Raising the subject of long-term care funding

Mr Marsden says: “In the same way as planning for retirement, the earlier a person plans, the more options they are likely to have.”

While everyone will not go into a care home or need domiciliary care, Mark Stopard, head of product development at Partnership, says people who are approaching retirement certainly need to consider what they might wish to do if they are faced with this choice.

Mr Stopard says the typical Partnership customer is a woman in her late eighties so when this discussion takes place, if you are advising a couple, then you will need to highlight that the way care is funded may not be a choice they face together.

Also, Mr Stopard says if your clients are part of what is commonly called the “squeezed-middle” then they may well have parents who need to consider care funding – a decision that they are likely to be involved with.

Ideally, Janet Davies, managing director of Symponia, says every person aged 60 plus should take the time to explore their own future care.

By doing so, even though there are not any products to place into the mix, Ms Davies says people can take the necessary steps to ensure that they can remain in control of their care needs and choices even if they are unable to at the time.

Once the need is there, Ms Davies says every self-funding resident should consider the variety of options for funding long-term care.

An immediate care plan (ICP) will not be suitable for all, she warns, but at least it will have been placed into the mix when weighing up the options.

Ms Davies says a care fees planning exercise will help to uncover previously unknown aspects.

Aviva’s Mr Marsden says an adviser should raise the subject of funding long-term care as part of any full financial review.

In reality, Stephen Lowe, group external affairs and customer insight director at Just Retirement, says decisions typically have to be made relatively urgently at the point of need on leaving hospital or by families who realise ageing parents can no longer cope without a higher level of support.

Because of the potentially huge costs involved, Mr Lowe says this need to secure care should always be a catalyst to seek professional financial advice. Instead, he says too often there is a rush to find any solution, rather than the right solution.

Mr Lowe says: “Currently only about one in four self-funders seek professional financial advice but under the new regulations it is expected that councils will have to be more active in providing information and signposting to sources of expert care and financial advice.”

Under the new Care Bill, local authorities must refer self-funders to information sources independent of providers and themselves, but despite repeated attempts to foce an amendment the government has refused to extend this to a formal requirement to refer to regulated advice.

Just Retirement research carried out by YouGov indicated that 63 per cent of people facing the challenge of funding care would want professional advice.

In reality, Mr Lowe says the complexity and urgency lead many to muddle through on their own as best they can.

He says: “That needs to change because poor choices at the outset dramatically raise the risk of running out of money and falling back on state help.

“Self-funders who seek professional advice not only get knowledge and expertise on sustainable care funding options but also on areas such as wills, powers of attorney and inheritance planning.”