Paying for care?

[40andlovelife]

It seems so unfair that people who who have put a fortune in to the system then have to sell their homes to pay for elderly care when all they probably wanted to do was pass it on to their children. Are there any forms of insurance for this? Some might not agee but I'm not happy at the thought of working my arse off to buy my house whilst quite a few of the girls I was brought up with have lived off the state and will be rewarded with free elderly care !

Available possibly, affordable probably not.

But that's how it will have to be done. Would of course be cheaper if people bought in early and in large numbers. Probably needs some level of compulsion to make it work properly but then everybody will shout 'dementia tax'.

The hard fact is that whatever we (ie those now in our sixties) paid in isn't in an account with our name on to be tapped into later. Like pensions, it's 'pay as you go'; we paid for the care received by our grandparents/parents.

I've got a house worth what you'd expect in the area, not far short of half a million quid. Should I need care is it fair on the rest of society for the taxpayer to backfill my kids' inheritance?

And if I'd pissed everything up a wall and was now potless should I be left to die on the street like in the US.

There may be free care available.for those without means, but paying gives you choice. And when it comes to care homes (or home care) you really want choice.

For payment arrangements, I'm not sure there's advance insurance available. But when you need it you can get an 'immediate care needs annuity'. You pay the insurers a lump sum in advance, and they then pay the agreed monthly amount for the rest of your life.