Rachel Lane is author of the best-selling book Aged Care, Who Cares? and Downsizing Made Simple with fellow finance expert Noel Whittaker.
When a parent moves into residential aged care, it’s common for adult children to want to help out financially. But they should think twice.
Senior Australians have been waiting for a change in policy to help them access the care they need. The federal budget will take them halfway there.
Increasingly, spouses are stepping in to fund aged care costs. But what starts as an act of generosity can become a financial and emotional minefield.
The reality is this: if you want to stay at home, you need to plan not just for the cost of the care you will receive, but also for the care you won’t.
For many couples, paying for aged care becomes a one-sided sacrifice, one which can see one member pushed to the financial edge.
What might appear as a small technical issue is costing some aged care residents thousands of dollars.
The means assessment test for aged care is not compulsory, and for some, you’d be better off not filling it in at all.
Aged care has become a masterclass in overpromising and underdelivering – while quietly saving the federal budget billions of dollars.
Shrinkflation has started to hit most products on our supermarket shelves – and now it’s coming for our aged care.
While we baulk at the price of a luxury car, for many Australians, the most expensive purchase they will ever make isn’t a Ferrari – it’s aged care.