Aged Care Financial Planning
Are You Financially Prepared for Aged Care?
No-one likes to talk about getting old, but when you or a family member needs help, there’s no getting around it. Many of our clients want to know what choices they have in their older years – and before the crisis hits.
When Should You Start Thinking About Aged Care?
Any age is a good time to start thinking and planning for aged care, regardless of whether you are in your early retirement years or are well into retirement. The need for care can arise suddenly or result from a more gradual capability decline.
If you are in good health, aged care is probably not on your radar. But this is the best time to have the conversation – you still have the capacity and are not panicking.
Or, if you’re lucky enough to have your parents still, starting the conversation while they are healthy is definitely sensible. They might not be thrilled that you’re raising the subject, but it allows them to find out what is important to them when choices need to be made.
Don’t accidentally fall into these traps:
- Leaving it too late to have the conversation – once Mum or Dad can’t return home from the hospital, you’re in crisis mode. This is not the best environment to make life-changing decisions for anyone.
- Thinking it will never happen – unfortunately, the statistics say otherwise. On average, we can expect to live 17-25% of our retirement with a frailty that may threaten our ability to live independently without care. With those odds, planning is vital.
We are Here to Help with Planning for Aged Care.
Making an informed decision about aged care is incredibly important. Making the wrong decision can have far-reaching consequences for the whole family. When aged care decisions go badly, the stress can lead to family conflicts, fuelled by the Three G’s of aged care® – Grief, Guilt and Greed.
Not all advice is good advice. Aged care financial advice is a specialist area. The rules change constantly, as do the available strategies. This is why Arlan Davine in our office has qualified as an Accredited Aged Care ProfessionalTM to ensure we have the skills and knowledge to give you good advice.
Call us today on (03) 5333 1105 to arrange an appointment to start your aged care planning.
® Aged Care Steps Pty Ltd
Getting Started in Aged Care Planning
- Initial meeting
- Explain all expected expenses of Aged Care
- Discuss what to expect on the Aged Care journey and how to navigate it
- We will give you an Aged Care roadmap to take home with you
- Estimate Centrelink pension implications
- Review options available for funding care fees
Building An Aged Care Plan
- Identification of ways to reduce ongoing Aged Care costs
- Recommendations around best approach for assets and income
- Personalised option for maximising Centrelink pensions
- Cash flow management plan
- Advice on existing investments
- Directions on how to implement the above
Implementing an Aged Care Plan
- Liaise with Aged Care providers
- We meet with Aged Care providers regularly so we can help streamline and potentially negotiate RAD/DAP costs on your behalf
- Liaise with Centrelink throughout the transition into Aged Care
- Liaise with Services Australia throughout the transition into Aged Care
- We will take the reins as much as possible to make the transition into Aged Care as smooth as possible
