinent. Demented.
She had never been happy since my father died. Over 30years before and at age about 56 decided she couldn't cope without help and company from others.
She said, and I quote ' I'm an elderly, disabled, widow on my own and you (me) should be looking after me and keeping me company!
At this time I was working in a high powered responsible job. I had 2 children under 12. And a husband who was on dialysis awaiting a kidney transplant.
She decided to move to Scotland where she could be 'looked after properly' by my younger brother.
I know he regretted this when she started ringing at all hours. In fact she drove him to early retirement.
She was a very selfish snobbish woman. One of the things she,disliked about the home was that ' they were common people'. Her father was a factory foreman!

Have a look at a site called my ageing parent. They seem to have useful advice on this issue

When the NHS was introduced after WW2 the promise was that we paid for all our working lives National Insurance, and in return we would receive free healthcare from the cradle to the grave.
In the main, this works, but the bill is huge, astronomical in fact and bit by bit we have had to pay for prescriptions, spectacles, dental care, etc.
The old geriatric hospitals have thankfully gone - who would want to end up in one of those??
In their place are private nursing homes, being run for profit as they are a business. What is a business for? To make money, nothing else. Some of them are a disgrace, charging a lot of money and often neglecting the people in their care. We have all seen the horror stories. They cost more than many hotels.

Why can't the State provide nursing homes? Accountable to tax payers and the authorities, they'd be subsidised.
If you have a physical disability your care is taken care of, but if your disability is mental, you have to pay through the roof and that is what is unfair and causing resentment. We have already paid the bill; it was deducted from our earnings!
I hope all this makes sense, it's just how I see it.