Long Term Care Insurance Price

You can provide for future care through an insurance policy. Many policies are tax efficient: if payments are made direct to the care home they are tax-free. However, Vic Rance of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says: "Long-term care insurance wouldn't even cross most people's minds until middle age, and by then they probably have many other more pressing financial priorities, like their mortgage, topping up their pension, or helping their children." Moreover, many people believe there is no need for it because the State will pick up the tab. While this is true up to a point, if you have the means to pay for your own care, you will have more choice about the type of care you receive, and generally more control over your own destiny. Philip Spiers says: "While a local authority may help you to be cared for in your own home, if there comes a point when they believe it would be more economical for them to deliver that care in a residential or nursing home, then you'll find it difficult to resist having to give up your independence. However, if you were paying for the care yourself, you could choose if, and when, to go into a home." Some policies offer limited capital protection, whereas if you are relying on your own savings until your assets reduce to the level where the State steps in, you will surely exhaust all your money above this amount and have nothing to pass on to your family when you eventually die. Policies can also ensure that care fees are met for life, which is important, as some people survive for several years in care. Savings on the other hand run out, leaving you reliant on the State.