The Cost of Unhealthy Ageing: Why Prevention Is the Smartest Investment You’ll Ever Make

Most of us are familiar with traditional financial planning, saving into pensions, debating investment strategies, and worrying about mortgages, holidays or houses. But there’s one cost that rarely gets the attention it deserves: the financial, physical and emotional impact of unhealthy ageing. Unlike many other costs, this one isn’t something we can wish away. It’s something we can meaningfully influence, years (sometimes decades) before symptoms appear. That’s not a doom-and-gloom message. It’s a hopeful one; prevention gives us leverage. 

A cost few are ready for: the reality of long‑term care 

In the UK, care is expensive and tends to become more expensive as your needs become more complex. Recent UK estimates for self‑funded care put the average weekly cost at around £1,298 for residential care and £1,535 for nursing care [1]. These are averages across the UK, and local costs can be higher depending on region, provider and specialist needs. To make that tangible: £1,300 per week is £67,600 per year. And if someone needed three years of care at roughly that rate, it would be £202,800 before any additional private costs. 

Meanwhile, the scale of need is not small. In England, government statistics report 889,000 people received long‑term support at any time between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 [2]. That’s not a few edge cases; it’s a major part of later-life reality for many families. Now, to be clear: not everyone ends up living in a care home. Census-based analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that in 2021, 2.5% of people aged 65+ in England and Wales were living in a care home (down from 3.2% in 2011) [3]. And the proportion rises steeply with age: the ONS reports that among people aged 85+, 10.8% were living in care homes in 2021. 

Those two facts can sit together: the point‑in‑time percentage is relatively small but growing, but the financial impact is huge for the families who do face it, and the risk increases significantly at older ages. 

The hidden bill: lifestyle debt 

Here’s the part that changes the entire conversation. Many of the conditions that drive later-life dependency are strongly linked to long-term lifestyle patterns: low physical activity, loss of muscle mass and strength, poor diet quality, excess body fat, chronic stress and poor sleep. 

And the evidence base is blunt about how powerful movement is as a protective factor. The World Health Organisation states that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by 19%, diabetes by 17%, and depression and dementia by 28-32%. [4] That’s not a motivational quote. It’s epidemiology. The NHS puts it in plain language: exercise can “lower your risk of early death by up to 30%.” [5] Those are population-level outcomes, meaning they’re about shifting probability. But probability is exactly what prevention is about: stacking odds in your favour, over years. 

Why independence is the real retirement wealth 

When people think about ageing, they often focus on lifespan. But what really matters is healthspan, how long you remain capable, mobile, mentally engaged and independent. Independence is the hidden currency of ageing well. Being able to stand up from the floor, climb stairs, carry shopping, travel freely, stay social, and make your own choices, that’s what most people truly want. And this is where strength, balance, and everyday movement become non‑negotiable. Muscle is not just for aesthetics, it’s metabolic health, stability, resilience and confidence rolled into one. 

A small daily target that changes everything 

One of the most useful public messages in recent years is that health benefits don’t require perfection. A major 2025 systematic review in The Lancet Public Health reported that 7,000 steps per day was associated with large reductions in risk across multiple outcomes, including an estimated 47% lower risk of all‑cause mortality compared with much lower step counts. [6] The same reporting highlights reductions across dementia, falls, depression, cardiovascular disease and more. The point isn’t that everyone must hit 7,000 every day. The point is that small increases in daily movement can produce meaningful returns, especially for people starting from a low baseline. 

Nutrition: not a trend, a foundation 

Movement is only one side of the prevention equation. Food quality also matters, not in the performative, diet-culture way, but in a long-term healthspan way. Large, long-running cohort studies, such as EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), examine how dietary patterns and lifestyle relate to cancer and chronic disease outcomes over time. [7] Within the wider EPIC programme, EPIC‑Oxford findings have been used to explore long-term health outcomes associated with dietary patterns, including cardiovascular risk and metabolic disease. [8] This isn’t about “never eating a particular food.” It’s about shifting the default toward whole foods, high-fibre plants, quality proteins, and consistent eating patterns that support muscle health, metabolic health, and the control of inflammation. 

The emotional cost no one budgets for 

The financial figures are easy to calculate. The emotional burden is harder to measure, but often heavier. When health declines prematurely, families become carers. Relationships change. Choices narrow. The stress of navigating care, finances and uncertainty can strain even the strongest support networks. Prevention isn’t just self-care. It’s an act of responsibility to your future self and to the people who love you. 

This conversation isn’t about scare tactics. It’s about perspective. We insure our homes against unlikely disasters. We plan financially for decades. Yet many people neglect the behaviours that protect the body they’ll inhabit for the rest of their life.  

“The paradox is simple: we prepare financially for a future we may never physically prepare to enjoy.” 

The best investment is still available 

You can’t rewind decades overnight, but you don’t need to. The body remains adaptable at any age: strength improves, cardiovascular capacity rises, metabolic markers respond, and confidence returns. Every walk, every strength session, every nutritious meal is a deposit into a future portfolio of resilience. Ageing is inevitable. Declining unnecessarily is not. The question isn’t whether ageing will cost you, it’s whether you’ll pay that cost in strength and autonomy, or in limitation and dependency. Today is early enough. 

References 

1. Carehome.co.uk. Care home costs 2026: How much do you pay? (Average UK self‑funded weekly costs for residential and nursing care). 

2. GOV.UK. Adult social care activity report, England: 2024 to 2025, commentary (Long‑term support counts; 889,000 people received long‑term support during 2024/25). 

3. Office for National Statistics (ONS). Older people living in care homes in 2021 and changes since 2011 (2.5% of 65+ in care homes in 2021; 10.8% of 85+). 

4. World Health Organisation (WHO). Physical activity (Risk reductions: heart disease and stroke 19%; diabetes 17%; depression and dementia 28-32%; cancer 8-28%). 

5. NHS. Benefits of exercise (Exercise lowers risk of early death by up to 30%).  

6. Ding D, et al. Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health (2025). (Often reported as 47% lower all‑cause mortality at 7,000 steps vs low steps). 

7. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). EPIC-Europe (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition), about EPIC (cohort scale and purpose). 

8. Key TJ. Plant-based diets and long-term health: findings from the EPIC-Oxford study. (2021) (Overview of EPIC‑Oxford diet pattern associations with chronic disease risks).