What is the Care Home Self-Fund Runway Calculator?
If you or someone you love may need a care home later, the big question is simple: how long could savings cover the fees before the local authority means test kicks in?
This calculator helps you sketch that runway. It is a UK planning tool for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You enter capital, the weekly fee and income that continues. It then estimates how long you may fully self-fund before capital hits the upper means-test limit.
Use the figure as a planning estimate only, not as a formal financial assessment or care-funding advice.
How does the calculator work?
Pick your nation first. That loads starter capital limits, pocket-money rules (PEA or MIA) and any free care contributions you can toggle. Then add liquid capital, whether the family home should count, the weekly care home fee and other income such as State Pension.
The model walks capital month by month. While you are above the upper limit, you usually self-fund. In the middle band (England, Scotland and NI), capital only covers a small “tariff” slice, not the full fee. Below the lower limit, capital is normally disregarded. The headline runway is time to the upper limit, not time to £0.
Everything stays editable so you can test different fees, income, capital and nation rules.
Step 1: Pick your nation
England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Each loads different starter limits you can edit to match your local authority.
Step 2: Enter capital and fees
Add savings and investments, say if the home should count, then enter the weekly care home fee and income that is likely to continue.
Step 3: Read your runway
See how long you may fully self-fund, what happens in the tariff band, a simple weekly cashflow, and capital left at years 5 and 10.
Loading calculator…
Disclaimer: This calculator provides illustrative estimates only and is not financial, legal or care-funding advice. Capital limits, pocket-money rules (PEA/MIA), tariffs and charging rules vary by nation and local authority. Figures are editable 2026/27 planning defaults: verify with GOV.UK, Care Information Scotland, your council or Health & Social Care Trust, and a regulated financial adviser where needed. Results are not a formal financial assessment. Continuing Healthcare (CHC), deferred payment agreements, couples’ joint capital, deliberate deprivation and non-residential rules are not modelled.
What should you do with the runway figure?
Treat it as a kitchen-table starting point. Use it to ask clearer questions of family, the care home and your local authority, not as a final answer.
Plan before the crisis
Sketch a self-fund runway while you still have time to gather fee quotes, paperwork and calm family conversations.
Nation rules matter
England, Scotland, Wales and NI use different capital limits and care contributions. Edit the defaults so they match your council’s numbers.
Does the home count?
Often the main home is ignored while a partner still lives there. Toggle that on or off, and optionally explore an England-style 12-week property disregard for education only.
Read the phase, not just the months
Self-funding, tariff band and income-only tell different stories. The hero runway is time until you reach the upper limit, not until money hits zero.
What is the Care Home Self-Fund Runway Calculator?
It is a UK-specific planning tool that estimates how long your assessable capital could cover care home fees before means-test territory, using editable 2026/27 planning defaults.
What does this calculator do?
It estimates how long your savings and other assessable capital could cover care home fees before you reach means-test territory. You get a self-fund runway, how long the middle “tariff” band may last, a phase badge (self-funding / tariff / income-only), a weekly cashflow breakdown, capital left at years 5 and 10, and a year chart.
What is a means test?
A means test is how your local authority looks at your capital and income to decide whether you pay for care yourself or get help. Above the upper capital limit you usually pay in full (self-fund). Between the limits, help can start on a sliding scale. At or below the lower limit, capital is normally disregarded and help is based mainly on income.
What are the England capital limits?
For 2026/27 planning the tool starts with England upper £23,250 and lower £14,250. While capital is above the lower limit and at or below the upper limit, tariff income is £1 a week for every £250 or part thereof. PEA defaults to £31.80/wk. Always verify with GOV.UK and your council.
How do Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ?
Scotland (from 6 April 2026 planning) uses upper £36,750 / lower £22,750 with Free Personal Care (£260.30/wk, default on) and optional Free Nursing Care (£117.10/wk). Wales uses a single residential capital limit of £50,000 (no tariff band). NI is framed like England, with an optional RNCC toggle. Everything stays editable.
Should I include the value of the family home?
Often the main home is disregarded while a partner or certain relatives still live there. The calculator defaults that toggle to on. Turn it off if you want property counted as capital. There is also an optional England-style 12-week property disregard (educational): property is ignored for the first ~12 weeks, then added. Local disregard rules can be more detailed than these switches.
What counts as other weekly income?
Money that is likely to keep arriving while someone is in a care home: State Pension, private pensions, and some benefits. Putting income here reduces the weekly gap that has to come from capital.
What is the “tariff”?
In England, Scotland and NI, capital above the lower limit and at or below the upper limit can be treated as if it produces a small weekly amount called tariff income: £1 a week for every £250 or part thereof. Above the upper limit you fully self-fund. Wales has no tariff band.
What is PEA or MIA?
Personal Expenses Allowance (England, Scotland, NI) or Minimum Income Amount (Wales) is the pocket-money slice of income the resident keeps for day-to-day spending. Only income above PEA/MIA is assumed available for fees. 2026/27 planning defaults: England £31.80, Scotland £37.65, NI £34.10, Wales MIA £46.35 (all editable).
Is the runway the same as “money runs out”?
No. The hero self-fund runway is time until assessable capital first reaches the upper limit (means-test territory), not zero. If you are already at or below the upper limit, the tool shows your phase instead.
Does this include deferred payment agreements?
No. Full deferred payment modelling is out of scope. There is a simple optional 12-week property disregard for education only. Non-residential charging, CHC, couples’ joint capital and deliberate deprivation are not modelled. Talk to the council about those routes.
How accurate are the results?
Illustrative only. They move with your fee quotes, income, growth and inflation assumptions, and with whatever capital limits you enter. Real assessments are more detailed. Always verify with your local authority.
Is my information stored?
No. The calculator runs in your browser. A CSV download is optional and separate from the calculation itself.
Can I download the numbers?
Yes. Use Get my CSV for inputs, runway figures, the weekly breakdown, a monthly phase timeline and the year-by-year capital path. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.
Trust and education
Certified Money First Aider®
These calculators are built by a Certified Money First Aider to help you think more clearly about money and time. Money First Aid® is about practical, non-judgemental support for financial wellbeing. The calculators can certainly help you make informed decisions, but they are not regulated financial advice.
Behind Retirement Calculators
Built from the questions I was asking myself
I'm Ryan, the person behind Retirement Calculators. I started the site after selling an online business and trying to understand what our pensions, ISAs, investments and property actually meant for the way we wanted to live.
The calculators are built around those real decisions: whether you could work less, retire earlier, spend more now or use your money differently. They will not give you a perfect answer, but they can make the trade-offs much easier to see.
Have an idea for a calculator, spotted something that could be clearer, or want to ask me about the site?
Let me help you navigate the road to retirement
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Thanks. You are on the list.