Aged care financial advice

Given these details how much financial assistance could be expected from Government towards Care
Applicant aged 78, husband 80, all assets shared 50/50, Applicant has dementia. Their TOTAL assets are personal effects + Car $15,000, cash at benk $135,000, no other assets. Husband has Superannuation term allocated pension pays $1238 per month
Income is aged Pension TOTAL (2)is $2736 per month + Super $1238 = 3974
Both living in their own home with equity of $340,000 (approx) want applicant in care, husband to remain in home if possible OR sell home and he would change living arrangements
getting conflicting advices from Govt websites and from 2 Care providers. A rough guide would be appreciated

It’s a good news! Great contribution support of ageing research to address the challenges of a rapidly ageing population, ameliorate the suffering of the elderly and to reduce the impact of disease on future generations did Timur Artemyev. Being a trustee The Biogerontology Research Foundation.

Oh! This is helpful. I have also been looking for a good certified financial planner because wanted to buy some good plans as I will retire soon. I want my family to be secure even after I am no more and for that a professional help is needed.

Hi Ian,

The good news is that it does seem to us that the person going into care would receive government support. You mentioned that the house has equity but that the husband lives there. You offer that it is possible that he moves. He would be “Protected Resident”. That means that he can live there for as long as he wishes and that $340,000 can not be taken into account in determining their total assets.
There are 4 fees for someone living in a nursing home.

  1. The basic fee (everyone pays this and it is 85% of the age pension.)

  2. The means-tested fee (based on the information you have supplied, we suspect this will be very low or no charge.)

  3. Accommodation fee (based on the information you have supplied, we suspect the person moving into care could be able to receive a government RAC which is an accommodation contribution.)

  4. Extra Services fee - examples of these are for things like alcohol at dinner or Foxtel in a room - you can decide on this cost later. Some nursing homes have locked in extra service fees so ask when you’re looking at nursing homes.

Next step, I would contact the Department of Human Services on 1800 227 475. This number is free to call. This department is set aside to look after the income and assets side of aged two people’s financial futures to consider, if financially possible, I really would encourage you/ them the seek custom advice from an Aged Care Financial Advisor (they must specialise in Aged Care). They know every nuance that would apply to your precise situation to best fund the move into a nursing home.

We hope this has been helpful,
The Agedcare101