When planning your finances for aged care, there are many aspects to consider such as pensions, superannuation, and retirement planning.
So, it’s beneficial to seek independent financial advice before deciding how to pay for your aged care.
Knowing where to start can be confusing, but there is help available. There are organisations, services, and tools that can offer guidance and support.
Organisations that can help
Professional services that can help
Tools and information
Identifying and reporting scams
Organisations that can help
There are a number of organisations that offer free services that can inform you about things like how to build savings, how to prepare for retirement, and what options you have with your pension.
Services Australia
Services Australia’s Aged Care Specialist Officers (ACSOs) and Financial Information Service (FIS) provide free services to help you make informed decisions about investment and financial issues for your current and future needs. ACSOs can also help you with aged care information.
Services Australia’s ACSOs and FIS officers are not financial planners and do not give or sell advice or investment products.
Information on key financial topics
- How to build savings
- Age pension and planning your retirement
- Payments for older Australians
- Home Equity Access Scheme
- Payments for people living with an illness, injury or disability
- Health care and ageing
- Death and bereavement
MoneySmart
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s MoneySmart website provides information, hints, tips and tools to help you manage your money. It’s a one-stop-shop to get fast answers to your money questions. Apart from information and seminars, it offers financial calculators and resources to help you:
- create budgets and saving plans
- find out how much superannuation you are likely to have when you retire
- understand your sources of income for retirement.
Information on key financial topics
National Debt Helpline
The National Debt Helpline is a not-for-profit service that helps people in Australia tackle their debt problems. Their free financial counsellors can help you get back on track.
Professional services that can help
The MoneySmart website has some valuable resources to help you manage your money, and it can also direct you to professional services like financial advisers, counsellors, and legal advice.
Financial advisers
Financial advisers can help with retirement planning, wealth management, savings planning, superannuation, and portfolio administration. They can also give advice on managed funds and other financial products.
It’s important to choose the right financial adviser for your situation. The MoneySmart website has information on how to choose the best financial adviser for your needs.
Helpful links on seeking financial advice
Financial counsellors
If you’re having money problems, you can get help from a free and confidential financial counsellor. A financial counsellor can help you:
- negotiate with your creditors if you have debts
- organise your finances, and
- create a budget.
Community organisations are funded to provide these services across Australia. Find a financial counsellor near you using the MoneySmart website.
Free legal advice
If you are in debt and have legal problems, you may not be able to afford a private solicitor. However, community legal centres and Legal Aid agencies offer free legal advice. Find out more about free legal advice on the MoneySmart website.
Tools and information
There are many tools available to help you with different aspects of your finances, such as:
Budgeting and saving
- How to do a budget
Find out why and how to do a budget.
- Budget planner
Find out where your money is going.
- How to build savings
Find out how to build your savings.
- Savings goals calculator
Find out how long it will take to reach your savings goals.
Superannuation and retirement planning
- Superannuation calculator
Find out how much super you’ll have when you retire.
- Retirement planner
Find out what income you are likely to have from super and the age pension when you retire.
- Income sources in retirement
Find out about the different sources of income in retirement.
Unclaimed money
- Find lost super
Find out if you have lost superannuation that you can consolidate.
- Find unclaimed money
Find out if you have unclaimed money in lost shares, bank accounts, or life insurances.
Borrowing and credit
- Reverse mortgage calculator
Find out how much your debt will increase over time if you take out a reverse mortgage.
- Home Equity Access Scheme
The Home Equity Access Scheme is a voluntary reverse equity mortgage through Services Australia that offers older people a fortnightly income stream to supplement their retirement income. The payments may be made:- for a short period while your income and assets are being rearranged, or
- for an indefinite period.
Financial Information Service officers can give you information about the Home Equity Access Scheme.
Payment and service eligibility
- Payment and Service Finder
Find out what payments and services you may be eligible for.
- International Services
If you get the age pension and you’ve lived outside Australia before, you may be able to claim a pension from another country. Services Australia's International Services can help you get Australian social security payments while you’re overseas and help you claim a foreign pension.
Bill payment and debt management
- Centrepay
A free and voluntary service to pay bills and expenses as regular deductions from your Centrelink payments.
- Rent Deduction Scheme
A service you can use to pay your public housing rent straight from your Centrelink payments.
Identifying and reporting scams
It is important to be careful of scams. Some scammers can target older people by pretending to be aged care providers, government services, banks or credit card providers that you trust.
Identify and avoid scams
There are ways you can protect yourself against scams:
Know what to look for
Always stop and check before:
- clicking on links or attachments in emails and text messages
- sharing personal details
- transferring money.
Go directly to information you can trust
If you are not sure, call using contact details you’ve found yourself, such as from official websites. Before you transfer money, you should confirm you have the correct account details directly, ideally over the phone.
Check what the official source says
Most aged care providers, government agencies and companies will tell you what they will and will not ask you online or over the phone.
More information:
- Be Connected
Be Connected provides free online learning to build digital skills, confidence and safety online.
- eSafety Commissioner (eSafety)
eSafety is a government agency to help keep people safer online. The eSafety website has a range of resources on staying safe online.
- ScamWatch
The National Anti-Scam Centre has guidance on types of scams and help to spot and avoid scams.
Report a scam
If you have identified a scam, you should report it on the ScamWatch website. ScamWatch collects information about scams to help warn others and to take action to stop scams.
It's also a good idea to make a report on the Australian Cyber Security Centre website.
What to do if you have been scammed
If you believe you have been scammed, there are things you should do straight away to limit the damage and protect yourself from further loss.
It is important to act quickly if something feels wrong:
- Call 000 if you are in immediate danger.
- Contact your bank or credit card provider to stop the transaction.
- Report the scam to your local police, ScamWatch and the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
More information:
- ScamWatch
The ScamWatch website has a step-by-step guide on what to do if you've been scammed.
- Australian Cyber Security Centre
If you have been scammed, you can report it to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. You can also call their hotline on 1300 292 371.
- IDCARE
IDCARE is a free service to help you recover from a scam. They can help you make a plan to limit the damage to your cyber security and risk to your identity. You can call 1800 595 160 or visit the IDCARE website.
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority
If you are not happy with how your bank has responded to your situation, you can make a complaint. You can call 1800 931 678 or visit the Australian Financial Complaints Authority website.