When Should You Start Planning for Later Life Care? 

When Should You Start Planning for Later Life?

The most important decisions we make are rarely the ones forced upon us. Whether it's where we live, how we spend our time or the support we choose to have around us, the best outcomes tend to come when decisions are made from a position of strength rather than necessity. 

Yet when it comes to later life, many people postpone planning until circumstances demand it. By then, the range of options available may be considerably narrower.  

Here is what we’ll cover in this guide: 

• Why most people leave later life planning too late
• What does later life planning involve?
• The right age to start planning
• How your home fits into your later life plan
• Care options to consider before you need them 

Why Most People Leave Later Life Planning Too Late 

In retrospect it can seem like a thoughtless decision to the individual needing care or those closest to them, but planning feels naturally distant when health is good and other priorities are competing for attention. The conversation around later life care can feel premature or unwelcome, both providing an easy excuse to put it off. 

If this resonates, bear in mind that the consequence of delaying is likely not to be catastrophic; rather, it constrains the options that will be available to you and the decisions you will be able to make. Decisions made under pressure are often different to those you would have made with more time a more considered approach. 

Beginning to plan is not an acknowledgement that something is wrong, nor is it surrendering anything of your life that you value. It is an assertion that your next chapter deserves just as much care and intention as your life up to this point. 

What Does Later Life Planning Actually Involve 

A common reason for putting off later life planning is lack of clarity around what the process involves. Ambiguity can lead to paralysis, and the easiest option becomes doing nothing rather than seeking information about what needs to be done, and how to do it. 

Thoughtful planning tends to fall into three broad areas: legal arrangements, financial considerations and decisions about where and how you would ideally like to live. 

 Legal planning:  

Giving Lasting Power of Attorney to those close to you gives them legal authority to make decisions regarding your health, welfare, and financial affairs if you become unable to do so. This must be put in place when your mental capacity is intact, meaning that waiting too late removes the option entirely and can lead to difficult situations. A solicitor is the best source of advice in setting up Lasting Power of Attorney. 

Financial planning:  

Understanding how later life care might be funded, along with the role of your existing assets and investments and their potential contributions, is a conversation worth having with a financial adviser. The goal is to preserve security and flexibility throughout the care process. 

Housing and care planning:  

Deciding where to live and what the support you receive - if any - should look like will have a significant impact on what your day-to-day life looks like. Spending time researching and visiting different options ahead of time reduces the likelihood of being forced by circumstance to move somewhere that you may not have chosen for yourself. 

The Right Age to Start Planning 

The right time to begin planning for later life care is before any specific need arises. Beginning the process when your health is good removes pressure and gives space to make more considered decisions.  

This is especially true for Lasting Power of Attorney: waiting until issues arise that affect your mental acuity risks a situation where you are unable to complete the process. Putting Lasting Power of Attorney in place does not immediately hand over the right to make decisions on your behalf; this can only be done when you are deemed unable to make them for yourself. 

Often, significant life milestones may lead to a natural conversation around later life planning. For example retirement, significant birthdays, seeing a peer or loved one navigating the process without adequate preparation.  

The key thing to remember when these conversations arise is that beginning the process does not mean committing to anything, nor does it mean surrendering your agency or independence. The goal is to build understanding, begin conversations with appropriate advisers, and put foundations in place to allow future decisions to be made from a vantage point of knowledge and calm. 

How Your Home Fits Into Your Later Life Plan 

Where you decide to live is one of the most consequential aspects of your later life plan. The right environment contributes to health, mood, social connection, access to support, and overall quality of life. Investing time in learning about options available to you will pay dividends. 

The question to orient your thinking for this aspect of the process is this: does your current home actively support the life you want to live as you move into your next chapter? There are several factors to consider when answering: 

The location: are you near to loved ones? Do you have easy access to the things you value? What are transport options like? 

The configuration: is the space able to support accessibility requirements you may have?  

The contents: are you surrounded by intentionally chosen things, or by things accrued over a long period that may begin to feel overwhelming? 

The logistics: will you remain able to maintain the space, or to manage the staff who do so? 

Often one or more of these considerations will resonate more strongly than others, and this is an indication of what to prioritise when evaluating and deciding between potential options. Changing residence as part of your later life plan should feel like an upgrade - one that maintains the aspects of life you have grown accustomed to while letting go of the complexities and sources of stress that no longer serve you. 

Care Options to Consider Before You Need Them 

Understanding what is available and how it works is part of making a well-considered plan, and not an anticipation or acknowledgement of decline. There are three models worth understanding: 

 Home care:

you receive support within your existing property from visiting professionals on a scheduled basis. They may help with daily tasks, medication management, personal care, and similar. 

 Supported living in a purpose-built community:

you live in a community of peers and have access to care and support as and when it is required. Care adapts alongside your needs and is provided discreetly to minimise impact. 

 Residential care: 

full-time, around-the-clock support is provided in a dedicated facility. This becomes relevant when needs are more complex or when living independently is no longer possible, and planning well in advance can contribute to deferring the need for this type of care. 

Increasingly, many people are choosing communities, such as Auriens, that combine private independent living with hospitality, wellbeing and access to care and support, if needed. This approach allows residents to make a single move while retaining flexibility as circumstances evolve.

 Planning Your Later Life at Auriens 

Auriens is the gold standard of later life living, and our offering aligns with thoughtful, proactive later life planning. We aim to provide the same standard of experience to all of our residents, and to help them to maintain the standard of life they have grown accustomed to as they move into their next chapter. 

Our sister company, Draycott Nursing & Care, part of the Auriens Group, offers discreet care as and when it is required, meaning that support is in place and familiar when it becomes necessary. We also offer a suite of exclusive amenities and a rich calendar of cultural events to ensure a standard of life that aligns with what you are used to. 

To learn about what your next chapter at Auriens could look like, we invite you to get in touch and begin the conversation. You can also research our purchase and rental options, or read about our try before you buy initiative.   

We endeavour to make the transition into later life as seamless as possible for all of our residents, and to welcome each into a community of like-minded individuals.