Uncertainty over how to fund later life costs

Just under a third of Britain’s adults (31%) do not know how they will finance their needs in later life, including such eventualities as long-term illness, nursing home or care fees and care of others including partners, parents and siblings, according to NS&I’s latest Quarterly Savings Survey.

However, 26.7 million adults in Britain (54%) have started thinking about their financial needs, while just over a quarter (27%) of these adults have actually started to put financial plans into practice.

Over a quarter of Britons (27%) who have yet to consider financial planning in later life admit they do not want to think about such events. Around 23% say they simply have not had time to think about their later life financial needs, and just under a fifth (19%) prefer to take a short-term view of their finances and use the money they have for the present.

A further 12% don’t consider that this situation will affect them in the near future and believe they will have plenty of time to consider such planning going forward, while 7% of Britons do not consider later life financial planning as important.

John Prout, NS&I Retail Customer Director, said: “Planning financial needs for later life requires careful consideration in plenty of time. Understandably many people don’t like to think about growing older and the possibility of needing long-term care one day. It can be a distressing and emotive issue to talk about. But with people living well into their eighties, many more of us are likely to need care in the future, and are likely to need to care for others also. Getting the right information as early as possible is to vital to making sure you get the best possible care you can in later life.”

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