Planning at 50 for Future Care Needs London
Research shows that today few people in their 50s and 60s are planning adequately for potential care needs when they get old. Yet, as this article shows, just a few simple lifestyle and financial planning changes now could result in a much rosier and more comfortable future later on, with the benefit of added peace of mind.
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Planning at 50 for Future Care Needs
If you are in your fifties or sixties you may be in your prime now, but how are you going to manage – practically and financially - when you are old?
A recent survey commissioned by Help the Aged found that nearly two-thirds of 45-65 year olds have made no financial plans for their potential long term care costs in later years. Furthermore, one in five says that life is too short to worry about something which may not happen.
This said, there are many different approaches which people think will see them through should the need arise, Some believe that their state pension will be enough but, with care costs currently averaging around £400 per week (and only likely to rise), this is unlikely to be so.
Some expect the government to cover the costs, others say they will use their own resources including selling their property, and yet others will rely on relatives…
What the research highlights is the worrying extent of confusion and unreadiness and lack of realism amongst people who are at an age when they should be realistically assessing their future needs and planning ahead to meet all possible eventualities.
Predictable and rectifiable causes
The stark fact is that although most people are now living longer we are also spending more years with health-related disabilities in later life, the sort of impediments which are likely to cause us to need assisted living conditions in our final years.
Yet care home need has been found to be predictable many years in advance. Studies show that factors like smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity and diabetes, which increase the risk of illness and early death, are good predictors of the need for nursing home care later on. The risk associated with diabetes is especially large.
The message seems to be to make remedial lifestyle changes as early as possible.
Financial planning for future care will need a considerable amount of research and decision making about the best way forward for which you should seek trusted expert advice.
In the meantime, you should start today to introduce a few changes to ensure that you do all you can to counter the possible mental and physical effects of ageing and stay fit and healthy for as long as you can. Here are some suggestions:
• Improve your nutrition: The key focus is on maintain a healthy weight – both for health and mobility reasons and ensuring you have a good balanced diet. Additionally, look into what specifically you should do or not do in nutritional terms to offset particular ‘ageing’ diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes.
• Adopt a postive attitude: Optimism and realism - both about the future and the here and now - are both excellent attitudes to adopt to ensure you age well and keep stress and depression levels low.
• Maintain strength and flexibility: As we get older we need to do regular exercise, specifically in the areas of strength training to help offset conditions such as osteoporosis, and flexibility to maintain balance and reduce the risk of strains and falls.
• Keep your mind and body active: All your muscles – including your brain - need exercise and the challenge of novel and complex activities is particularly good for maintaining mental alertness. This may help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and memory loss as well as improving your level of daily functioning.
• Stop smoking and cut back on your alcohol intake: It’s never too late to do so and the resulting improvements in your health can be dramatic.
A recent survey commissioned by Help the Aged found that nearly two-thirds of 45-65 year olds have made no financial plans for their potential long term care costs in later years. Furthermore, one in five says that life is too short to worry about something which may not happen.
This said, there are many different approaches which people think will see them through should the need arise, Some believe that their state pension will be enough but, with care costs currently averaging around £400 per week (and only likely to rise), this is unlikely to be so.
Some expect the government to cover the costs, others say they will use their own resources including selling their property, and yet others will rely on relatives…
What the research highlights is the worrying extent of confusion and unreadiness and lack of realism amongst people who are at an age when they should be realistically assessing their future needs and planning ahead to meet all possible eventualities.
Predictable and rectifiable causes
The stark fact is that although most people are now living longer we are also spending more years with health-related disabilities in later life, the sort of impediments which are likely to cause us to need assisted living conditions in our final years.
Yet care home need has been found to be predictable many years in advance. Studies show that factors like smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity and diabetes, which increase the risk of illness and early death, are good predictors of the need for nursing home care later on. The risk associated with diabetes is especially large.
The message seems to be to make remedial lifestyle changes as early as possible.
Financial planning for future care will need a considerable amount of research and decision making about the best way forward for which you should seek trusted expert advice.
In the meantime, you should start today to introduce a few changes to ensure that you do all you can to counter the possible mental and physical effects of ageing and stay fit and healthy for as long as you can. Here are some suggestions:
• Improve your nutrition: The key focus is on maintain a healthy weight – both for health and mobility reasons and ensuring you have a good balanced diet. Additionally, look into what specifically you should do or not do in nutritional terms to offset particular ‘ageing’ diseases such as osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes.
• Adopt a postive attitude: Optimism and realism - both about the future and the here and now - are both excellent attitudes to adopt to ensure you age well and keep stress and depression levels low.
• Maintain strength and flexibility: As we get older we need to do regular exercise, specifically in the areas of strength training to help offset conditions such as osteoporosis, and flexibility to maintain balance and reduce the risk of strains and falls.
• Keep your mind and body active: All your muscles – including your brain - need exercise and the challenge of novel and complex activities is particularly good for maintaining mental alertness. This may help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease and memory loss as well as improving your level of daily functioning.
• Stop smoking and cut back on your alcohol intake: It’s never too late to do so and the resulting improvements in your health can be dramatic.