Volume 8 Edition 4 Financial Care Services Newsletter
Online at :Permalink: https://financialcareservices.com.au/vol-8-ed-4/
Financial Care Services Newsletter by Christine Hopper
Independent aged care and retirement lifestyle advice for seniors
Volume 8 Edition 4 – 30 April 2018
Ordering your personal financial world long before you are old
My father frequently reminded his children that “You will be old yourself one day”.
Perhaps I will live to be ‘old’ but I hope never to be too old to think clearly.
We all hope never to be so frail as to need help managing our basic banking. Alas there is a chance that we could become physically frail or have so little vision that we can no longer read the paper bills or touch the screen firmly.
Here are Christine’s tips for ordering your personal financial world long before you are old. Well ordered financial records smooth the paperwork challenges of getting older and possibly being in need of residential aged care.
Step 1 Power of Attorney
An enduring Power of Attorney allows your appointee to make financial decisions for you when you are no longer competent to manage your own money. You do not need to be ‘old’ to have a stroke or be severely injured in a motor vehicle accident.
You can appoint as your Attorney your partner, another family member or someone outside of your family such as your solicitor. Beware of potential conflicts of interest such as appointing as Attorney someone who lives rent free in your home.
If you have not granted a Power of Attorney before you get frail then your family or friends must apply to VCAT Guardianship List for an Administrator to be appointed.
Your Administrator must manage your assets and income to provide for your living expenses. They would be allowed to sell your former home to pay for your aged care.
Your Administrator must keep proper accounts re your finances, and submit your financial reports to VCAT.
Action point: Every adult could appoint an Enduring Power of Attorney whilst still mentally competent to make decisions. Have a lawyer draft your Enduring Power of Attorney document and witness your signing.
Step 2 Review Your Will
Your Will sets out how you want your assets distributed after you die. Your Will needs to allow for the possibility of your home being sold to finance your aged care.
Reconsider Wills that specifically bequeath particular assets to individuals.
Do you still own that antique collection that is bequeathed to Sue as her share of your estate?
Would selling the house to pay for your residential aged care change the value allocation between beneficiaries?
Therefore avoid leaving the house to one child and the other assets to be shared among all of your children. Similarly avoid allowing one child or your latest partner, to live in the house rent free for the remainder of their lives.
Action point: Review your Will every five years and whenever your situation changes significantly. Have a lawyer draft your new Will and arrange for independent witnesses. Let your family know where to find your Will.
Step 3 Actively arrange your financial paperwork ready for your Attorney or your executor, to administer your financial matters.
This step sounds mundane and ‘unnecessary’ but it could save your family and your Attorney and later your executors, many days of frustration and disrespectful thoughts about you.
Set up a paper file for your assets, debts and regular bills.
Yes, real old fashioned, paper and ink records that your Attorney could easily find and read.
• Start with a listing of your bank accounts, shareholdings and any other financial assets; include in your file a recent paper copy statement for each bank account, term deposit or shareholding.
• Another section is needed for your superannuation and managed fund investments; include in your file the last annual statement for each account. If you only receive your Statements electronically then print off a paper copy and place it in your paper file.
• Then you need a section for regular household expenses such as electricity, Municipal Council Rates and Council Animal Registration, home and contents insurance, motor vehicle registration and insurance plus your telephone and internet service bills. Once again print off a copy of an Invoice at least once each year and place the paper copy in your folder.
• Another section in your folder could hold a copy of each contract or subscription for regular services or entertainments. Yes, you need the contract for the lawn mowing man and the bowls club annual renewal notice.
• Finally place copies of recent letters from ATO and Centrelink or DVA. Your Attorney needs your Client Reference Number to update Centrelink about your Age Pension and then to start your aged care entry paperwork challenge.
Maybe you keep all of these financial matters nicely recorded on your computer. But would your Attorney and/or your executor know how to access your computer and your email account. Where have you recorded the password for your personal financial spreadsheets?
In Christine’s experience, even the most highly efficient money managers can have medical incidents that render them incapable of using a mobile phone or accessing computer files. To date an adult daughter or grandson, has always found a way to download the essential financial records from Pa’s computer to start the aged care entry process at Centrelink.
Step 4 have an ACAS assessment by the Aged Care Assessment Service if a senior looks frail or has memory challenges.
If you admit that you or your partner or another family member, is really slowing down then you might also need to admit that aged care might become necessary sometime in the future.
‘Home care’ could be an option for seniors who just need a little help with housework and some discreet help with their personal care. Then there is residential aged care for people who can no longer live safely at home even with support services. Some aged care entrants are so physically frail as to be unable to move round safely. Others are so mentally unreliable as to be danger to themselves and possibly others. There is no shame in entering residential aged care.
Your “ACAS” certificate lets you join the queue for Commonwealth subsidized aged care. You might be eligible for a ‘home care package’ and/or residential aged care. Only an ACAS for respite/restorative care and/or permanent residential aged care could your permit to enter Commonwealth subsidized residential aged care.
Currently Melbourne appears to have more residential aged care places than seniors wanting permanent care just now. In contrast, some other cities have very low vacancy rates. Similarly the lower level of ‘home care’ packages might be readily available but access to the more substantial ‘home care’ packages might not be immediate.
You are not required to actually enter residential aged care just because your ACAS allows you.
Action points for the family of a slowing senior:
(1) Ask their local doctor to start the ACAS process
(2) Locate their Power of Attorney document and be ready to assist with financial and Centrelink matters
Remember if there is no Power of Attorney then the family or friends would need to apply to the VCAT Guardianship List. You cannot sign for someone else just because you are their ‘domestic partner’.
Christine at Financial Care Services can guide you through the financial wonders of aged care entry and dealing with Centrelink but only if you hold the Power of Attorney or VCAT have appointed you as Administrator.
To make an appointment for confidential, independent and professional advice about aged care costs and Centrelink issues please contact Christine Hopper or call +61 3 9808 0338.
Step 5 Get help with understanding your aged care costs before signing the Resident Agreement
Commonwealth regulated aged care costs include accommodation costs, basic daily fees for housekeeping, and means tested fees for nursing care and personal support. Thus the cost of living in residential aged care is substantial. The aged care facility must be paid in full each month because they must pay their staff and suppliers every month too.
Only the Accommodation Room Price is negotiable but the family need to ask for a reduction on the advertised price at the first meeting. Families arranging permanent entry are advised to read the Resident Agreement and check for additional charges before signing in to Residential Aged Care.
A consultation with Christine at Financial Care Services helps you understand the full costs of residential aged care. Contact Christine for the Aged Care Checklist and Financial Services Guide before you commit to an aged care placement. Switching aged care facilities later is not easy.
Remember that once the Attorney or Administrator, has signed the Resident Agreement it might be too late to negotiate the Accommodation Room Price or object to any ‘additional charges’.
Financial Care Services your independent aged care adviser
Financial Care Services is an independent advisory service specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants. Our core values of working with clients in their lifetime planning supports claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.
Financial Care Services charges fees based on the work involved in advising you about pensions and aged care fee solutions.
To make an appointment for confidential, independent and professional advice about aged care, retirement lifestyle or Age Pension issues please contact Christine Hopper or call +61 3 9808 0338.
To arrange an appointment for further confidential, independent and professional advice about DVA, Centrelink, lifestyle or Pension issues please contact Christine Hopper 03 9808 0338.
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Christine Hopper
Financial Care Services Pty Ltd
Independent aged care, lifestyle and financial advice for seniors in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Australian Financial Services Licence Number
299570 (check this at www.search.asic.gov.au/fsr/flb.html)
Authorised Representative Number 252529 (check this at www.search.asic.gov.au/fsr/far.html)
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Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not constitute “financial advice”. You should obtain your own personal financial advice before investing any money or moving in to any retirement village, lifestyle community or aged care facility. Financial Care Services is licensed to provide financial advice to individual clients based on their personal situations.
All eligibility for Commonwealth benefits will be determined by Centrelink or DVA, based on your personal position as documented and the legislation and Regulations in force at that time.
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