Nearly three in 10 (28%) of over-60s with over £200,000 in investable assets or household income have failed to ring-fence money to fund later life care they may need, a new report says.

A third (38%) of the over-60s surveyed by Charles Stanley said they would rely on the sale of property for funds they may need for care.

Residential care home costs average £56,000 per year, according to the report.

The research showed that younger generations were likely to admit they may need to rely on family members to fund care.

As many as 43% of Millennials surveyed agreed that any care they need will be funded by their spouse, while just 26% of Baby Boomers (over 60s) felt the same.

Similarly, Generation Z (43%) were much more likely than Baby Boomers (12%) to acknowledge that they will need financial support from their children in later life.

Others were planning to rely on government support for care costs.

Overall, 34% of HNWs said they were planning to spend their wealth to qualify for state support so that they or their family do not have to pay for care costs out of their own pockets. A quarter (25%) of Baby Boomers were planning to do this, while just over two fifths (41%) of Millennial respondents said the same.

Despite the significant costs that may be needed for later life and the reliance on family to support them, half (50%) of the HNW individuals surveyed had not discussed the topic of later-life and long-term care with their families, with this rising to 57% of Baby Boomers.

Harry Bell, director of Financial Planning at Charles Stanley, said: “From a Financial Planning perspective, our research raises the alarm bells for a few reasons.

"With an ageing population and a soaring demand for later-life care, families risk having to make serious compromises in order to pay for unexpected long-term care costs. Later-life care is a family matter, and our research makes it clear that difficult conversations are not happening nearly as much nor as early as they need to.”

• Censuswide surveyed 1,007 high net worth respondents across the UK in January, including 250 respondents over the age of 60.