I don’t know why but this thought popped into my mind earlier today, it concerns the wisdom or otherwise of saving for the future.

Taking things at today’s prices Lorena and I can pay £1500 or so and that will buy us a whole month in Majorca where we can hopefully enjoy the sun, the restaurants, the cycling, the sunshine and the swimming if we want to as well as visiting the small local towns and villages on our tandem. An alternative to spending money on this kind of thing now is to be "sensible" and to save up for our old age, should we be fortunate enough to reach old age.

So, if we choose to save up for our old age what will our £1500 buy us then? At today’s prices our £1500 would pay for the two of us to be taken care of in a care home for one whole week.

Now, let’s say we decide to spend our savings whilst we can and keep heading for the sun, what happens when we get old? Well, because by then we have spent our savings we are then not "self-funders" as they are called, so the costs of our stay in the care home would have to be paid for by The Government. Whilst in the care home we could sit and chat with, or sit and stare at, the "sensible" people who have saved up or sold their home so that they can pay for their care, we will even have the same meals and pretty much the same accommodation.

What would you do? Go to Majorca or save for the care home?