A growing number of people are deciding to spend their wealth now to avoid having to foot the bill for their care in later life, a new survey suggests.
Research by health insurer Partnership found that around 43 per cent of adults would be willing to deliberately reduce their assets below the £23,250 threshold.
This is almost double the number who admitted they were considering the tactic two years ago.
In the West Midlands, 13,068 people are admitted to a care home every year and 45 per cent of younger people would be willing to spend their assets to avoid having to meet the costs themselves.
Jim Boyd, director of corporate affairs at Partnership, said that the growing publicity around care home fees was likely to be driving the trend but warned there could be consequences.
“Spending or giving away your wealth before you need care might seem attractive but it does limit your options and means that you are likely to have far less control over your future than you may hope.”
The Care Report also revealed a worrying unwillingness to consider care options, with a sizeable number of the 10,000 people nationwide who took part in the survey believing that being admitted to a care home was something that happened to other people.
Over 80 per cent of those over the age of 45 admitted they had not thought about what would happen if they became too ill or infirm to live independently.
This is in spite of the fact that 433,000 people live in residential care around the UK and that in 30 years’ time, over 65s will make up a quarter of the population nationwide.
With the national care bill growing all the time, Chancellor George Osborne used the Autumn Statement to announce proposals which will enable local councils to raise tax by an extra two per cent, specifically to meet the spiralling costs of social care.
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