Care Costs - How Much???!!!

tooldle

onomatopoeia99 said:

Mickey666 said:

MoneySeeker1 said:

Mickey666 said:

"Is there a recommended amount to keep in savings? I would think the vast majority of people wouldn't have adequate savings. "

I don't know about a recommended amount to keep in savings for possibel care coss, but since fees can easily be upwards of £40k per year I reckon it would have to be into 5-figures, depending on how long you think care might be needed - which of course is really anyone's guess.  I think you're right about the vast majority of people not having adequate savings!

This whole thing raises many issues around how we should responsibly plan our lives.  £100k+ is a lot of money to put to one side (even if that's possible) to 'self-insure' against possible future care home costs, especially when not spending that money while fit and healthy must significantly reduce one's lifestyle.  Is this really a good way to live?

I'm increasingly of the opinion that denying people the right to assisted suicide towards the end of their lives is a very bad thing, especially for fully cognitive people with untreatable terminal illnesses.  What is the point of prolonging the agony (often literally) of dying?  I'm starting to think that spending everything on enjoying life while I can and only saving a few hundred pounts for a one-way ticket to Switzerland might be a reasonable late-life 'care' option!

 

I've long been of the view that I'm only going to have what savings I require for myself and my house (eg to have some money to one side in case my house needed a new roof or my body needed medical treatment the NHS refused to provide). Beyond that - I certainly won't even try to have "care home savings" - as I have no intention of ever going in a care home. I've also long since decided that, if ever I became seriously ill (or when I see a 90th birthday looming) then I will kill myself at that point. The law change to make voluntary euthanasia legal in this country is now pretty near I estimate and I would be very surprised if it isn't in law within the next 5 years.

Re your option - ie a one-way trip to Switzerland, then I believe the cost is £10,000 (not the few hundred £s I blithely assumed it would be as well). That is very expensive and does sound like someone somewhere wishes to make a profit from this (rather than making a fair/reasonable charge) and so, for anyone that wouldnt take the DIY route and thinks the law might not change in time for them = you need £10,000 savings for that purpose just in case.

Wow - £10k - I certainly wasn't expecting that.  That seems like very cynical profiteering!

It's a not for profit members' society, not a private company with shareholders.  Given the legal process, drugs, separate assessments and all the other things that are required, the cost isn't surprising.

Anyone thinking they'll get that for a few hundred is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Just to add that making a profit would immediately make the assisted death an illegal act in Switzerland. I agree with the above poster that the individual components of the process,  are never going to add up to a few hundred pounds. 

badmemory

Why would the rich withdraw their opposition to legalised medical suicide?  They tend to be the ones that profit from forcing people to extend their lives.  To me it just means that before I am unable to I WILL commit suicide.  Unfortunately, the only way I will be able to do this without implicating anyone else is by vehicle. Not 100% reliable!

MoneySeeker1

Mickey666 said:

I'm with Moneyseeker1 in thinking that £10k is rather excessive, especially if it is a charitable organisation and not a profit-making company..  A breakdown of the costs would be interesting. 

As for "taking things into one's own hands", that seems fairly easy as far as the technicalities are concerned but it's the legal issues surrounding it that would concern me.  I understand that even pushing a partner's wheelchair on the trip to Switzerland puts you at risk of being charged with 'assisting suicide' and I'm sure we've all read harrowing stories about people with incurable degenerative diseases feeling 'forced' to end their lives while they are still able themselves rather than risk waiting too long and then not being able to get the assistance they need to carry out their final wish.  It really is a dreadful situation.

I think there is that problem with the law for spouses/anyone else. When I say "taking things into my own hands" I meant for me personally (no-one else involved). I would deal with things for my own body if my own body became too ill to live in any longer.

tooldle

http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=84&lang=en
Step by step info in this link

elsien

MoneySeeker1 said:

Mickey666 said:

I'm with Moneyseeker1 in thinking that £10k is rather excessive, especially if it is a charitable organisation and not a profit-making company..  A breakdown of the costs would be interesting. 

As for "taking things into one's own hands", that seems fairly easy as far as the technicalities are concerned but it's the legal issues surrounding it that would concern me.  I understand that even pushing a partner's wheelchair on the trip to Switzerland puts you at risk of being charged with 'assisting suicide' and I'm sure we've all read harrowing stories about people with incurable degenerative diseases feeling 'forced' to end their lives while they are still able themselves rather than risk waiting too long and then not being able to get the assistance they need to carry out their final wish.  It really is a dreadful situation.

I think there is that problem with the law for spouses/anyone else. When I say "taking things into my own hands" I meant for me personally (no-one else involved). I would deal with things for my own body if my own body became too ill to live in any longer.

You are presuming you would still be well enough to do so. People tend to hang on in there because without a crystal ball there is no way of knowing how quickly you are going to deteriorate. 
I can recall a documentary where a person with dementia was talking about ending it before their dementia progressed too far, but they lost the cognitive ability to remember that before they took the relevant actions because they didn't understand how quickly they were changing. Or you may have a stroke and be physically incapable of taking things into your own hands. 
The sentiments are one thing: the practicalities when it comes to it may be something else entirely. 

onwards&upwards

badmemory said:

Why would the rich withdraw their opposition to legalised medical suicide?  They tend to be the ones that profit from forcing people to extend their lives.  To me it just means that before I am unable to I WILL commit suicide.  Unfortunately, the only way I will be able to do this without implicating anyone else is by vehicle. Not 100% reliable!

Where’s the profit in that?

onwards&upwards

elsien said:

MoneySeeker1 said:

Mickey666 said:

I'm with Moneyseeker1 in thinking that £10k is rather excessive, especially if it is a charitable organisation and not a profit-making company..  A breakdown of the costs would be interesting. 

As for "taking things into one's own hands", that seems fairly easy as far as the technicalities are concerned but it's the legal issues surrounding it that would concern me.  I understand that even pushing a partner's wheelchair on the trip to Switzerland puts you at risk of being charged with 'assisting suicide' and I'm sure we've all read harrowing stories about people with incurable degenerative diseases feeling 'forced' to end their lives while they are still able themselves rather than risk waiting too long and then not being able to get the assistance they need to carry out their final wish.  It really is a dreadful situation.

I think there is that problem with the law for spouses/anyone else. When I say "taking things into my own hands" I meant for me personally (no-one else involved). I would deal with things for my own body if my own body became too ill to live in any longer.

You are presuming you would still be well enough to do so. People tend to hang on in there because without a crystal ball there is no way of knowing how quickly you are going to deteriorate. 
I can recall a documentary where a person with dementia was talking about ending it before their dementia progressed too far, but they lost the cognitive ability to remember that before they took the relevant actions because they didn't understand how quickly they were changing. Or you may have a stroke and be physically incapable of taking things into your own hands. 
The sentiments are one thing: the practicalities when it comes to it may be something else entirely. 

Also, Suicide isn’t illegal, that’s not the issue at all.