Paying for care options

Nova01

I have read other posts and discussions on this forums about Immediate Care Annuities, and as I previously noted, there appears to be mixed opinions.
I have been told by the adviser that if quotes are provided, there is no obligation, I understand that a GP report is requested, along with a report from the care home in order to provide the quotes.
Also mentioned by the adviser was some sort of life insurance to mitigate losses in the event of death, does anyone have any experience of this?
I do hope that the adviser goes through all options, such as Cash ISA's and high interest savings accounts when they have completed their fact find.

LHW99

You are employing the adviser to do this, so you should ask any questions that would help you. Making a list before you next meet doesn't hurt.

The aim with an immediate care needs annuity is to be an insurance (and give peace of mind) against running out of money if Grandmother lives longer than expected (I believe a lady has just celebrated her 116th in the US). As with all insurance, if eg the house doesn't burn down, you pay the insurance and get nothing back.

There may well be a way of ensuring some repayment is available if unfortunately the move does turn out very short term, but the adviser should be able to put some context on usefulness versus cost so that you can make a decision. It may work like some normal annuities where the company offers to repay a certain amount for the first few years if her lifetime is very short.

MetaPhysical

My mother in-law when she went into care following the loss of her husband has burned through £440k since 2016.  They both worked all their lives for that money, were thrifty and wanted to pass it onto their kids.  It's now all gone. A common, sad story I know.

Grumpy_chap

Nova01 said:

 the best care home we have looked at is around £36k per year.
I have seen immediate care annuities, I believe there are only four providers of these.

The way to assess this is:

• £36k per year
• How many years do you forecast the care will be required for?
• How many years upfront will it cost to buy the annuity?

Pat38493

MetaPhysical said:

My mother in-law when she went into care following the loss of her husband has burned through £440k since 2016.  They both worked all their lives for that money, were thrifty and wanted to pass it onto their kids.  It's now all gone. A common, sad story I know.

That's very unfortunate indeed.  Just to mention though, according to comments I've heard on various IFA videos, this situation is actually a lot less common than we think.  Spending that long in a care home is unusual - most people either never go into one at all, or if they do they are only in it for a year or a bit more than a year.  I don't have the exact stats on it - in fact I'd be interested to see them.

QrizB

MetaPhysical said:

My mother in-law when she went into care following the loss of her husband has burned through £440k since 2016.  They both worked all their lives for that money, were thrifty and wanted to pass it onto their kids.  It's now all gone. A common, sad story I know.

Why specifically is it a sad story?

"Retired person spends savings in retirement" isn't remotely unusual, it's what most of us are planning on doing.