Funding future care costs

With the UK’s population ageing, more people will be living with long-term care needs. Oscar Wilde once said: ‘The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.’ But the good news of rising life expectancy also brings with it the challenge of how we fund our future care costs. The question is: who is responsible for looking after us if we need care in old age?

As we get older, it becomes more likely that we may need day-to-day help with activities such as washing and dressing, or assistance with household activities such as cleaning and cooking. This type of support, along with some types of medical care, is what is called ‘long-term care’.

A good life in old age

Demand for long-term care is expected to rise, thanks in part to our ageing population and the increasing prevalence of long-term conditions such as dementia. This makes planning ahead essential, but when it comes to funding later life it can get quite complicated, particularly since the costs depend on sev