“Blink and you missed it as there’s now going to be a delay of at least two years,” Lowe said.
“One of the biggest gaps in most people’s retirement plans is considering the possibility of needing care in old age.”
Just Group’s annual care report revealed people are very willing to bury their heads in the sand – nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) over-45s and 74 per cent of over-75s agreed they had not thought about care, planned for it or spoken to family about it.
While nearly half (48 per cent) are delaying planning until promised new reforms are implemented.
“The government’s decision to delay the introduction of those reforms from next October to at least 2025 comes on top of at least a decade of delays since the idea of a cap on care costs was first proposed,” he said.
“It means the responsibility for helping people be prepared still sits squarely with advisers.
“It’s been a year of highs and lows but the announcement to delay was a particularly disappointing way to end what has been a challenging year.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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