Wealth Connexions unpacks our top 4 ways to prepare for your growing residential aged care fees.
When you imagine retirement, you think about travelling around Australia, relaxed mornings and sunning by the beach with the ones you love. The first thing that pops into your mind shouldn’t be about how you’re going to manage the expenses of aged care living. Whether you’re managing your aged care fees by yourself, with loved ones or with expert aged care financial advisors, Wealth Connexions has got you covered with our top four ways to prepare for residential aged care fees. Before we dive in and thoroughly explain our recommendations, it’s important to note that each individual retiree’s health or financial situation can impact how much is charged for your accommodation and care. It’s incredibly important to outline these aged care financial planning strategies so that you or your loved ones are better prepared.
Have an Understanding of Your Specific Costs
We know this may seem obvious, but it’s absolutely crucial that each person who is considering aged care living weighs up the potential costs in order to better prepare themselves. While some things may be in the unknown, you can better prepare yourself by having a rough idea of what may be expected. This will also allow you to have a good basis to go by. By calculating your costs, you may also consider the maximum amount you may be prepared to spend. There are some good fee calculators online which will give you the starting point you need to better understand the basic daily fees, accommodation payments, income-tested fees and means-tested fees. While you may not know the amount of care you could receive while living in aged care, it’s important to consider the costs of this also. By considering all of this information, you or your loved one will have a better understanding of the costs of aged care living and how you may need to prepare your finances to accommodate these costs.
Plan Your Retirement
Whether you’re in the midst of enjoying your retirement or you’re only just beginning to think about retiring from your career, this is a must-do step to ensure your aged care financial planning strategies will support you to their fullest in the future. By planning out your retirement, you’re able to better acknowledge where you sit financially and what the next few years may look like if you need to move into aged care living. This will give you some options on how you may need to pay for aged care living beside your superannuation. What most retirees do, when looking for additional finances to pay for their accommodation costs is to sell their residential home. This is disputed regularly about whether this is an ideal option, though it is ultimately down to whether each individual person has the finances to pay for the fees aged care living may throw your way.
Explore Local Aged Care Options
Like any supplier, aged care fees are completely different, which could depend on their facilities, location and the services that they offer. To better plan yourself out and find the best option for you, exploring the fees and options available to you is a great start. It’s important that you find the right aged care home for you while acknowledging the fees of each one. While exploring your options, be sure to conduct lots of research and ask any questions you may have. It’s important to weigh up every possibility before making your decision.
Seeking Additional Advice
If you feel overwhelmed or confused by these options, our next recommendation would be to seek out a financial advisor. Financial advisors will dissect your unique financial situation and will provide you with recommendations that suit your particular situation. They will be able to supply you with aged care financial planning strategies, which will better prepare you for the costs of aged care living. Financial advisors will also be able to resolve any confusion you may have by supplying you with expert responses to your questions. By going the financial advisor route, you can rest easy knowing you made the best possible decisions for yourself or your loved ones. If you feel that financial advisors are the best option for you, please contact Wealth Connexions on 07 3891 5666 or email us at admin@wealthconnexion.com.au and we’d be more than happy to support you.
