Aged Care Advice
Helping You Make Financial Decisions for Someone You Love
When a parent, partner or loved one needs to move into aged care, there is a lot to deal with.
You may be trying to find the right care, support your loved one emotionally and keep the rest of the family informed. Then suddenly you are also expected to make important financial decisions about the family home, aged care fees, Centrelink, investments and how to pay for it all.
It can feel overwhelming.
At Apex Financial Advice, we help families make sense of the financial side of aged care. We explain your options clearly, bring all the pieces together and help you make informed decisions with confidence.
So you can spend less time worrying about the numbers and more time looking after the person you love.
How Much Will Aged Care Cost?
This is usually one of the first questions families ask, and unfortunately, there isn’t one simple answer.
Aged care costs can depend on your loved one’s personal circumstances, income, assets and the accommodation they choose. Under the current residential aged care system, costs can include a basic daily fee, contributions towards everyday living and care, accommodation costs and optional additional services.
We help you understand what your loved one may need to pay, why they are paying it and how those costs can be funded.
How Should We Pay for the Accommodation?
Terms such as RAD and DAP can be confusing when you have never encountered them before.
Depending on your loved one’s circumstances, aged care accommodation may be funded through a lump sum payment, ongoing daily payments or a combination of both.
Rather than simply choosing the most obvious option, we look at the bigger picture, including available cash, investments, Centrelink entitlements, the family home and ongoing income needs.
Our aim is to find a solution that works for your loved one’s circumstances, not everybody else’s.
Should We Sell Mum or Dad’s Home?
For many families, this is the hardest financial decision.
The family home isn’t just an asset. It may hold a lifetime of memories.
There can also be important financial consequences to keeping, renting or selling the property, including the effect on cash flow, aged care costs, Centrelink and potentially tax. The right decision will depend on the person’s individual circumstances.
We can help you work through the options and understand the financial impact before you make a decision that may be difficult to undo.
How Will We Pay the Ongoing Care Costs?
Paying for the accommodation is only one part of the equation.
Your loved one also needs sufficient ongoing income and cash flow to meet their aged care fees and personal expenses.
We review:
- Pension and other income
- Bank accounts and term deposits
- Investments
- Superannuation and retirement income streams
- Property and rental income
- Age Pension or DVA entitlements
- Aged care fees
- Personal expenses
- Available capital
The objective is to develop a sustainable strategy that provides enough income to meet ongoing costs while making appropriate use of your loved one’s assets.
What Happens to the Age Pension?
Moving into aged care can change your loved one’s financial circumstances, and decisions about their home, investments and accommodation can also interact with their Centrelink position.
We look at their entire financial situation together, including:
- Age Pension or DVA entitlements
- The family home
- Superannuation and pensions
- Savings and investments
- Aged care fees
- Accommodation costs
- Ongoing income and expenses
This helps us build a strategy where all the pieces work together.
Will Their Money Last?
Once the immediate decision of moving into care has been made, another worry often follows:
“Will Mum or Dad have enough money for the rest of their life?”
This is where detailed cash-flow planning becomes important. We can assess expected aged care costs against income, Centrelink entitlements, investments, superannuation and other assets to determine how those costs can be funded over time.
Our focus is not simply on paying today’s aged care bill. It’s about helping your loved one feel financially secure and well cared for into the future.
What About Tax?
Selling investments or property, earning rental income and restructuring investments can potentially create tax considerations.
For example, decisions involving the former family home or investments may need to take into account capital gains tax, investment income and other taxation consequences.
We consider tax implications as part of the broader financial strategy.
What About Their Estate?
It is natural to wonder what aged care may mean for the assets your loved one has spent a lifetime building.
Their care and financial security always come first, but their wishes for their estate can still be considered as part of the bigger picture.
Where appropriate, we can work with your family’s solicitor or accountant to ensure financial decisions complement their broader estate planning and tax needs.
Questions We Can Help You Answer
You don’t need to understand the aged care system before coming to see us.
Families often come to us asking questions like:
- ?How much is aged care actually going to cost?
- ?Should we sell Mum or Dad’s home?
- ?What is a RAD and DAP, and which should we pay?
- ?Can we afford to keep the family home?
- ?Will moving into care affect the Age Pension?
- ?How should we use savings and investments to pay for care?
- ?Will Mum or Dad have enough money for the years ahead?
- ?What financial decisions should we make before they enter care?
You bring us the questions. We’ll help you make sense of the answers.
Getting Advice Early Can Make a Difference
A move into aged care doesn’t always happen gradually.
Sometimes a fall, illness or hospital stay means families have to make decisions much sooner than expected. Suddenly you are choosing a facility, completing paperwork and trying to understand significant financial commitments, all while worrying about someone you love.
You don’t have to navigate the financial side alone.
Getting advice before selling assets, making large accommodation payments or changing investments gives you an opportunity to understand the consequences of your decisions before you make them.
We’re Here to Help Your Family
Every family is different.
We’ll take the time to understand your loved one’s circumstances, explain their options in plain language and help put a financial strategy in place that supports their care and financial wellbeing.
Robert O'Reilly
Director and Financial AdviserBook An Appointment
If someone you love is considering or preparing to enter aged care, talk to our team before making major financial decisions.