Cost Of Care Home Residence

[Scylax]

Since a Local Authority will raid the bank account of a resident to pay for his/her care, would it not be prudent to ensure that one's bank balance was kept at, say, £500 and not more? With interest rates so low, one would not be losing much if all personal savings were kept in the 'Bank of Southern Mattress', well away from prying eyes.

[factor-fiction]

On that basis you could argue everyone should do it throughout their life as it can affect befit entitlements too
And once you go in a care home can you spend your money anyway? Why should you not pay something if you have the money?

[dzug2]

Where are you going to keep all that money in a care home?

And they won't actually 'raid' the bank account

[naomi24]

Which mattress are you going to keep it under? The one in the care home?

[sunny-dave]

Why is there this "paying for care in my old age is wrong" attitude?

You have money, you need care, you pay - pretty much like the rest of life.

[sandyRoe]

It must be galling for heirs to see people living so long and every day that they do is eating away at the inheritance.

[Svejk]

vote for 'assisted dying'.

[sunny-dave]

Quite so sandy - old gits are *so* inconsiderate :)

[Peter Pedant]

Sandy the Menendez brothers took matters into their own hands .....

stoutly defended until the money ran out

[EDDIE51]

^^ The comment about 'assisted death' is very relevant . Do you think there will not be pressure on the elderly to ask for an assisted death to 'get them out of the way' so that he family can get the inheritance ?
Believe me if this get through the conditions to qualify for it will gradually be relaxed just as they have been in Holland where there are now 'mobile death units' to cope with soaring demand.

[pixie373]

"soaring demand" does not make it a failure. Nobody has an inheritance, until they have inherited it. Not everybody prefers money to their relatives. What you're saying, scylax, is an option and people do it. But there has to come a point where public money isn't enough to care for everybody, so what happens then? You can't take it with you.

[naomi24]

//You can't take it with you. //

.... but you can spend it ... ;o)

[pixie373]

Yes ;-)

[Svejk]

'not everybody prefers money to their relatives' pixie, but a lot of people do. Anyway, I'd be more concerned about the onus placed on old people to self-destruct out of love for their family. And the guilt felt by those who don't exercise that option.

[whiskeryron]

I can understand where you are coming from Scylax. It has always been the difference between people who buy their own home & people who live in council rented homes. there has always been resentment when an elderly person goes into care that if you own your own home you are expected to sell & use the money to pay for your care, however if you are a council tenant theoretically you have no assets & therefore receive free care. You could also argue that a person who is prudent & puts their hard earned cash in a bank is jeapodised when another person spends whatever they earn. I really do not know the answer to this question but it would be very interesting to find out.

[pixie373]

There is no reason to in this day and age- with all the care options available plus direct payments, nobody has to be a "burden" and no relative needs to take more responsibility than they want to. Even so, if i decide i would rather die than become a burden to my family- that is my choice that i have every right to make.

[pixie373]

...not forgetting svejk, you need two independent doctors to confirm you have less than 6 months to live....

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure what use money under a mattress would be to me if I end up in a care home. But mine wouldn't be a Southern mattress. I've never heard the term Bank of Southern Mattress before

[sandyRoe]

Money under the mattress is just putting temptation in the way of poorly paid care workers. Far better to spend it while you can. Equity release on the house, that sort of thing.

[gness]

I would have agreed with ....you need care...pay for it.... until my mother went into care and I saw the unfairness of it.

My view is now simple.....your pension pays for your care...anything you had before you needed care is yours to do with what you want.

Me....I'm doing my best to spend it before that day comes..if it does...☺

[whiskeryron]

Hear,hear gness. Take a typical story of 2 men & their families. 1. Tommy gets married raises a family & he & his wife decide to buy a nice little house to settle into, they are very careful what they spend their money on & save what they can for the future. 2. Jimmy gets married raises a family & he & his wife get the opportunity to move into a nice little rented house, they like the good life & so they spend their earnings as fast as they receive it. Now go forward a few years both lose their partners & they are left in their respective accommodation. If they both have to go into care having both paid their rates & taxes all of their lives why should they now be subjected to different rules, Tommy having to sell his house to pay for his care & Jimmy getting care paid by the state WHEN THEY HAVE BOTH contributed through the taxation system throuhgout their lives ?