Aged Care Planning
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Simplifying Aged Care Advice
For many Australian families, entering residential aged care can happen suddenly — often after a fall, illness or hospital stay. Decisions must be made quickly, during an already stressful time.
The financial side can be complex. In November 2025, major reforms to residential aged care funding changed how fees and contributions are structured for new entrants. While designed to improve fairness and sustainability, the updated framework introduced new means-testing rules and adjustments to accommodation payment arrangements. Understanding how these changes affect your family’s position is essential.
Without appropriate advice, families risk paying higher fees than necessary, reducing Age Pension entitlements, or making decisions that are difficult to reverse.
We help you navigate aged care with clarity and confidence. Our advice includes:
- Comparing accommodation options (RAD, DAP or a combination)
- Assessing the impact on Age Pension and cashflow
- Strategies for retaining or selling the family home
- Structuring financial assets to manage ongoing care costs
Entering aged care can be a significant financial commitment. With the right advice, you can make informed decisions and protect your family’s long-term financial position.
Shaun Jones is an experienced and qualified Financial Planner who specialises in retirement planning and aged care advice. He works closely with individuals and families to provide clear, practical guidance during some of life’s most significant financial transitions. Shaun has been awarded the Retirement Living & Aged Care Specialist designation, which is an industry recognised accreditation for advisers equipped with the skills, knowledge and tools to deliver quality advice in the complex areas of retirement income strategies, residential aged care funding, and home care planning.
Types of Residential Aged Care Charges
Daily Living Cost
Paid by most residents, this covers everyday living costs such as meals, cleaning, laundry and utilities. It is set as 85% of the Age Pension and indexed twice yearly. For some people this would be the only fee that they are required to pay.
Means-Tested Care Fee
This is an additional contribution toward personal and clinical care costs, determined by an assessment of income and assets. Not everyone pays this fee, and the assessment by Services Australia is based on your day of entry you enter care (before or after 1 November 2025).
Accommodation Costs
If assessed as having sufficient financial means to pay, residents contribute toward their accommodation through:
- Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD): a lump sum (refundable when leaving care),
- Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP): ongoing daily payments, or
- A combination of both.
Additional or Higher Everyday Living Fee
Optional charges for higher-standard rooms, services or lifestyle extras not covered under standard care.
Understanding how these charges interact — particularly under the post-November 2025 funding reforms — is critical to managing affordability and protecting assets. Please contact us prior to undergoing an aged care assessment to ensure a suitable financial outcome.
Home Care Support Services
Home care services help older Australians remain living independently in their own home for as long as possible.
From 2025, the Australian Government introduced the Support at Home program, replacing the previous Home Care Package arrangements. The new program is designed to simplify in-home aged care, with clearer funding classifications, defined service lists and updated contribution rules based on income and assets.
Services may include personal care (showering, dressing), domestic assistance, meal preparation, transport, nursing care, allied health support and home modifications. Funding levels are determined following an aged care assessment, with participants contributing to certain services depending on their financial circumstances.
From a financial planning perspective, home care decisions can affect cashflow, Age Pension entitlements and long-term asset preservation — particularly if care needs increase over time or transition to residential care becomes necessary.
We help families understand eligibility, government subsidies, contribution requirements and how the Support at Home program fits within a broader aged care strategy.
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