Angelica Bell: Welcome to Rewirement from Legal & General. I'm Angelica Bell, and
Angelica Bell: this is the podcast where we share colorful stories of retirement
Angelica Bell: from people who are doing it their own way and
Angelica Bell: loving later life. This is our last episode of the
Angelica Bell: series, and I wanted to cover a really big topic
Angelica Bell: for many of us. As we age our bodies and
Angelica Bell: minds change, and that can mean we have different needs.
Angelica Bell: Today, we're going to hear how you can plan for
Angelica Bell: that financially and mentally and make sure the support systems
Angelica Bell: you need are in place for the in case. We'll
Angelica Bell: also hear some advice from one newlywed couple on how
Angelica Bell: they're looking forward to enjoying the happily ever after whilst
Angelica Bell: living a full life, despite the limitations a disability might
Angelica Bell: bring. And as always, the experts will be on hand
Angelica Bell: to tackle some of the questions and issues you might
Angelica Bell: have around living independently and managing care in later life.
Angelica Bell: I'll be chatting to Legal & General's Sam Roberts and Andrew
Angelica Bell: Parfery from the care matching service, Care Sourcer My first
Angelica Bell: story is from the incredible Feyi. Feyi is one of
Angelica Bell: the sandwich generation who have their own retirement on the
Angelica Bell: horizon whilst caring for a parent. Although Feyi's daughter is
Angelica Bell: grown up and independent, Feyi's also thinking ahead of how
Angelica Bell: she can leave her a secure legacy and make sure
Angelica Bell: her own care needs are covered. Let's talk about your
Angelica Bell: business. It's called Black Dementia Company, and it was set
Angelica Bell: up from personal experience with having to look after your
Angelica Bell: mother. So, tell people who are listening about that.
Feyi: My mother was diagnosed with dementia in 2019, but prior
Feyi: to that, I and my siblings started noticing some changes
Feyi: and we did feel that there was something wrong there.
Feyi: Even with all that, she's always enjoyed puzzles, Scrabble, Sudoku,
Feyi: everything, everything that you can think of, all those mind
Feyi: tasks, mind games. Well, over the first lockdown, I spent
Feyi: a considerable length of time with her anyway and I
Feyi: noticed that things weren't, as I thought they were, even
Feyi: say in February, 2020. So, sometimes I'll, " Let's play Scrabble."
Feyi: She might then say, " Oh, what do we do with
Feyi: this? What do I do with this?" I thought, " Okay,
Feyi: yeah." Or the crosswords that I used to buy, the crossword
Feyi: books and word search and all that, seemed to become
Feyi: more and more of a challenge for her. So I thought, "
Feyi: Okay, I know that there are quite a few organizations
Feyi: that sell products for people with dementia. So, let me
Feyi: just do a search and see." None of the shops
Feyi: that I found had anything that was specific to my
Feyi: mother's background, which is from Trinidad. I say that, my
Feyi: mother's from Trinidad, but she went to university in Canada.
Feyi: She's lived in Nigeria, in America. So, she's had quite
Feyi: mixed exposure to different things. So I thought, " Right, okay.
Feyi: There's nothing out there. Let me try and make my own."
Feyi: So I started writing my little quizzes and trying to
Feyi: do crosswords and things like that. I thought, " Clearly, I'm
Feyi: sure that there is at least one other person out
Feyi: there who's facing the same challenge as I am, and
Feyi: so I'll just do something, put it on eBay, or
Feyi: anything else." I wasn't even thinking about a business, but
Feyi: then once I started, I said to myself, " Well, why
Feyi: don't I just do it properly and incorporate the company,
Feyi: set up a business, put some things out there and
Feyi: see what the response would be?" I guess the rest
Feyi: is history.
Angelica Bell: Well, exactly. And we know from research that that subconscious
Angelica Bell: is so powerful for people with dementia and you have
Angelica Bell: to tap into things that relate to them, that they
Angelica Bell: remember from when they were growing up, or music. We
Angelica Bell: know how music is so powerful and emotive, so I'm
Angelica Bell: really glad that this business is thriving. So, what you're thinking
Angelica Bell: and what you're hoping is that your business will fund
Angelica Bell: your own retirement?
Feyi: So I am in a final salary pension, well, I
Feyi: was in a final, final salary pension scheme, and then
Feyi: I think I've got like two other pensions. I would
Feyi: like the business, The Black Dementia Company to exist. I
Feyi: mean, as I've said before, my hope is that it exists
Feyi: long after me. It lives beyond my lifespan, but the
Feyi: hope is that it exists on its own, so that I
Feyi: can then step back, obviously continue to create if the
Feyi: need is there, but also just to enjoy life and
Feyi: savour the years really, that's what I would say my
Feyi: future is. As soon as I'm able to, I will
Feyi: detach from employment, focus on work, let it fund itself
Feyi: and find time for myself.
Angelica Bell: So, I just wanted to go back to you being a solo
Angelica Bell: carer. Do you have any concerns with that and with
Angelica Bell: your business as well, and work, and life? And helping
Angelica Bell: your mom, has that made you view retirement differently?
Feyi: Gosh, yeah, definitely to answer your last question, yes. Yes, yes,
Feyi: yes. I mean, I've always, just by my nature and
Feyi: I suppose everything else, I'm the last, we're four girls, I'm
Feyi: the fourth, but I've always been the one doing my
Feyi: mother's shopping, things like that anyway. So, I think I
Feyi: naturally flowed into this carer role, but certainly now, I
Feyi: appreciate more than ever the need to prepare for your
Feyi: retirement, for your older years, because there will come a
Feyi: time I will have to ask for external help and
Feyi: I'll have to think about how what that looks like.
Feyi: Then also again, well, as you brought it up, Angelica, thankfully,
Feyi: but as we've more or less alluded to in this
Feyi: conversation, once my role as a carer perhaps slows down
Feyi: or stops, then I've got all these extra years. I mean,
Feyi: I do hopefully, but you know what I mean? I do know
Feyi: the after look after myself, even now as a carer
Feyi: because the time is coming when, myself, me as a
Feyi: person, the demand to be physically at different places will
Feyi: grow. I have a daughter who I also ... I mean,
Feyi: she is concerned that I spend time looking after myself
Feyi: as well.
Angelica Bell: What is wonderful about you Feyi is that to give
Angelica Bell: of yourself, give everything of yourself to care for a family member,
Angelica Bell: you have to be a selfless kind- hearted person, and
Angelica Bell: that's what makes you wonderful and your story wonderful. That's
Angelica Bell: why I wanted to ensure that you are being looked
Angelica Bell: after yourself, but what advice would you give to somebody
Angelica Bell: else who knows they have to maybe ... Or who's considering
Angelica Bell: actually, looking after somebody they love or they know, and
Angelica Bell: becoming a full- time carer? Are there certain things you'd say, "
Angelica Bell: Actually think about that. Think about this."
Feyi: Carve out time. Which to be fair, I try to do.
Feyi: I do yoga, I like to meditate and all that,
Feyi: and I cover it out. It's either going to be
Feyi: very early in the morning or late at night, just
Feyi: know that what you're doing, whatever you do is a
Feyi: bonus and it's okay, it's okay. I cry sometimes. I
Feyi: hate dementia. Obviously I don't hate my loved one, but
Feyi: I hate dementia. That doesn't make you a bad person.
Feyi: But if you can just not translate that to the care
Feyi: that you're giving, then you're winning.
Angelica Bell: Really good advice. Also as well, making sure, like you've
Angelica Bell: said, that your finances are in order so that whatever
Angelica Bell: eventuality might happen, you're prepared.
Feyi: Start now, carve something out, take a little bit out
Feyi: to put something away for later. One thing that the
Feyi: pandemic or lockdown has taught me, and from a few
Feyi: other people that I've spoken to, it seems that it's basically
Feyi: the same in different ways, is that a lot of
Feyi: things, we thought we needed, physical things, your clothes and
Feyi: eyebrow plucking. A lot of things we needed before the lockdown,
Feyi: we found that we can make do.
Angelica Bell: Feyi's got some great ideas for retirement, from living somewhere
Angelica Bell: warm or near relatives, to traveling and pursuing her artistic
Angelica Bell: projects. But first she's out to challenge misconceptions about dementia
Angelica Bell: and make a difference to people's happiness with her business.
Angelica Bell: You know what? Talking to Feyi made me quite emotional.
Angelica Bell: It's a situation that any of us could find ourselves
Angelica Bell: in, caring for a parent or child or doing both,
Angelica Bell: whilst also trying to work out our own futures. The
Angelica Bell: way Feyi has set out to make such an enormous
Angelica Bell: difference in other people's lives too is incredible. I hope
Angelica Bell: if you're in a similar situation, you can find strength
Angelica Bell: in knowing there are others like you, who don't have
Angelica Bell: all the answers and are just doing their best. There are
Angelica Bell: loads of resources to support you. You can find out
Angelica Bell: more on the website and check out more about The
Angelica Bell: Black Dementia Company in the show notes or at legalandgeneral.
Angelica Bell: com forward/ retirement. Next, we meet newlyweds, Heather and Alan
Angelica Bell: for their take on staying independent in later life with
Angelica Bell: different needs. They may be in their 70s, but that hasn't
Angelica Bell: stopped them planning a life together. Alan's partially sighted and
Angelica Bell: they met three years ago on a holiday organized through
Angelica Bell: a tour company called Traveleyes, which offers independent trips for
Angelica Bell: people who are blind, by partnering them with people who
Angelica Bell: are sighted. Heather and Alan, I need to say congratulations
Angelica Bell: to you. I haven't said that yet, have I? That's exciting you
Angelica Bell: got married, how was it?
Heather: It was lovely. It was lovely.
Alan: Yes it was.
Angelica Bell: Now, you're both in your 70s, which is an amazing
Angelica Bell: time to find love. Tell me about how you met.
Heather: Well, it's purely by chance really, because I was doing
Heather: Nordic walking. I had arranged to go on a Nordic
Heather: walking holiday to Swaziland, which was subsequently canceled. And about three
Heather: months later, I got a phone call from the girl
Heather: who organizes the Swaziland bit to say, " Would I think
Heather: of going to Swaziland as a sighted guide with a
Heather: group of visually impaired people?" And before I went on
Heather: it again, purely by chance, I lived down in end
Heather: of nowhere. There was a thing on our Facebook page
Heather: that guide dogs were looking for a My Guide to
Heather: guide a blind gentleman around where I live. So, I
Heather: got in touch with them and I started walking with
Heather: Brian before I went on the holiday. So I had
Heather: some experience of what it was like. So, that's how I ended up on
Heather: the holiday, walking the Camino de Santiago, where we met.
Alan: My first wife died in September of 2013 and we
Alan: actually had a villa out in Majorca, which I used to go out
Alan: to for several weeks at a time after she died. My
Alan: eyesight started going just as she was dying, unfortunately. After
Alan: five or so years, it became obvious it was difficult
Alan: for me to live in that house in my own, because it was
Alan: a bit away from the nearest supermarket. I had to stop driving,
Alan: eventually had to stop cycling, which was my leisure pursuit.
Alan: My girl said, " Well, dad, we'll just have to sell
Alan: the house." So I sold it in 2017, and that
Alan: was really the end of my overseas days at the time.
Alan: But I happened to go to a Christmas lunch at
Alan: the church and I was sitting next to a guy
Alan: who said ... he'd just come back from Kerala with a
Alan: group of visually impaired people on a Traveleyes walking holiday
Alan: and he said I should try it. So I booked a
Alan: weekend in Bilbao just to see what it was like. And a
Alan: bit like Heather, just signed up for the Camino walk,
Alan: which oddly was something that I always fancied doing, not
Alan: for any religious reasons, but it was just one of
Alan: those kind of Everest challenges. So, that's where we met
Alan: exactly three years ago on the 28th of me, 2018,
Alan: in the romantic setting of the Premier Inn in Gatwick
Alan: North, that's where we first met.
Angelica Bell: It's got to start somewhere. So, I want to ask you
Angelica Bell: about finding love later in life because a lot of people
Angelica Bell: think that's done, they're not interested in it, or they just think
Angelica Bell: it won't happen. Is it something that you thought was
Angelica Bell: a possibility or you just go with the flow with
Angelica Bell: life and see what presents itself to you?
Alan: Well, since I retired on health grounds at the age
Alan: of 49. So since then, I've gone with the flow
Alan: and then with losing my sight, you don't have much choice
Alan: but to go with the flow.
Heather: Alan lives in Glasgow and I live in Swanage in Dorset,
Heather: 417 miles apart. So when we did start getting together,
Heather: it was a rather lot of flights back and forth. So
Heather: we would start off by doing a few weeks in
Heather: each place, a few weeks on our own. As Alan's
Heather: sight got worse, we spent more and more time together.
Alan: Really, we were thrown together as it were, by the COVID-
Alan: 19 pandemic. We reckoned, if we survived that 24 hours
Alan: a day for almost a year, we could survive anything,
Alan: I think.
Heather: Yes, this is despite the fact that his first words were, "
Heather: I do not want to live with anyone or get married
Heather: again." So I said, " Well, that's fine because neither do
Heather: I," because at the time I wasn't intending on getting
Heather: involved with anybody. So look what happened, three years later.
Angelica Bell: Three years later, you've both gone back on your words.
Angelica Bell: What was it, Alan, that made you change your mind?
Heather: Well, we just decided it was the right thing to do. You know, people change,
Heather: times change.
Alan: It just seemed the sensible thing to do, really, just
Alan: move together, if you like.
Angelica Bell: To get a base together where you can grow, get
Angelica Bell: married, and start another chapter of your life. And Alan,
Angelica Bell: I want to talk about you and the changes in your life because many
Angelica Bell: people can forget to think about their changing support needs as they
Angelica Bell: get older, but as a partially sighted person, do you
Angelica Bell: think you've been more aware of this?
Alan: Yeah, so look, comes gradually. As I say, when I
Alan: started losing my sight in May, 2013, was the first
Alan: time I noticed it, when my peripheral vision was just a bit
Alan: dodgy. It probably took two to three years before it
Alan: really had an impact, had to start relying on other
Alan: people to do things. My daughters both live in Glasgow,
Alan: but I have six grandchildren as well. Yeah, it does
Alan: become limiting in the sense that you can't just jump in
Alan: a car and drive somewhere. I cooked for myself and
Alan: cooked quite well, I thought for myself. I didn't have
Alan: ready meals or anything like that, but that became more and
Alan: more difficult.
Angelica Bell: But it seems Alan, that you still tried to hold onto
Angelica Bell: your independence for as long as possible. Even when you first got
Angelica Bell: diagnosed, you said that you still wanted to do things and you want to do that
Angelica Bell: for as long as possible really?
Alan: Well, I think Heather will tell you, yes, I try and be
Alan: a bit too independent sometimes. But up until recently, I've
Alan: managed to be fairly independent. I could go out walking
Alan: on my own. If I had to go to the
Alan: doctor or a bit of shopping, it's more difficult now,
Alan: there's no question about that.
Angelica Bell: Well Heather, how do you support each other with your different needs? How does
Angelica Bell: it work?
Heather: I guide him everywhere. I am his eyes, so I
Heather: will tell him there's a curb, there's car coming, we've
Heather: got to wait to cross and things like that. But
Heather: about the home, if you're talking about cooking. If he's
Heather: going to cook something, I would get everything out and
Heather: lay it out for him. I would put oil in
Heather: the pan, but he can do mostly the rest himself.
Heather: I think the most important thing is I have to
Heather: make sure I put things back where they came from,
Heather: rather than putting them somewhere else or leaving them out,
Heather: which is not always easy. Or I'll have to tell
Heather: him if I've left a cupboard open, or a door
Heather: open or something, or something on the floor so he
Heather: doesn't fall over it, because he can't see it and
Heather: I have to be more aware of that. I think
Heather: that's probably the main thing. And we have to plan a
Heather: bit more, yes.
Angelica Bell: So what is your plan for later in life? If you
Angelica Bell: do need more care or support, do you plan to
Angelica Bell: continue living as independently as you do now? Or do
Angelica Bell: you have an idea of how things could be, or
Angelica Bell: you might be open to other options?
Heather: Well, we've just moved to a new flat and it's a
Heather: brand new flat. It's a second floor flat, but there
Heather: is a lift. So, we did make sure there was a lift.
Heather: We do stairs whenever possible, but there is a lift.
Heather: And because we're in Glasgow, Alan's family are all round.
Heather: So his daughter, his elder daughter, is very helpful. She'll
Heather: do shopping for us, come round. And one of the
Heather: boys drives, one of her boys drives, and he'll come
Heather: round and do things for us. We have another grandson
Heather: who's very good at doing things for us. We're not
Heather: planning particularly for if one of us has to have
Heather: more care, we're just going to carry on and see
Heather: how it goes really, rather hoping we can cope.
Alan: I can manage the flat at the moment and I'm sure
Alan: on my own, I can probably manage it, but I might
Alan: need more support in terms of day- to- day living
Alan: and cleaning and washing and so on and so forth. We've
Alan: got some up- market equipment in the kitchen, none of
Alan: which blind person friendly, it's all black. Some of it,
Alan: there's no bleepers that tell you when you've pressed the
Alan: button. Induction hob I think I'm getting the hang of, I
Alan: can put one hob on, one ring on, but that's
Alan: all so far.
Angelica Bell: Alan, what advice would you give somebody in your situation if
Angelica Bell: they're looking to relocate?
Alan: I think just make the kind of decisions you would in a
Alan: normal. Look at what your circumstances are and what you can
Alan: do independently, what you need help with, where your facilities
Alan: are, shopping and so on, where your leisure pursuits are.
Alan: So it's a question of making sure that all of
Alan: these things that you're used to on a day- to-
Alan: day or week- to- week basis are still conveniently to
Alan: hand. Don't want to go out in the limb and then
Alan: suddenly find that you can't go from your house to
Alan: a leisure activity simply because you can't see. But yeah, I
Alan: think just stay where you're comfortable staying, where you know
Alan: what you're doing, where everything is familiar to you. That
Alan: would be the best advice I would give anyone.
Angelica Bell: Now what about financial planning? What were your thoughts and
Angelica Bell: how did you go about it, to make a comfortable
Angelica Bell: life for yourselves together before moving forward?
Heather: Well, I don't have a brilliant pension, but I sold
Heather: my house some years ago and bought a cheaper house,
Heather: so I released some capital. Until a while ago, I
Heather: was involved in a business where I got some income
Heather: from it. I probably have more capital value than Alan
Heather: does, but he has a good pension. So, together we work-
Alan: It's worked for us quite well.
Heather: ... very well together. We discuss our money, what we've
Heather: got, where it's going, there's no secrets, there's no problems.
Alan: It works quite well, to be honest.
Angelica Bell: Do you know what? You just seem so relaxed, you're in
Angelica Bell: that honeymoon period where you know what you want and
Angelica Bell: you're happy, and you're about to move into a new place.
Angelica Bell: I wish you all the best. Thank you so much
Angelica Bell: for talking to me and congratulations once again. As always,
Angelica Bell: I'm so inspired by our brilliant guests, from Feyi's wish
Angelica Bell: to help dementia sufferers in the black community while securing
Angelica Bell: a happy future, to how Heather and Alan were united
Angelica Bell: through their shared love of adventure and have formed a lifelong partnership
Angelica Bell: from that supportive relationship. Huge congratulations to them on their
Angelica Bell: wedding and new life together. Now, let's get some practical
Angelica Bell: ideas and suggestions for how you can also plan ahead
Angelica Bell: and make sure you're ready for what might be around
Angelica Bell: the corner both financially and mentally. Joining me is Legal &
Angelica Bell: General's Sam Roberts and Care Sourcer's Andrew Parfery. Sam, caring
Angelica Bell: for your needs and the needs of others in life
Angelica Bell: is a huge part of reality for so many people
Angelica Bell: in the UK. So why isn't it a bigger part
Angelica Bell: of planning?
Sam Roberts: Yeah, that's a great question, Angelica. I think it's because
Sam Roberts: it's such a complicated topic. So if you think about
Sam Roberts: one's future, two things are happening. One is our retirements
Sam Roberts: are going to look completely different to our parents' retirement.
Sam Roberts: The structure of our pensions, moving from defined benefit to
Sam Roberts: defined contribution. The time at which our pension will kick
Sam Roberts: in is getting later. We're all living longer, but we're
Sam Roberts: not necessarily living healthier. In fact, the number of years
Sam Roberts: of life lived with poor quality of life is increasing,
Sam Roberts: alongside our length of life. And the number of chronic
Sam Roberts: conditions that we have as we get older is becoming
Sam Roberts: more and more of an issue. So, I think picturing the
Sam Roberts: future is sometimes quite tricky because all of these variables
Sam Roberts: are changing. That's the one thing. And then the other
Sam Roberts: thing is trying to understand what you will need at
Sam Roberts: the time that you need care is also pretty tricky
Sam Roberts: because you think you need to design what you need
Sam Roberts: based on what your function is at that time. So
Sam Roberts: for example, you may need something as little as a
Sam Roberts: fall monitor, to figure out if you take a tumble,
Sam Roberts: or an alarm to call somebody if you need help,
Sam Roberts: all the way through from ... or you may need home
Sam Roberts: modifications, a wet room downstairs or a bathroom downstairs, or
Sam Roberts: more handrails, or you may need somebody to come for
Sam Roberts: a couple of hours, or you may even need to
Sam Roberts: move into residential care. So, what we've ended up finding
Sam Roberts: when we spoke to our customers about this is that 1.
Sam Roberts: 3 million people every year in this country do investigate
Sam Roberts: care, but it almost always happens at a time of
Sam Roberts: crisis, either in Feyi's situation where a relative is thinking
Sam Roberts: about their parents and thinking about, " I'm wondering what the
Sam Roberts: future will hold. Maybe I need somebody to come in
Sam Roberts: for a couple of days a week," or the individual
Sam Roberts: thinking about it for themselves. It's at that time of
Sam Roberts: crisis that people need simple information, advice that they can
Sam Roberts: get, and it all in one place.
Angelica Bell: Exactly. Well, Andrew, let's talk about Care Sourcer. Why did you want to start this?
Andrew Parfery: Well, about five years ago, I was running my family's
Andrew Parfery: home care business. So that's a company that would employ
Andrew Parfery: care workers, train them, and then schedule them to go to
Andrew Parfery: perhaps your mother or your father's own house if they
Andrew Parfery: required care and support in the home. That family business
Andrew Parfery: had been going for about 20 years. My dad was a
Andrew Parfery: social worker prior to starting it, and he'd cared for
Andrew Parfery: tens of thousands of people through that business' 20 years,
Andrew Parfery: but he became very unwell and he was admitted to
Andrew Parfery: hospital. Unfortunately he was given seven days left to live
Andrew Parfery: while in hospital, so this all happened very quickly. The
Andrew Parfery: first thing we did obviously, was speak to the social
Andrew Parfery: worker at the local authority and ask if they could
Andrew Parfery: put some home care in place for him to be
Andrew Parfery: able to go home and be cared for at home
Andrew Parfery: for the last seven days of his life and they
Andrew Parfery: couldn't find a home care provider. They had no availability
Andrew Parfery: from anybody. So, we were fortunate enough that we could
Andrew Parfery: taxi care workers that worked for us through from a
Andrew Parfery: different local authority area to where he lived, and so
Andrew Parfery: we could get him home. That meant that my mum
Andrew Parfery: felt comfortable, caring and supporting him and he was able
Andrew Parfery: to come back to where he wanted to be. But
Andrew Parfery: it struck me at that point, that for many people,
Andrew Parfery: they have no option and no choice. It's not easy
Andrew Parfery: to find care, especially in that sort of traumatic, emergency
Andrew Parfery: situation. Really what it said to me is that he
Andrew Parfery: would have died in hospital unfortunately, had we not been
Andrew Parfery: fortunate to have that business. So it was really at
Andrew Parfery: that point about how many other people are going through
Andrew Parfery: this negative experience, how can we help them? And that
Andrew Parfery: really led us on to starting Care Sourcer, which is
Andrew Parfery: really there to help people understand what they need when
Andrew Parfery: it comes to support and care, to help them find
Andrew Parfery: it, importantly in a very short period of time and
Andrew Parfery: explain to them what their different options are, because you
Andrew Parfery: don't have to necessarily go into a care home. And
Andrew Parfery: then also to think about how to fund that, because
Andrew Parfery: care can be extremely expensive and the earlier you start
Andrew Parfery: to think about that, the more that you can do
Andrew Parfery: to plan for those costs.
Angelica Bell: So basically, through personal experience and a real understanding, it was almost
Angelica Bell: meant to be that you would take this on. Can
Angelica Bell: you explain what a care matching service is?
Andrew Parfery: Yeah, well I would describe it a bit like a
Andrew Parfery: hotel concierge. So, our Care Concierge service is really there
Andrew Parfery: to help you understand what different care options there are
Andrew Parfery: if you need care and support, and then to help
Andrew Parfery: you find those that have availability. So, if you wanted
Andrew Parfery: to jump on a flight, you would go onto a
Andrew Parfery: website and you'd understand which planes had free seats on
Andrew Parfery: them that you might want to book to a certain
Andrew Parfery: destination, but there's nothing so transparent and clear when it
Andrew Parfery: comes to care and care services. So, the first thing
Andrew Parfery: we would do is obviously understand that individual's needs and
Andrew Parfery: requirements. And the first step might not actually be a
Andrew Parfery: care and support service, it might be something like a
Andrew Parfery: assisted bit of technology to alert somebody if you have
Andrew Parfery: a fall, or it could be some support to stay
Andrew Parfery: on top of the garden, or to assist with bills
Andrew Parfery: and shopping. But when it comes to more acute care,
Andrew Parfery: there are generally three main commonly known forms of care.
Andrew Parfery: One would be in a residential setting, in a care
Andrew Parfery: home, as an example. One would be in your own home.
Andrew Parfery: Actually, two thirds of people are not in care homes,
Andrew Parfery: they're in their own home and a care worker would come
Andrew Parfery: to their home perhaps twice a day, seven days a
Andrew Parfery: week as an example. The third option, which is not
Andrew Parfery: very well known about is live- in care, where somebody
Andrew Parfery: actually would come and live in your home and that
Andrew Parfery: might be for somebody who needs a bit more support
Andrew Parfery: than someone coming in for an hour or twice a
Andrew Parfery: day, but is not yet at the stage where they
Andrew Parfery: feel they need to be in a residential setting to
Andrew Parfery: receive that round the clock care.
Angelica Bell: Sam, there's lots of talk in the news about the care funding crisis.
Angelica Bell: How do we pay for these long lives with declining
Angelica Bell: health as well as you talked about?
Sam Roberts: Yeah, thanks Angelica. There's, I mean, possibly two ways that
Sam Roberts: I would start to think about this. So the first
Sam Roberts: is, for each individual to get some sense of how
Sam Roberts: much they think that they would need. And a couple
Sam Roberts: of things to think about on that. So the first one
Sam Roberts: is to understand your local authority will only cover care
Sam Roberts: costs in some cases, so don't rely on that as
Sam Roberts: the ultimate backup plan. The second is to think about
Sam Roberts: where you live in the country, because care costs are
Sam Roberts: quite significantly different in different parts of the country. So
Sam Roberts: for example, a residential care home in Islington in North
Sam Roberts: London is significantly more expensive than one in North Wales,
Sam Roberts: for example, so that's the second thing, is try to understand
Sam Roberts: your care costs in the area where you are likely
Sam Roberts: to receive care. And one of the ways of going
Sam Roberts: about that is going online and looking at care costs
Sam Roberts: calculator. So we have one for Legal & General on our
Sam Roberts: retirement web pages, but there will be others. And they
Sam Roberts: allow you to add in things such as the type
Sam Roberts: of care you need, where you live, and they will give some
Sam Roberts: advice on whether you're eligible for local authority, how much
Sam Roberts: you could expect to pay for the sort of care
Sam Roberts: that you want. So that's the first thing, understanding what
Sam Roberts: the need is, then you will know how far you're
Sam Roberts: falling short currently. The second thing is, assuming that you're
Sam Roberts: not one of the folks who are covered by local
Sam Roberts: authority care, whether it's home care or residential, there are
Sam Roberts: a couple of ways you can think about affording it.
Sam Roberts: So, the first is savings, traditional. The second is something
Sam Roberts: called an immediate needs annuity, which is where you put
Sam Roberts: a lump sum payment into an annuity and then that
Sam Roberts: pays a care provider for your care until you no
Sam Roberts: longer need that care. So, we see it typically used
Sam Roberts: in people moving into residential care and that care is
Sam Roberts: paid at a fixed amount for as long as you
Sam Roberts: need it. So, that's an immediate needs annuity, the second option.
Sam Roberts: The third option would be something like a lifetime mortgage
Sam Roberts: or an equity release mortgage, where you convert some of
Sam Roberts: the value that is in your house into cash, either
Sam Roberts: a lump sum of cash or a small amount that
Sam Roberts: is released. We typically see people using that more for
Sam Roberts: home adaptations, like if they need the railings, the downstairs
Sam Roberts: bathroom, et cetera, we talked about before, or sometimes for
Sam Roberts: care in the home. So a couple of hours of help, of
Sam Roberts: care in the home. So, that's option three. Then option
Sam Roberts: four is obviously downsizing or moving house. So those are
Sam Roberts: the ways we think about it. First of all, understand
Sam Roberts: the need. Second, potential source of income if you are
Sam Roberts: a self- funder. Again, as Andrew was saying, we work
Sam Roberts: together with Care Sourcer, there's a free telephone line for you
Sam Roberts: to talk to a care specialist, just to talk through some
Sam Roberts: of these options, because sometimes people just need somebody who's
Sam Roberts: done this many, many times before to bounce ideas off.
Angelica Bell: Now, what I'd like to know next is what does the future
Angelica Bell: hold? We all know AI is in use already. What
Angelica Bell: else is out there?
Sam Roberts: Yeah, so I think maybe two different angles. So on
Sam Roberts: care, I think we're seeing quite a lot of innovation,
Sam Roberts: the kind of work had Andrew and his team are
Sam Roberts: doing with Care Sourcer. There's quite a bit of innovation on finding
Sam Roberts: care, on monitoring care, and we're seeing lots, lots, lots
Sam Roberts: more home care. So the NHS did a big push
Sam Roberts: over the last 18 months with COVID, where we've seen
Sam Roberts: lots more people seeing doctors through Zoom, or Teams, or
Sam Roberts: whatever. Lots more home monitoring for conditions, lots more people in
Sam Roberts: clinical trials from the home. So, I think those are
Sam Roberts: the things, those trends are here to stay, that a
Sam Roberts: lot more of our care will be delivered online. For
Sam Roberts: years I've, I don't know, probably Andrew's the same, have been watching
Sam Roberts: the world of robotics to see if there will be much
Sam Roberts: to come on the care front. But I think the
Sam Roberts: consensus is that's a decade or so away. So that's on care,
Sam Roberts: which is really help with activities of daily living. Then
Sam Roberts: on the health side, I think we are going through
Sam Roberts: an unbelievably exciting revolution in the way we provide healthcare.
Sam Roberts: So we're moving from a society that has treated illness
Sam Roberts: to one that's trying to predict and prevent illness and
Sam Roberts: then personalize treatment. So this is where you'll see genetics
Sam Roberts: coming into play, where you'll see artificial intelligence that can
Sam Roberts: read images, where you'll see more home monitoring as well
Sam Roberts: as personalized therapies, where one medicine is made for one
Sam Roberts: person. I think lots of innovation. When you're going through
Sam Roberts: a renaissance like this, it's very hard to see where it
Sam Roberts: will land. But my guess is that there'll be much
Sam Roberts: more prediction, much more prevention, much more personalization in the
Sam Roberts: years to come.
Angelica Bell: I really do hope that's given some food for thoughts
Angelica Bell: and perhaps prompted you to reflect on your own later
Angelica Bell: life. If you are caring for a loved one, try
Angelica Bell: and ensure you make provision for your own needs, whatever
Angelica Bell: they may be, both now as a carer and in your
Angelica Bell: retirement years. We've mentioned loads of resources there and if
Angelica Bell: you want to do some further reading, you can. Check
Angelica Bell: them out in the show notes for this episode at legalandgeneral. com/
Angelica Bell: retirement. I'm Angelica Bell and I've loved meeting incredible people
Angelica Bell: and sharing their stories across the series. I do hope
Angelica Bell: you've been as inspired as I have to look to
Angelica Bell: the future with excitement, feel empowered with great information and
Angelica Bell: support to help you plan and thanks to you for
Angelica Bell: listening. If this has helped you in your future planning,
Angelica Bell: please share the podcast with a friend and let's help
Angelica Bell: everyone start a retirement revolution.