Can you afford the cost of senior living for your aging parent or a loved one? Can they make the transition to a senior living community without any financial help from you? If your loved one needs your help in some way, there’s a lot of factors you’ll need to take into consideration. Every senior living community is different. You’ll also need to consider your loved one’s personality, the location of the community, and the quality of care required by your loved one.
Even after you’ve figure out which community your loved one should settle into, the subsequent decisions that have to be made can be overwhelming. However, with a little bit of help, some planning, and senior living financing, you and your parent or loved one may no longer need to be worried or concerned about how the move is going to be made.
Planning Ahead
If it’s not already an emergency situation, start planning ahead as soon as possible for the kind of care your loved one will need in the future. You never know what’s coming: health crisis, accident, or just plain aging.
Talk about your loved one’s needs, visit and tour some possible senior living communities, get your finances in place, and have conversations with your loved one about what they would like to see happen in the future. As seamlessly as possible, the transition can be made with the right amount of planning – this is going to be emotional enough, and not having to rush into things can help make the transition a little easier.
Do Some Cost Comparisons for Senior Living
What’s the current budget for your aging relative? On expenses related to housing and more, how much are they spending? Check out the price of senior living communities and compare them. Remember that the cost of senior living often includes services (meals, socialization, housekeeping, laundry, etc.) that will no longer need to be covered by your loved one’s finances.
Help for Assisted Living Financing
All revenue sources should be looked at. This can include public benefits that may be available, income, and savings. Your loved one may not even realize it, but they may qualify for certain benefits such as Elder Lifeline of Credit, Veterans benefits, and more. There’s also long-term care insurance, tax-exempt family gifting, tapping into home equity and insurance policy sales.
Get Professional Advice
An elder law attorney, geriatric care manager, or financial advisor may be able to give you advice, help you save some money, and give your family peace of mind. A care manager may also be able to assist you in looking for public benefits that your loved one is eligible for, help create a plan, or find you a trustworthy elder law attorney.
Ensure that you speak to your team of advisors – care manager, financial advisor, and lawyer – before selling a life insurance policy or tapping into a home equity. For the back end, a little bit of investment in the front end can be of assistance.
