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Aged Care Advice

Your ageing parents or other family members may need permanent care through a residential aged care solution. Can they afford it? How can you ensure a sustainable income for them to cover the costs? What are the best options? As an Aged Care Specialist, Ilya has the answers.

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Financial Planner Aged Care - happy elderly lady with a relative

Financial advice for those in or considering residential Aged Care

Work with us to:

    • Review and develop your financial strategy to fund the cost of residential Aged Care
    • Receive expert advice on in-home and residential care options
    • Understand how your Centrelink eligibility is going to be affected when moving into residential Care and receive advice on maximising social security entitlements
    • Receive advice on arranging assets and cashflow to ensure sustainable income to cover the costs while in Aged Care
    • Receive advice on reducing means-tested fees for residential Aged Care and Home Care package purposes
    • Receive trusted Aged Care advice to help you make financial decisions while you are busy arranging the best choice of care for your family member
 
Do your ageing parents or other family members qualify for social security or other government subsidy programs or benefits? Do you understand how their entitlements are going to be affected when transitioning into care? What are the best payment options considering your family member’s circumstances?

Is it possible to reduce means-tested fees and the amount of refundable accommodation deposit (RAD)? Will your loved one’s assets and any Centrelink entitlements produce enough income to cover the costs in Aged Care? How do you best manage their financial situation, along with conflicting opinions from family, which can cause an emotionally charged situation?

With Financial Balance Group’s personalised process and tailored expert advice, you can look forward to improving the value of the estate by spending less on care fees, and by bettering aged care pension entitlements, thus enhancing your Aged Care outcomes and leading to: 

    • A smooth transition for your family member into appropriate aged care
    • Easy undertaking of your loved one’s Centrelink Income and Asset Assessments
    • A flexible payment option, resulting in an affordable solution
    • Management of all related paperwork
    • The best outcome for your family member
    • The best outcome for the family and the estate
    • Reduced financial worry
    • Peace of mind for everyone

Success story

Linda is single and 86 years old. Her ability to take care of herself has declined, so her family found a residential care facility for her not far from home. Following the payment of the refundable accommodation deposit (RAD) of $395,000 to the care facility, the family then sought advice from Ilya on how to best manage Linda’s money moving forward.

Linda’s other assets included a term deposit of $450,000, about $10,000 in the bank, $5,000 in personal assets. She receives about $15,500 in a pension and had about $50 per week on personal expenses while in care.

After paying the RAD, Linda’s aged care fees amounted to approximately $33,500p/a (basic daily and means-tested fee combined), meaning her pension and investment income from a term deposit gave her a positive cash flow of $4,500 per annum (after paying approximately $4,000 in tax). This was a relatively good outcome for Linda, but more improvements could be found…

By carefully restructuring Linda’s assets, Ilya managed to:

  • – Increase total inflows by $4,000pa by using a specific investment suitable for aged care scenarios. The nature of this investment is guaranteed income and return of capital, which means no market risk and no investment value fluctuations.
  • – Retain Linda’s means-tested care fees despite an increase in income.
  • – Reduce Linda’s tax bill to Nil due to specific tax treatment of the new investment, whereby she no longer needs to lodge a tax return.
  • – Improve cashflow from $4,500 per annum to $12,500 per annum.

As a result of these improvements, the value of Linda’s estate increased by nearly $8,000 in year 1. With the average life in residential care around 3 years, incremental improvements in savings are leading to a compounded increase in the value of Linda’s estate by an estimated $17,000 over 3 years and $25,000 if Linda lives for 5 years.

This improved cashflow means Linda’s family can rest assured she will not run out of money while receiving high quality care, and her lifestyle can continue to be funded. Furthermore, the new investment was secured at a relatively high level of interest rates, which means Linda will not need to depend on the ever-changing term deposit rates.

Disclaimer: The above case study does not take into account your own personal and financial circumstances and should not be used as a basis for financial decisions. It is essential to seek advice tailored to your specific circumstances, so that your financial path can be navigated with precision and care.

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