£600k for 10 years - is that reasonable planning for a home?

Callistemon21

I would make arrangements to go to Switzerland rather than fund the lifestyle of hedge fund managers and billionaires who pay their care home staff the lowest wages they can get away with.

I know this sounds awfully morbid but I was going to pay for a Pure cremation to save my kids any hassle but it then occurred to me that it would be a waste of money if I went to Switzerland ( I assume it doesn’t cover that scenario )

I don't know, MayBee

Perhaps we should find out more!

£7000 a month right now for a friend. Too many ifs and buts to say what might be needed for ten years care but £600k would not be enough for ten years, inflation has to be factored in. One year right now would be at least £84k

That is about £234 a day, cheaper than some hotel rooms

Fancythat,No that is the median. I think this distribution will be bunched up towards the shorter times in care witha long tail. The average will be well to the left of the median

Don’t forget that we may eventually see a care cap introduced but I am not holding my breath. A cap of £86,000 was supposed to start in October 2023. However the government postponed the start of the scheme until October 2025.

As I understand it, the cap will only cover residential care, nursing care and support with washing, dressing, eating and taking medication. It will not include food, energy bills and accommodation.

Care UK have examples of how this will work if it does ever happen:

www.careuk.com/where-do-i-start/what-affects-cost/what-the-care-home-fees-cap-means-for-you

How can dementia not tick each and every one of the boxes for funding?

It really makes me angry.

MissAdventure

How can dementia not tick each and every one of the boxes for funding?

It really makes me angry.

A friend of mine whose husband had dementia said she couldn’t understand why she had no help at all for his condition

I can't imagine how hard it must be to care for a spouse with dementia, or a parent.
I was always very glad to finish my shifts when I worked in care homes.

A cap would help and seems reasonable - for example if they set it at £150,000.
But this would mean it would wipe out the savings of those who only had £150,000 - whilst others with £800,000 would get to save a lot of the money they had for other things! Maybe a percentage of savings could be the cap? If you have a house worth £400,000 it would be no more than half of it to be counted towards came home fees? That's probably not perfect or workable either. I think I would prefer to go to Switzerland I'm afraid. And afraid of the type of care available. My aunt recently died , I remember she called the buzzer on one occasion - and noone ever came. It was a top rated private home.

Same here, callistemon..

It's not simple to 'go to Switzerland'. There are medically proven pre-requisites that have to be met, someone to accompany you that could be prosecuted on their return (whilst l don't think this is happened the law is not in their favour). Also has to be someone who can live with what you are choosing to do - l doubt I'd have anyone l could put through that. You also have to administer the fatal dose yourself - physically not difficult but psychologically impossible for some. Cost is £10,000+ it's not a poor person's exit unfortunately - only the wealthy have the choice. Pressing for the right to die in the UK is key. Happy days!

Having told anyone who might spoil your plans that you are staying with friends for a few days in an area with poor wifi. Wouldnt it be simpler and cheaper to get some barbiturates and go to bed?

These would be my plans.

I don't know about today's prices . But 6 years ago my brother's ex mother in law was in a home that had dementia and Alzheimer's residents it cost £1,000 a week . She lived there for 4 years before she died there was no money left from sale of her house or savings when she died .

Have watched programmes about Dignitas.

If anyone thinks they end their days in a beautiful hotel room with breathtaking views as you slip away, you couldn’t be more wrong.

A poky little room, clinical and bare. Looked a very dismal end and costing a lot.

This is very much on my mind at the moment as mum moved into a care home this week following a stroke in December
We are self funded but I'm looking into a care home annuity at thr moment

M0nica

*Fancythat*,No that is the median. I think this distribution will be bunched up towards the shorter times in care witha long tail. The average will be well to the left of the median

Genuinely interested as to what you are baseing all that on.

Purely anecdotely, that is not my experience of it all. But I dont know enough.

Your plan is the same as mine BigLouis. I have no intention of going into a care home.

Around 40 years ago my FIL developed dementia. To start with he and MIL were provided (free of charge) by the local Council with a daily "Home Help". Later as his condition worsened, He was admitted to an NHS ward for men with dementia and similar conditions. He was quite happy there - in his mind he thought he was back in the army, living in a barracks and giving his name rank and number when asked. There was no charge and MIL continue to collect his state pension every week along with her own one.

Fast forward some 40 years and his son - my DH - also developed dementia. I cared for him at home until I could no longer cope and I fought for and won a place for him in the nearby Council run "Best ever Care Home". The fees were huge, although ameliorated somewhat by the Scottish Government's Free Personal Care element. Our savings had just dwindled down to the the limit where the Local Authority would start to pay the fees, when he died.

It is amazing to think that financially MIL & FIL were much better served by the system "way back when" than we were under the current system.

biglouis

Having told anyone who might spoil your plans that you are staying with friends for a few days in an area with poor wifi. Wouldnt it be simpler and cheaper to get some barbiturates and go to bed?

These would be my plans.

I'd feel I'd have to have a huge declutter, tidy and spring clean first!

We never know, though, do we. We may never need care or we might not be in a position to help ourselves.

I hear about people who do go very suddenly and it seems the best way for them although extremely upsetting for friends and family.

Your plan is the same as mine BigLouis. I have no intention of going into a care home

They sound like horrendous places to me. I dont want to end up having someone else wipe my bum.

Nor me. I don’t understand why people save up in order to go into these places and have their bums wiped. What a waste of money.

Germanshepherdsmum

Nor me. I don’t understand why people save up in order to go into these places and have their bums wiped. What a waste of money.

I also have absolutely no intention of leaving my home..

My husband was fast tracked to a nursing home from hospital . It was funded and then reviewed every 3 months.He was terminally ill with stage 4 cancer. I was offered a list to go and visit the Homes so l could choose for him. Most of them were dire and smelt of urine or strong sickly air freshners..no ensuite and several shared rooms.Residents just sitting in a lounge in wing chairs staring into space.l couldn't put him there. I had been looking after him at home for 6 weeks with carers and an installed hospital bed...but unfortunately he got septicemia from a bladder infection cos of pulling his caffeter out. He was taken to hospital but when he got better they needed the beds so hence he was fast tracked to a nursing home .Being back home at this stage wouldn't have worked. He had no idea what was going on around him.
The cost of these"dire ' nursing homes were about 850 / 900 (2 years ago) per week. I live in Cheshire.
I asked to see some out of the area and managed to get him into a lovely home. It cost 1300 a week (2 years ago) When you are funded and fast tracked you are not allowed to top up the budget to get a better home .So we were unusually lucky to have this home approved for funding. .After a while my husband became very happy there and he just got fitter and stronger. He was racing around the care home and gardens in his wheelchair. The staff treated the residents with such respect and friendliness but some of the agency nursing staff used at night were dreadful. Probably because they worked in homes where it was acceptable. Fortunately it didn't happen too often.
The weekly visiting senior nurse practitioner got him off of many of the drugs that the hospice doctors had put him on and he started to think clearly .He had a beautiful room overlooking a canal , excellent food ,entertainment , (proper musicians etc).Freedom to make tea or coffee in a little side room even in the middle of the night and he was allowed whiskey etc in his room which also had a fridge. At 6 months he was ready to come home and is still here one year later.He started this journey of "care" 2 years ago after ,being admitted to a Hospice on end of life care. then released to me at home. l was told he had 2 months to live .I am not being unkind about the lower budget care homes or saying they are all like that .To really understand you have to see for yourself. So when people are planning how much their care should they need it... factor in that what you pay for is generally what you get. I am pretty sure my husband would not have survived in a bad nursing home. And out life today is more gentle but we are enjoying it...we even have a little narrowboat . Of course he is still living with stage 4 prostate cancer but l am very thank full to that Nursing home.

I dont think there are many people that would choose to go into a home, I do not intend to, however if you have a stroke or dementia ,amongst other conditions, that is where you will probably go.

fancythat

M0nica
The average length of stay in a care home is two years so, while there will be the occasional person who is there much longer, they will be the exception not the rule.
Doesnt that mean that half the people will be there longer, and half less?
No fancythat that’s not how averages work - you are thinking of the median , which is the middle figure in a set of numbers. Average would be the total number of years in a care home divided by the number of people- if the average is 2 years, then more people could be below 2 years than above if there are a few who are in the home for 10 years and way more in the home for less than 2. So most people don’t live that long after being admitted to a care home.