SOME people would say that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.

But while we ponder over the respective trials and tribulations of the grim reaper and the inspector of taxes, perhaps we should contemplate a third: living to 100.

Recent statistics show that there is an increasing likelihood that one in four people aged 16 today will reach their 100th birthday.

The rapidly ageing population in the country suggests that there will be more than 500,000 people aged 100-plus in the next half-century.

And while the grim reaper may beckon and the tax man may hold his hands out for a slice of your estate when you die, what about the costs of care when you are simply too old to live independently?

How can someone afford to live to 100?

Inheritance tax (death duty as it was once known) is payable when a person's estate, including all assets from the family home to your car and jewellery with everything else in between, exceeds £325,000 (2011/12).

The current tax rate is 40%, but only on the excess over your nil rate band allowance.

Funding the costs of a care home, on the other hand, can run anywhere from £400-£1,000 per week and is payable by you if your capital exceeds a mere £23,250.

Some argue that this is a stealth tax, but call it what you may, it’s charged at 100% and there’s little you can do to avoid it!

Inheritance tax used to be the “rich man’s tax” but clearly it is no more with a threshold of £325,000.

Despite recessionary impacts on the property market, such a limit makes it a very real concern for many ordinary families countrywide.

However, funding for care is very much an everyman’s tax affecting every homeowner needing care in later life. Last summer the Commission on Funding of Care and Support was launched to conduct an independent review of the current system of funding elderly care.

Several weeks ago, the findings of this review were presented to the Government.

Among the recommendations presented were two focal points:

1). An individual’s lifetime contributions towards their social care costs - which are currently potentially unlimited - should be capped.

After the cap is reached, individuals would be eligible for full state support. The report suggests that £35,000 is the "most appropriate and fair" figure.

2). The means-tested threshold, above which people are liable for their full care costs should be increased from the current £23,250 to £100,000;

Many already believe that this magical figure of £35,000 will become the total contribution any individual will have to pay.

In fact, some savvy financial institutions have already started their marketing campaigns to provide this sum in the event of a care need arising.

However, at this stage these are simply proposals and nothing more.

The review is yet to receive any form of Government approval or timeframe for implementation.

With the UK facing a fiscal black hole, and the increasingly stormy skies over Europe, it seems more probable than not that the care review will fail to achieve such a level of Government generosity.

In the meantime, we may start to fear old age itself more than the grim reaper, or perhaps the inspector of taxes remains the most frightening of them all!