Support For Families Going Through The Care Journey
As specialist later life financial planners, we are very aware that long-term care is, unfortunately, a growing area of need. We see this need not only in terms of financial support but also in helping families on a practical, day-to-day level.
We cannot get around the fact that people are living longer, but not necessarily healthier. The average lifespan in the UK is 81 years old, but the average ‘healthspan’ (when we start needing care in some form) is only 62 years old.
Indeed at the moment you could call it a perfect storm - a severe shortage of health and care workers, not enough funding on care to go around and a burgeoning generation of retired ‘baby boomers’ who are now running into chronic illnesses.
Most people in the UK are forced to lean on family members for care support. There are 10.6 million (or 1 in 5 people) adult carers in the UK with the average age of a family carer being 47 for females and 50 for males.
In fact, incredibly, there are now more elderly dependents living in the UK than there are child dependents. A demographic reality of those ‘baby boomers’ living longer at one end of life and shrinking birth rates at the other end. The reality is that if you are an average person in mid-life living in the UK today, you are more likely to be looking after an elderly relative than looking after a child.
Advice Is Important To Meet These Care Challenges
The sad reality is, if you are in later life in the UK, long-term care is likely to be your single largest expense. Research has shown that 1 in 4 people in later life end up forced to sell their house to pay for care and 1 in 6 people in later life will use up their entire life savings paying for care. Faced with such stark realities, you could argue that long-term care planning will be the most important financial planning you ever do. Attention needs to be paid to it.
It is really important, of course, that you take specialist later life advice for those financial and legal issues that come with care planning. The challenges on a family are substantial. Unfortunately, most come into the care journey in a crisis when something has happened – perhaps a fall or a diagnosis. We understand the impact that a family coming into this situation can have on emotional stress and mental health (not just on the family member who is ill but also on the family members / carers / attorneys). Decisions are having to made quickly in a stressful situation – it’s important that your options are laid out in a clear, gentle and understanding way.
How Can We Help?
When families come into the care system, they are hit with a tsunami of different issues which can come at all angles and different times; GPs, hospital appointments, Local Authorities, Care Assessments, accidents, care aids, domiciliary care, care homes, community hospitals, care costs, financial decisions, emergency care, family support, legal issues, power of attorney.
We, along with our trusted partners, will simplify the chaos and stress of the care journey for families. From hospital discharge, to Last Power of Attorney to Care Funding and finally Care Sourcing - we are here for you.
Free Care Information Events: Reserve Your Place
At Harold Stephens, we’ve helped many families across Bristol navigate the financial side of later life care with calm, clear advice. If you are looking in to paying for care for yourself or for a loved one, we understand it can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Join us on one of our warm, jargon-free, practical sessions to help you make informed choices about your future, book your place:
Tuesday 11th November 3.30pm - 4.30pm, Stoke Lodge, Shirehampton Road, Stoke Bishop BS9 1BN
Wednesday 19th November 1.30pm – 2.30pm, Stoke Lodge, Shirehampton Road, Stoke Bishop BS9 1BN
Tuesday 25th November 6pm - 7pm, Stoke Lodge, Shirehampton Road, Stoke Bishop BS9 1BN
You can book directly by phone on 0117 3636212 or email us at community@haroldstephens.co.uk