There are many different options to consider, so let’s look are some of them:

Staying at home

Many people like the option of being able to stay at home, some stubbornly so. The familiarity, comfort, security and sense of independence are all things which understandably offer great appeal, much more so than an aged care agency. if this is part of your plan, the great news is that there are many different options to support you in being able to stay at home for as long as possible.

Government calculations show that it is cheaper to offer and provide in-home aged care services than to have you move into a higher level of care with permanent professional assistance, so no one is forcing you out of your home.

Various types of assistance are available, some are offered free of charge, some at heavily subsidised rates, and there are always paid personal assistance options. This can also be psychologically far less stressful than considering moving an elderly relative into one of the many aged care services Melbourne has to offer.

Many councils, aged care agency entities, and other government agencies offer in home assistance – whether it be meals-on-wheels, or assistance with cleaning tasks. These are complimented by many religious institutions and community groups willing to help those in need.

There are also some great aged care service agencies who can arrange personal careers such as nurses, facilitate drivers to attend doctor appointments etc, domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning, shopping and washing. This paid outsource solutions can work very well as you know you are dealing with professionals, tailored to assist elderly and frail patients, who have ready solutions to accommodate changing needs. Whilst coming at a cost, it’s a great option for relatives too, who may not live nearby, or lead busy schedules and cannot afford the time away from work, or may not have the necessary skills or health to be able to assist their family.

And of course there is always family/friend assistance. Generally children assisting their parents, but it can also be other family members such as siblings and grandchildren etc. There are also many friendly neighbours who have become close friends over the lifetime of living next door to each other.

If you are considering involving an agency, it is important to select an agency that meets not only the needs of the individual, but also your requirements.

Retirement Villages

Whilst not for everyone, retirement villages have come a long way. Often seen as a place to co-habitat with other older downsizing residents, the types of facilities and their features are very diverse. To avoid the clichés of Retirement Villages, many call themselves independent living units or lifestyle units. Melbourne has many of these facilities located all over, some of which are in our own backyard, near our offices in Ivanhoe.

Many places restrict entry to over 55’s, which by current standards is anything but old. Whilst you may still be working full/part time, the option of downsizing and living a more simple life without all the maintenance headaches does have appeal. A community feel, with group activities and functions, combined with a communal meeting venue or clubhouse as the often have, gives residence instant opportunities to try new things and meet new people.

In most facilities, you do not own the home or room, but instead buy a right to occupy licence. Prices vary drastically depending on location, services offered, demand, size, features and quality of the building. Amounts in excess of $400,000 are certainly common.

And when it comes to the finances, reading the fine print is super critical. Almost always there will be a deferred management fee (or other names meaning the same thing) which is a fee paid when you leave the facility and the property is re-sold to the next occupant.

The amount of the fee is determined by the length of occupancy, and often hits a maximum fee of about 30% around year 10 – ie 3%pa with a 10 year maximum. There can also be marketing and agent fees deducted at the time of sale, along with any make good requirements such as painting and carpet.
So forget the thought of being able to sell your retirement village property for a profit down the track, as all these fees add up to be virtually the same as the original purchase price – so you get your money back roughly.

Assisted Living Units

Very similar to retirement villages, and often within the same facility, the managers will provide residents access to some additional services above what an independent living offers. Perhaps it might have on-site nurses who can attend if required to administer medication etc. They may have a communal dining room to avoid the need to cooking either on a permanent or when you feel like it basis. They might arrange for a bulk billing doctor to attend the facility once a week for scheduled checkups etc.

These extra services are usually on a user pays basis, so if you need it, they are always available, but just at a cost.

Aged Care Hostels & Nursing Homes

There are a lot of confusing and similar sounding terms when it comes to hostels and nursing homes, so for simplicity, we will use laymen’s language to give you some basic ins and outs, but the team at GNS Group are happy to run through some more specifics with you and your family to understand your situation and guide you through the maze of options. Simply book an appointment at our Ivanhoe offices with one of our friendly, expert staff.

Aged Care Hostels are for people requiring low levels of personal care. With permanent on-site nurse and attendant care to assist where and when required for things such as eating, mobility, bathing, toileting, dressing, administering medication etc.

They are secure facilities, as some of the residents may be suffering from dementia related conditions, so the residents are not able to freely leave, unless accompanied by family or friends and arranged with management.

Nursing homes are for people with higher levels of personal care needs. Without being able to eat, move, bath, dress yourself or go to the toilet, permanent and frequent nurse and attendant care is essential.
They are secure facilities, and the residents typically do not leave the facility as family may not have the requisite levels of care or training to be able to assist such a high degree of needs.

24hour care such as this does come at a cost, and for those residents in receipt of the government age pension, most of this is paid to the facility manager for their care. Depending on what other assets or income sources you have, an entry fee may be required (which is largely refunded upon leaving).

We have seen some deceased Estates administered in an orderly fashion, with effective Tax Strategies, and Centrelink benefits.

On the flipside, there have been some real nightmare ones where a lack of proper advice from a Solicitor and our input from a tax perspective, have led to some unfortunate and costly outcomes

Some important reasons to address your Estate Planning:

• If you die without a Will, an Administrator will distribute your assets in accordance with a Government Formula. It’s your money, you should decide who get is, not the Government.
• Any assets in joint names will pass directly to the survivor and bypass your Will. This can work both for and against your wishes without consideration from your Solicitor.
• Most people think of assets as being their house, bank account, shares, and Super. But Super is generally not an Estate Asset. It is up to the Trustee (Manager) of your Super Fund to work out who to give your Super balance to.
• A Binding Death Nomination will direct the Trustee in how to pay out your Super and any Life Insurance inside your Super Fund. It is very important to make a valid Binding Death Nomination which reflects your wishes. And unlike a will, there are restrictions on who you can nominate as your Super Fund Beneficiary. Generally you can only nominate your spouse, a child or your Estate (commonly referred to as your “Legal Personal Representative LPR”). There are some other options, but leaving your Super to your parents or sister/brother is not always a valid nomination.
• Power of Attorney documents are really important, but not often addressed. They can be issued for a specific purpose (such as while you are overseas on holiday) and they can be enduring (last through until revoked or death).
• There are three main power of Attorney documents Financial: Able to deal with decisions regarding Bank Accounts, Property, Investments and Super.
  Medical: Able to decide what treatment is to be administered.
  Guardian: Able to decide where you will reside i.e. rehabilitation centre or aged care facility.

It is generally advisable to address all 3 Power of Attorney documents at the time of preparing a Will.

A Solicitor will be able to appropriately advise on how to best address your Estate Planning needs. We recommend a joint meeting with ourselves and your Solicitor to make sure there are no adverse tax implications.

5. Shares
Most of us have shares either owned directly or as part of our super funds. Being a shareholder means you are a part owner of a business, and as a result you share in the profitability of the company. If the business suffers a loss or even a expectation of a lower profit, then your shares can decline in value and can even become worthless should he company enter bankruptcy.

It is for this reason that shares are the most volatile form of investing, but history tells us that over the longer term, share based investments perform very well.

The trade off between risk and return is something that the team at GNS Group spend considerable time discussing with clients, and should only be considered for long term investments.

Shares will also pay out some of its profits as dividends. Profits earned in Australia will have been subject to company tax at 30%, and this 30% tax can be passed on to shareholders as an Imputation Credit or a Franking Credit, this is done to avoid double taxation.
The Financial Advisers at GNS Group can assist you with both share recommendations and placing the trades for you. As a trusted consultant, this is what we do regularly for our clients.

6. Managed Funds
These are a great way to increase diversification, by pooling your money with many other investors to access investments and markets that cannot be easily and cheaply obtained directly.

Whether it be to start off with a small balance, or to get exposure to a particular type of investment, Managed Funds play a role in most people’s investment portfolio.

Besides choosing the asset class – ie (Aust/International) shares, property (Aust/International), Fixed interest (Aust/Int), cash, commodities, infrastructure etc, it’s also important to consider the style of fund manager – Growth, value, income, active, passive etc. Each have their role to play and this is where a GNS Group Financial Adviser can add real value. We will understand what your goals are and how best to reach those goals through appropriate investing.

Selecting the right consultant to help you on your investment journey can be a challenge. We pride ourselves on our ethics and knowledge and always like to meet face-to-face with our clients (if they are based in Melbourne) in our Ivanhoe offices. However, if you are located interstate, a phone call to discuss your requirements is perfectly fine.

So how much is enough?

This is where working with GNS Group can make the process so much easier. GNS can cut through the fine print of different policies to make sure you get what you pay for, understand what is important to you, compare different policies and features and in most cases, there is no requirement to do a medical.

It is also important to understand the best way of owning your policy and funding the premium costs.

Should it be inside super or non super, what about your business paying the cost of the insurance? It is not just an issue around cashflow and who is paying the cost, but also tax needs to be taken into account as you might see a big chunk of your Life insurance payout heading to the ATO rather than your desired beneficiaries. This is where the GNS team can help to explain all of the different options and recommend the most suitable course of action for you and your family.

The 5 most common things you could consider salary sacrifice for include:

• Extra Superannuation
• Cars
• Entertainment and meals
• Phone/Internet
• Computers and laptops

So why would you even consider salary sacrifice? TO SAVE TAX!

How much tax you save depends on 3 things:

• How much you earn
• What expenses you package up
• Who you work for

Let’s look at these reasons a bit further.

1. How much you earn – Being able to get your taxable income down on the face of it sounds like a good thing. But this only really helps if you are able to get a concession or can eliminate having to pay Fringe Benefits Tax. It is this where the distinction between salary Sacrifice and Fringe Benefits Tax makes a difference. You see, the actual Tax in Fringe Benefits Tax is levied at the highest marginal tax rate.

So unless you are on the top tax rate (above $180k) you really don’t want to forgo you lower taxed wages in order to cop FBT at a higher rate.

2. so if you want avoid actually paying FBT, but are still open to the idea of Salary Sacrifice then you need to consider what types of expenses you package up:

• Extra Super is generally taxed at 15%, so you can really save some tax by putting away some extra money for retirement.
• Portable Electronic devices that you can predominately use for work purposes – e.g. laptop, iPad, phone etc. – are exempt from FBT if you can demonstrate their use for work purposes.
• Any other expenses which could ordinarily be used for work purposes e.g. brief case, Qantas Club Membership, Internet, study courses etc.
• Cars have their own special rules, and depending on the type of car, its value, how many km’s you travel each year, how many km’s are for work purposes etc. will determine the wide range of benefits.

These 4 key areas often give employees the most advantages but it really does depend on individual circumstances. Talking to a GNS Accountant will help to maximise your benefits.

3. The final piece of the FBT puzzle is who you work for. Most private companies don’t really want the paperwork headache of allowing their employees to package any expenses. It’s for these reasons that extra Super and cars may be all they are prepared to offer.

But besides private companies, special rules apply if you work for a charity or a public hospital (public benevolent institutions). The Government allows very generous FBT concessions and exemptions to workers in these types of organisations, which can save thousands of dollars in tax each year.

These benefits will often see employees package up rent/mortgage payments, credit cards, private health insurance, private school fees, holidays, meals/restaurants etc.

As you can imagine, being able to get those types of expenses paid before tax is a big advantage and it’s vital that you get professional advice from a GNS Group Accountant to make sure you maximise your FBT Concessions.

Whether you are an aggressive or conservative investor, there is a range of investment options to choose from.

Australian Shares, International Shares, Australia and Global Property Infrastructure, Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Bonds, Term Deposits, Cash. Knowing the right blend for your situation is what we do.

And it is ultimately the returns of each of these individual investments which generate your annual performance returns, not super itself.

Besides choosing the right asset mix, there are hundreds of Australian Shares to invest in, which ones should you go with and why?

That is where a GNS Group Financial Adviser can help. Using proven strategies and research through our affiliation with Count Financial, we are ideally placed to construct a cost effective portfolio to deliver you with appropriate returns commensurate with your risk profile.

Give us a call today and allow us to understand how we can help you and your super grow.

Either way, it’s important to make sure a few basics are followed to maximise your return:

• Keep everything (original or soft copy) throughout the year that could potentially be claimed (we have checklists to help)
• Try to summarise all of the documents and records, it will make our life easier & your accounting fees cheaper!
• Book an appointment at our Ivanhoe office and talk to your GNS accountant about what might have changed in your world over the past 12 months (there might be extra things you can claim)
• Ask questions about what might have changed with tax legislation affecting your claims
• Provide GNS with your current contact details; perhaps you have moved from Melbourne to rural Victoria, or interstate, or visa versa. (in case there are some queries)
• Let us know your bank account details for an Electronic Deposit of your refund
• Book a face to face appointment (if you are based in Melbourne) or a phone based consultation (to cover all of the above)

There are three key areas on a tax return – Income, Deductions, Rebates & Offsets.

Income

This could include things such as your salary, bank interest, capital gains, rent received, dividends or managed funds etc.

Deductions

This could include things such as your car or travel costs, union or subscription fees, rental property expenses,  Interest on investment loans, Income Protection Insurance, home office costs etc.

Rebates & Offsets

These are generally things which entitle you to a tax credit, and can include Private Health Insurance, Out of pocket medical expenses, credit for foreign income tax paid etc.

If you would like more information on what you might be able to claim, talk to one of our accountants today – we’d love to be able to help you.

Not only clearing your debts (home loan, credit cards, and business loans) but also seeking the best available medical treatment become big priorities. And this is where Total and Permanent Disability Insurance can take the financial headaches away and allow you to focus on adjusting to your latest medical impediments.

You have to remember that getting a lump sum payment from Total and Permanent Disability Insurance means a life changing diagnosis has been made; it’s not just a broken arm!

Things such as Quadriplegia, paraplegia, Multiple Sclerosis and Motor Neuron Disease. Medical conditions which there is no recovery from – Its Total and also Permanent.

As you can imagine, the cost of modifications to your home, perhaps even changing homes, might be required depending on the degree of impact and the way your home is set up. The cost of personal in home care might start to bite, and is often not covered by the cost of health insurance and wont be picked up by Medicare either.

So you need to look after yourself and your family, and when you do the sums, its not a big cost relative to the benefit that you would receive in the event of being diagnosed as Totally and Permanently disabled.

GNS Group can’t prevent these tragic illnesses or injuries from occurring, but we can give you and your family the peace of mind that you will not be a financial burden on them.