Baby Boomers
face having to sell their homes to pay for Long-Term Care
A care
crisis is in the UK is about to hit a whole generation of pensioners, as
the cost of funding long-term elderly care hits an aging population.
More
than 20,000 pensioners, that is 59 a day, were forced to sell their homes
last year in order to fund the cost of care fees. This number has,
and is, soaring with more and more of our elderly population being forced
to sell their life-long homes despite having paid taxes all their lives.
The
staggering concern is that most elderly people do not discuss the issue
of costs for long-term care with family members, and a recent survey by
law firm Dickinson Dees, found that 75% of pensioners admitted that they
had not broached the subject with their adult children.
However,
only 11% thought it unlikely that they would sell their home to pay for
care. The average annual cost for care homes fees in the UK is now
around £40,000 per year. And this is per individual, and does
not take into account how these costs may increase if a retired elderly
couple both require care.
Even
more concerning is that at least one third of adults say that they are
counting on inheriting their parent’s property for their retirement.
These Generation X-ers, and otherwise called “Sandwich Generation”, who
are now struggling to raise a family and care for their elderly relatives,
forwent their pensions to pay for increasing house and utility prices and
university fees.
It
is quite clear that a taboo subject of discussing mortality and infirmity
must be readdressed to combat the care crisis that is looming. More
and more families are likely to face a financial disaster as homes are
sold to cover care costs.
The
government’s plans to reduce public spending and the extreme cost-cutting
measures now being made by local councils, are all attributing to the crisis
of long-term care for the elderly.
The
statistics indicate that one in eight of all those who enter a care home
are forced to sell their home. An average care home stay can be around
26 months.
There
certainly are ways and means of protecting property and assets but this
needs to be considered ahead of a care-need crisis.
The
facts are that we have an increasing aging population in the UK, public
spending is being cut wherever possible and preparations for elderly care
should be made well in advance of immediate need.
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