How much to live on

DairyQueen

Baron_Dale said:

It is worth remembering that only 4% of the population over 65 go into care and 15% over the age of 85.

Problem being that any one of us could be amongst the 4% or the 15%.  

There is a less than a 1% chance that my house will catch fire in any year but the consequences of drawing the short straw are such that insurance is a must.

So, do you cross your fingers and hope that you will be in the majority (and take the consequences if you are wrong)? Or make contingencies 'just in case'?

I would rather not take the risk of being at the mercy of the taxpayer and a cash-strapped Local Authority in my dotage. The house is our insurance policy.

Daffodil1234

The question of how much to set aside for care costs (slightly different to how much to live on) feels like an impossibility.

For me, if I were to work for a lot longer in order to save money for care costs, I do feel that I'd end up worsening my own health anyway (physical / mental) and possibly not living long enough to end up needing the care costs anyway.  But as Dairy Queen says above, it is a risk where we have to find the right balance.  There's a big debate to be had here about quality of life / right to have wishes heard and actioned / how we find appropriate funding and staffing for care in the UK.

Bravepants

At the end of the day if we run out of money, someone will have to look after us.

I believe there are plans to limit care cost payments to £85,000? Is that correct, or did I mis-hear that?

blue.peter

Daffodil1234 said:

The question of how much to set aside for care costs (slightly different to how much to live on) feels like an impossibility.

For what it's worth, this is an insurable risk - at least in theory and to some extent. You might be able to buy a deferred annuity that will pay out only if you live to a certain age. If you buy one relatively early and it doesn't return anything on your death before that age, it can be relatively inexpensive. There's no theoretical restriction on insurers offering such a product, but it might not be too easy to find one that does in practice. I don't have any direct knowledge of this area of the market, but suspect that demand might be too low for it to be viable.

If this idea interests you, you'll need to find and talk to an independent adviser that handles this type of business.

Farway

Bravepants said:

At the end of the day if we run out of money, someone will have to look after us.

I believe there are plans to limit care cost payments to £85,000? Is that correct, or did I mis-hear that?

I heard same thing, but I also heard the caveats that it only covers care, not the so called "hotel" bits, like board & lodging

So the person to feed you is paid for but the food, bed & room you're in is not

If true I think we can all guess how it will end up, a box ticked, pledge kept, nothing to see here, move along please

DairyQueen

Farway said:

Bravepants said:

I believe there are plans to limit care cost payments to £85,000? Is that correct, or did I mis-hear that?

I heard same thing, but I also heard the caveats that it only covers care, not the so called "hotel" bits, like board & lodging

So the person to feed you is paid for but the food, bed & room you're in is not

If true I think we can all guess how it will end up, a box ticked, pledge kept, nothing to see here, move along please

Yes, exactly that. Approx 2/3rds of residential care costs are (so-called) 'hotel costs'. Therefore only 1/3rd of the fees will count toward the cap. The reports I have seen suggest that it will take approx 4 years to reach the £85k cap on that basis.

Average stay in residential care is 2.5 years and therefore the majority of self-funders will never reach the cap.

No information yet on what happens to the exceptions. Will they be forced to move to cheaper homes when they reach the cap? Will it be of benefit to choose an expensive care home as the cap will be reached sooner and the taxpayer will foot the bill of a plush care home for longer?

I believe there will be all kinds of box-ticking rules to negotiate in order to qualify for state funding when the cap is reached. Better to plan for self-reliance than rely on the vagaries of government policy and Local Authority budgets. 

RetSol

It's started... my mind is on shaving off energy consumption, where I can.

I have turned the radiators down, switched the dishwasher to a low temperature programme and resolved to run the tumble dryer for an hour only at a time. 

I am thinking about buying a heated throw.  It is very cheap to run and might be worthwhile if it allows me to keep the radiators turned down a notch.  

Dizee123

We have now reached our annual 'argument time' of when to turn on the heating.  My partner likes to just wear a t-shirt and have the heating on, whereas I like to wrap up in layers and wear jumpers when it is cold.  Cue discussions on 'wasting energy'.  This year, after watching the news on energy costs, he has actually dug out some tracksuit bottoms and a top to wear......every cloud and all that.....
I have also become addicted to checking my smart meter a few times a day.  The last couple of days the electric usage has increased, so I started some detective work initially thinking the seal on the fridge freezer had gone.  This morning the cause became apparent with two dead fish in the aquarium due to a faulty thermostat.  Luckily the others have managed to survive the almost 10 degree temperature increase.  I'm glad to have solved the energy issue, but just wish it wasn't one of my favorite fish that provided the clue.

ex-pat_scot

Dizee123 said:

We have now reached our annual 'argument time' of when to turn on the heating.  My partner likes to just wear a t-shirt and have the heating on, whereas I like to wrap up in layers and wear jumpers when it is cold.  Cue discussions on 'wasting energy'.  This year, after watching the news on energy costs, he has actually dug out some tracksuit bottoms and a top to wear......every cloud and all that.....
I have also become addicted to checking my smart meter a few times a day.  The last couple of days the electric usage has increased, so I started some detective work initially thinking the seal on the fridge freezer had gone.  This morning the cause became apparent with two dead fish in the aquarium due to a faulty thermostat.  Luckily the others have managed to survive the almost 10 degree temperature increase.  I'm glad to have solved the energy issue, but just wish it wasn't one of my favorite fish that provided the clue.

On the positive side - that's taken care of supper.

mummytummy

Just seen this...

Experts say £10,900 annual income needed to retire https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58883053

I’m currently trying to sort my pension provision but really hard when in Oz. Hopefully it won’t be too bad but might have to wait until my next visit in 2022 before I get definitive answers 😬