To think that if you have the funds to pay for your care home needs then you absoloutley should?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Interesting chat with a friend the other day about the extortionate costs of care homes and how if you live in social housing/rental and are on benefits then the government will pay for your care yet if you have "worked hard all your life and want to leave something for your kids" you are made to sell your home / use savings to pay for your care.

Friend is of the opinion that everyone who requires a care home should have it paid for by the government. So essentially a "hand out" yet also is of the opinion that those on benefits are getting "hand outs" and looks on them with scorn.

My personal opinion is that if you have the means to fund your own care home needs then yes; you absoloutley should pay for some or all of that. Why should the government fork out millions for every care home resident in the country so that a vast amount of them can then hand their properties and extensive savings down to their children?

It's simply not viable to fund 100% of care home needs across the country and if you are the kind of person who gets smug about "paying my way all my life" to the tune of living mortgage free in a 300k plus home with vast savings then you should be happy to continue "paying your way" til the end.

I also pointed out to her that as she will be funding her own care she will likely have more say in where she goes.

The end result was we both agreed the best solution was to swerve the care home altogether but I wondered whether I was BU to expect someone who can afford to pay for their care to actually pay for their care?

This “my relatives worked just as hard” is bollocks. You don’t know that.

Yeah its TOTALLY tenants fault for choosing to rent.

As tenants have sooooo much choice

No wonder many housing campaigners describe MN as a right wing site.

One minute tenants are choosing to rent.

Next minute its beggers cant be choosers and tenants should be grateful.

FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MINDS

I hate all this working hard bollocks. I haven’t worked nearly as hard as a health care assistant or a cleaner but I was paid a shitload more, as a result I have a house and a decent pension. Of course my assets should pay for my care; that’s what they’re for. And it’s entirely fair.

Many people do choose to rent. We have family members who choose to do just that and some who choose cheaper property and not to save so they can enjoy life. Nothing wrong with that but holidays and expensive phones shouldn’t qualify you more for care when older.

We should all be contributing towards care.

I hate this working hard bollocks. No one worked harder than my grandfather until he had an industrial accident. As a result they never owned a home. He didn't actually need care but I would have hated people to have made the assumption that he was undeserving.

My sil is a cleaner and lives in a house she owns double the price of ours. She works when she feels like it, we work full time in stressful jobs.

Not everybody on low incomes are working long hours, not everybody on high incomes are working less. Stress is often more apparent in higher paid jobs which is often why the salary is high.

Plenty of people choose not to work at all.

Others who have worked hard in stressful jobs scrimping and saving are not less deserving either.

My sil is a cleaner and lives in a house she owns double the price of ours.

Then she’ll pay for her care if she needs it. Amazing how everyone works so hard in such stressful jobs.

There should be much more take up of care insurance to level the playing field.

Does anyone know how much care insurance costs?

No one is saying that @LOOseMOOse.

But I get a little sick and tired of people who say 'we scrimped and saved and bought a house whilst you obviously didn't work hard because you were a council tenant'. We own our own house - the first generation in our families to do so. Do we work hard? Yes? Harder than our parents? No.

Care workers and retail workers experience high stress levels at work.

Ive done Christmas in retail Absolute hell.

It’s very unfair and like someone else said does not encourage saving and paying off your mortgage.

Can you even get care insurance?

Why is it amazing?

Almost as amazing as all the low paid working long hours in stressful jobs . Many choose low paid jobs for work life balance. Nothing wrong with that at all but it doesn’t make them more deserving.

Also plenty in low incomes manage to save and do.

I’ve done Christmas in retail and it doesn’t compare to teaching, medicine or many other high stress jobs.

Christmas is also temporary.

Why are we even talking about “deserving”? It’s not the 19th century. Care home fees are basically means tested, why is that so dreadful?

We have a family member who turned down home ownership of her council house. She didn’t want to pay the upkeep preferring to enjoy life.Another family member went without, never went on holiday and scrimped to have her own home. The former is not more deserving. The latter has had her house eaten up by care fees and is now terrified of being bumped out.

It’s appalling.

But the message coming loud and clear is you’d be mad to save. Downsize as much as you can and spend every penny.

Not great for the economy.

Au contraire, spending stimulates the economy. It’s the argument for low taxes.

Great, let’s spend.

Wonder how the card homes being propped up by home owners will fare?

It’s long overdue for people to be forced to contribute to care from a very young age.

I'm a single parent with a mortgage and have lived hand to mouth to pay it, up until the last few years where I've been better off (due to working my arse off and changing careers). I'd be pig sick if what I'd worked for went on a care home and someone who didn't work their arse off got it for free. Sorry.

But the message coming loud and clear is you’d be mad to save. Downsize as much as you can and spend every penny.

Exactly what someone we know has done.
Was a very high earner - very lavish lifestyle, homes with swimming pools, multiple foreign holidays, expensive cars etc. Refused to save wanting to enjoy life instead. His house was his pension. He retired at 50. When his money was dwindling he downsized and released equity, spent that money, downsized again and will do.so again. He won't have money to pay for a care home.

My parents earned much much less. Their priority was saving and investing for their retirement. They could have lived the lifestyle described above but didn't. Why should they be penalised in old age for choosing to live a sensible, responsible lifestyle?

My grandparents worked very hard all their lives in low-paying jobs that meant they couldn't afford to buy their own home. As agricultural workers they were very dependent on the grace and favour cottage they lived in all their adult lives. Luckily, they died at home but if they needed care it seems some of you would have considered them scroungers, despite them working from the age of 16 and paying taxes all their lives. How about we make the wealthy individuals and private corporations pay their fair share of tax to this country and when those leaching fuckers start to pay their way, we can look at the system again. No one in a country that calls it civilised, deserves to spend their vulnerable old age without proper care.

the attitudes in some people are astounding.
why shouldnt Mrs Smith live in a nice care home, spending her money?
why do her offspring think they deserve her money more than her?