Aged care reforms heightens need for advice: PWG
New aged care reforms are making the process of entering an aged care accommodation even more complex, a specialist in aged care advice claims.
Patrick Barry, general manager of Partners Wealth Group's Partners Retirement Planning and Investment Advisors, saidthe group had established a specialist division called Partners Aged Care Advice, to help reduce stress and financial risks associated with the new Living Longer, Living Better reforms,
Under the reforms, which came into effect on 1 July, a portion of the value of an individual's home and any lump sum paid in consideration of a room at an aged care facility has to be taken into account when assessing their co-contribution payment towards the cost of their care.
"Having a parent or close family member enter an aged care facility is traumatic enough as it is," he said.
"But having to navigate the financial arrangements involved with this transition can be enormously challenging.
"The Living Longer, Living Better aged care reforms… have made entry into aged care accommodation even more complex.
"Trying to interpret these changes whilst dealing with the emotion of placing a loved one into aged care can be very exhausting, opening up the opportunity for specialist advice not just to relieve the burden but to create the assurance that advice recipients are on the right path."
Barry said the change in emphasises highlighted the need for financial advice to help elderly Australians and their families to structure assets in the most effective manner, improve cash-flow while maximising Government benefits and minimising aged care fees.
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
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