Clock ticking on later life planning

New research from NS&I has found that 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.

They also found that 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.

The latest Quarterly Savings Survey from NS&I found that 37 is the age most believe they should start considering their needs in later life.

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.

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.

Time is critical when it comes to financial planning for requirements in later life, particularly retirement and care fees planning.

The later you leave it to start planning, the greater the challenge.

As a firm of Chartered Financial Planners which specialises in planning for later life, including care fees planning, we often find that new clients to come to us for advise have left planning very late.

Whilst product options for care fees planning ahead of the need for care are currently limited (actually, non-existent!) in the UK market, it remains important to take a holistic view of your financial plans for later life.

The more time you can give yourself to plan for your later life financial needs, the better.

Do speak to us today to get started.

Photo credit