New reports have further highlighted the trials that come with growing old in the United Kingdom.
According to statistics over 20,000 OAP's were forced to sell their homes in the last year simply so they could afford for home care, which is a 17 percent rise in the last five years.
The care system in the United Kingdom is managed in a means-tested way that has all pensioners with assets, a home counts, exceeding £23,500 paying for any care they need entirely on their own. Pensioners with less than that receive care completely free.
Subsequently people who save hard over their lives may find themselves in a bad situation should they require care in their later years. The research was conducted by the House of Commons Library and analysts Laing and Buisson.
Tory MP Philip Davies blasted the findings, and put the blame in Labour's lap: “This is one of the great scandals of Labour’s time in office. People spent sensibly for years and built up savings so they can pass on their home to their children – and now they see it taken off them to pay for care. This is possibly the biggest reason behind the culture of people thinking ‘It’s not worth me saving. I’ll spend all I can and when I run out the state will pay for everything.”
Statistics like this are perhaps just another reason more and more people are seriously thinking about foreign retirement. To learn more about a better life abroad visit our pensions and retirement planning section.