{"id":1049,"date":"2022-09-08T03:50:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T03:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/villages.com.au\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2022-09-21T03:27:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T03:27:23","slug":"how-to-protect-your-pension-as-you-enter-retirement-or-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/money\/how-to-protect-your-pension-as-you-enter-retirement-or-care\/","title":{"rendered":"How to protect your pension as you enter retirement or care"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1049\" class=\"elementor elementor-1049\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-13395fd elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"13395fd\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-049dde7\" data-id=\"049dde7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-05c03a5 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"05c03a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>I<strong>t\u2019s natural as you prepare to move into retirement living or aged care to be concerned for your finances \u2013 and in particular, the Age Pension.<\/strong><\/p><p>You may be worried that, because of means testing, the lump sum you get from selling the family home to downsize to a retirement village unit will leave your pension slashed \u2013 or gone entirely.<\/p><p>Fortunately, planning your finances can be a bit easier nowadays, as many retirement village operators <strong>offer a choice of entry prices for homes<\/strong>, as well as the option to<strong> pay a larger amount upfront and a smaller amount when you leave<\/strong> so you can maximise your pension.<\/p><p>Be sure to ask for options when you find the retirement village home you want \u2013 and <strong>always get financial advice<\/strong> from a qualified professional. It\u2019s also wise to check regular village fees, such as for maintenance, so you don\u2019t get any nasty surprises; fortunately, most operators won\u2019t charge more than 30% of the pension in fees.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2>What about aged care?<\/h2><p>It\u2019s not unusual for older couples to have one person living in a residential aged care home, receiving the Age Pension or Disability Support Pension, while the other (who may have been receiving carer payments) needs to return to work to support themselves.<\/p><p>Unfortunately, while the <strong>pension would cover 85 per cent of aged care fees<\/strong>, the fact that their partner is now earning income may, again, reduce or even eliminate the payment. This means that the partner living at home would have to pay the aged care fees by themselves \u2013 and thus have even less to live on.<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1270\" src=\"http:\/\/www.getstaged.co\/site_1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/iStock-1383117081.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"273\" \/>If you find yourself in this situation, your first step should be to <strong>go to a financial planner<\/strong>, like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sydneyagedcarefinancialadvisers.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sydney Aged Care Financial Advisors<\/a><\/strong>, with extensive and specialised experience in aged care.<\/p><p>They can help you manage your finances, and possibly help you apply for the Government to recognise you as a couple <strong>\u201cliving separately and apart\u201d<\/strong>. This term, from the Aged Care Act, is used for a couple where one member is \u201cinstitutionalised due to a severe and debilitating condition\u201d, such as dementia.<\/p><p>You\u2019ll need to fill out a Mod S form, available from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.servicesaustralia.gov.au\/mod-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Services Australia<\/a><\/strong>, to get the ball rolling. While it isn\u2019t suitable for everyone, if this status is approved, your assets will be kept separate from your partner\u2019s \u2013 meaning the amount one of you earns won\u2019t affect the other\u2019s pension.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h2>Are there other payments available?<\/h2><p>If you\u2019re not eligible for the Age Pension or Disability Support Pension, there may still be Government support open to you. Services Australia\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.servicesaustralia.gov.au\/payment-and-service-finder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Payment and Service Finder Tool<\/a> <\/strong>can help you find payments or <strong>other support you may be eligible for<\/strong>, such as the Parenting Payment, Austudy, ABSTUDY, and the Pensioner Concession Card.<\/p><p>In addition, the Federal Government offers <strong>non-taxable, low-interest \u201creverse mortgages\u201d<\/strong> under its Home Equity Access Scheme. This scheme allows older Australians to unlock the equity in their homes and receive either lump-sum or fortnightly payments of up to 150 per cent of their maximum pension rate.<\/p><p>Making the big move into a village or an aged care home is a huge change \u2013 so<strong> plan ahead,<\/strong> and don\u2019t let your worries about the pension make it any more complicated than it needs to be.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moving into a retirement village or care home can be stressful enough without having to worry about your pension. Here are some tips for keeping your payments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[74,77,93,83],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-money","tag-aged-care","tag-financial-advice","tag-pension","tag-retirement-villages"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1049"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1273,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1049\/revisions\/1273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}