Aged Care – Family & Financial Decisions

Due to increasing life spans, more and more people spend longer in retirement and need to make decisions concerning spending their latter years in residential aged care.

Our Aged Care advice provides you and your family the opportunity to make the best decisions for your circumstaces, by considering both your initial and ongoing financial requirements, and the results assist you to prepare for negotiation and entry to Aged Care facilities. Often these decisions are made with the assistance of adult children and cover a range of considerations including Aged Care fees, taxation, Government assistance, ongoing cash flow, preservation of assets and estate planning thus requiring an informed and careful decision making process.

The decision making process is often triggered by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) recommendation for the appropriate level of care for an individual. Finding a suitable hostel or nursing home can be a daunting exercise for the individual, their spouse and/or family. Some of these issues include:-

Whether to keep the family home, and if so, who will continue to live there (spouse, family member, carer), or should it be sold or rented out?;
How does a decision about the family home impact upfront and ongoing fees?;
What level of ongoing care fees will be payable and strategies to minimise?;
Is an accommodation bond payable and should it be paid in full, instalments or a combination?;
Required ongoing cash flow?;
How will lump sums or ongoing cash flow be funded?;
Strategies to improve Centrelink benefits;
Strategies to minimise taxation;
Investment decisions for remaining assets including suitable risk and expected returns;
Estate planning arrangements for tax efficient and effective transfer of wealth.

The Government provides significant subsidies for Aged Care services but residents must also contribute via Accommodation Payments, Basic Daily fees, Means Tested fees and possibly Extra Service fees.

During the often traumatic circumstances of an urgent lifestyle change, the decision making process is often rushed and comparison of all the important financial alternatives are not properly processed. This results in decisions that don’t provide the best outcomes. Obtaining the right professional advice will help ensure that the financial affairs of the individual and their family, now and in the long term, are fully considered.

For more information or an obligation free appointment to discuss your families Aged Care options, please click here to contact-us.