Aged Care – are you prepared?

No one likes to talk about getting old, but when you or a family member needs help, there’s no getting around it. This year, I experienced the challenges myself as my dad needed to move into aged care with little warning and it was incredibly challenging to navigate the rules, let alone the emotions!. We now offer aged care advice to our clients and their families.

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 decline in capabilities.

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’ve still got capacity, and you’re not in panic mode.

Or, if you’re lucky enough to still have your parents, starting the conversation while they are healthy is definitely sensible. They might not be thrilled that you’re raising the subject, but it gives an opportunity to find out what is important to them when choices need to be made.

Don’t accidentally fall into these aged care 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 ahead is vital.

How to find help when it comes to 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.

However, not all advice is good advice. Aged care financial advice is a specialist area. The rules change constantly, as do the available strategies. And like all areas of advice, aged care needs to be tailored to your (and in come cases your families) personal circumstances.

Feel free to contact us to find out more.

General Advice Warning - This communication has been prepared on a general advice basis only. The information has not been prepared to take into account your specific objectives, needs and financial situation. The information may not be appropriate to your individual needs and you should seek advice from your financial or tax adviser before making any investment decisions.