Successful Financial Planning For Aged Care Living

Anne Bennett (not her actual name) is a valued existing client of our firm who has entered a new phase in her life as she has recently moved from her family home to an aged care facility.

Who, what, why?

At the age of 85, Anne has made this significant move, and her three adult children have taken on the role of managing her financial affairs.

Given this important transition, Anne’s sons have reached out to us for guidance and assistance. Their objective is to seek the optimal approach to overseeing their mother’s financial situation. The primary goal is to ensure that Anne’s aged care expenses are adequately funded for the foreseeable future. However, the family is also grappling with a more immediate funding challenge that requires careful consideration.

Bentleys Service: Financial Planning and Aged Care Funding Advice

Anne’s challenge:

Anne’s transition into aged care came with an array of complexities. She owns her home, however when she moved into aged care, she was not able to sell the family home to fund the move because one of her sons still lives there. The son was prepared to support his mother’s needs and move but needed time to find a new home. The other two sons had a conflicting view of the situation.

Due to the delay in selling her home, Anne’s children have been facing challenges in funding her retirement living using her available assets. In the past year, Anne experienced an income deficit of $21,000, consequently diminishing her retirement funds for the coming years.

How Bentleys have supported Anne

Understanding the complexity of Anne’s situation, our team, including a Certified Aged Care Senior Advisor, assessed her predicament. We recognised that Anne’s circumstances required a nuanced approach that balanced her immediate financial needs with her long-term well-being.

To address Anne’s challenge, we employed rigorous financial modelling and devised a strategy that would maximise her Centrelink benefits and minimise ongoing aged care-related costs. By adjusting and realising part of her investment portfolio, we aimed to improve her cash flow, thus affording her the time she needed while her son sought a new home.

We collaborated closely with Anne’s sons to ensure everyone was aligned with the plan’s goals and implications. Communication was pivotal in guiding them through this journey.

The outcome

Anne and her sons were delighted with the changes to her investments and the impact that had on the funds now available to Anne. By optimising Anne’s investment portfolio and leveraging our financial modeling expertise, we were able to enhance her available funds substantially. This strategic adjustment not only provided her with immediate relief but also paved the way for her future needs.

As there were some opposing views coming from family members on what’s best for Anne, our financial planner was able to present a very factual, objective view on what makes sense from an affordability standpoint. Advice, based on the numbers, often takes a lot of the emotion and conflict out of the decision-making process. By providing an unbiased assessment of her situation and taking into consideration Anne’s needs as well as her children’s challenges, we were able to come up with a solution that overcame her short-term funding deficit, enabled access to Centrelink benefits, and reduced her outgoing costs. This plan also gave her son two years to find a new home and the family were not having to contribute to their mother’s ongoing retirement costs. This holistic approach extended beyond short-term problem-solving. We carefully considered her legacy intentions, ensuring that her financial decisions aligned with her aspirations for her family’s future.

Importantly, our strategy allowed Anne’s son the necessary time to secure a new home without jeopardising her financial stability. The burden on her other children to contribute to her ongoing retirement costs was alleviated.

About our Financial Planning – Aged Care Services

Our McLean Delmo Bentleys Financial Services team has expertise to assist families with aged care funding decisions. Our advice is unbiased and based on rigorous financial analysis to maximise the funds available to cover retirement. We work with families to understand their position and help them navigate the complexities of the aged care system.