Helping ageing parents navigate their finances — while managing your own — is one of the most common and most emotionally complex challenges our clients face. We help families approach it with clarity and care.
Most people find themselves in the position of supporting ageing parents at some point in their forties or fifties — often at the same time as they're raising their own children, managing careers, and trying to focus on their own retirement savings. The financial complexity this creates is real, and it's compounded by the emotional weight of the situation.
Geoff works with families navigating all stages of this journey — from early conversations about parents' financial arrangements, through to aged care placement and estate administration. Understanding the financial landscape before decisions have to be made is always better than reacting under pressure.
Aged care in Australia has a complex fee structure that surprises most families. There are basic daily fees, means-tested care fees, accommodation payments (either a lump sum refundable deposit, a daily payment, or a combination), and various income and assets assessments that determine what your parents will pay.
The family home has a particular role in aged care means testing — whether it's included in the assets assessment depends on who is still living there, and decisions about selling or retaining the home during an aged care transition can have significant financial consequences.
Your parents' Age Pension entitlement depends on both income and assets — and events like selling the family home, receiving a gift, or moving into aged care can all change that entitlement. Understanding how decisions interact with Centrelink helps families plan around it without surprises.
We help navigate the Centrelink assessment process and ensure your parents understand what they're entitled to and how financial decisions affect that position.
If your parents don't have a current will and enduring power of attorney in place, now is the time to address it — while they have capacity to do so. An enduring power of attorney allows a trusted person to make financial and legal decisions on their behalf if they lose capacity. Without one, families face a far more difficult and expensive legal process.
We work alongside solicitors who can prepare these documents and ensure the financial planning and legal documentation are aligned.
Supporting ageing parents can have a real financial impact on adult children — through direct financial support, reduced working hours, or simply the mental bandwidth required to manage competing obligations. We help clients think through how to support their parents without derailing their own financial plans.
Talk to GeoffA straightforward conversation with Geoff could give you more clarity than years of going it alone. There's no obligation — just honest, practical advice from someone who's been doing this for over two decades.
