Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • February 2013
02

Time is right to look at using pensions to fund care, say actuaries

Open-access content Friday 15th February 2013 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

This week’s government announcement on social care costs should trigger a discussion on whether pension savings can be used to fund the cost of long-term care, according to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

2

Plans to limit care costs in England were confirmed on Monday by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. They involve a £75,000 cap on an individual's lifetime social care costs, as well as making taxpayer funded support available to more people than is currently the case. The plans build on the recommendations made in 2011 by the Commission on Funding of Care and Support chaired by economist Andrew Dilnot.

David Hare, president elect of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, said the lifetime cap would provide 'welcome clarity'. He called, however, for a 'more holistic' approach to how long-term financial planning was approached.

'We believe that the best way to do this would be to consider how pensions and long term care requirements could be better linked,' he explained.

'With proposals in place for sweeping reforms in both these areas by the government, we believe that now is the right time to consider how it is possible for individuals saving for their later lives in a pension to utilise these savings for long term care should they ever need to.'

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is already carrying out research with its members to explore the potential for this, he noted.

He added: 'There are a number of challenges ahead, not least the infrastructure that is required to help individuals and families access the right financial and medical advice when considering long term care. These challenges need to be tackled by all of us and consideration of how best to use existing infrastructure for financial and health care advice is a necessary next step.'

Hare also called for further detail on how the cap on care costs would be reviewed on an on-going basis to enable the financial services industry to tailor its products so they can help people plan ahead for long-term care.

 

This article appeared in our February 2013 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
02
Topics
Health care

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Life Reinsurance – Client Manager/Senior Manager

London (Central)
£ excellent + bonus + benefits
Reference
143661

Life Actuarial Analyst

South East / hybrid with 3 days per week office-based
£ dependent upon experience
Reference
143660

Investment Associate Consultant

Flexible / hybrid
£ dependent upon experience
Reference
143659
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ