Home Instead Senior Care has commenced a new public education campaign to help family carers. “Our research and day to day experience shows there are many people worried about their ageing parents and are trying to care for  someone who says they’d rather not have any help at all” says local franchise owner Sarah Warner.

“This resistance can be a real problem for family carers – they can be worried about the safety of a senior loved one forgetting food on the stove or neglecting to take their medications. We are spreading the message that keeping fiercely independent seniors safe at home isn’t a lost cause; there are solutions for them and their family carers.”

The campaign includes a free a resource booklet When Seniors Say No! – overcoming resistance to assistance and features practical tips and insights.

The Home Instead Senior Care survey revealed that 42% of carers spend more than 30 hours a week caregiving. And that’s what makes countering that resistance to assistance so important. “Many times family carers make assumptions but never ask: ‘Mum, I’ve noticed that every time I bring up having someone come in to assist, you don’t want help”.

Why is that?

Sometimes the parent doesn’t realize they’re being resistant. Also, reassuring a senior loved one that you have the same goal in mind will help. Start with something like: ‘My goal for you is to be independent, too. You know I can’t be here all the time. A little extra assistance will help you stay at home.’”

You can download the resource booklet When Seniors Say “No!” from the Home Instead website.

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Brits and Americans are increasingly retiring to locations overseas for a whole range of reasons – so why hasn’t this concept taken off in Australia?

The UK has one of the world’s strongest currencies and ironically one of the worst climates! Retired Brits are heading to continental Europe in ever-increasing numbers where they increase their savings by converting their nest-eggs from pounds to euros. Naturally, they head to areas with warmer climates, typically around the Mediterranean – Italy, France, Spain and Greece, as well as Portugal and Croatia. All of these areas are now home to little enclaves of English retirees who have traded long, damp, nine-month winters for better food and more sunshine, as well as a much cheaper cost of living.

American retirees are also fleeing their homeland for south American ports such as Panama, Costa Rica and the new retiree hotspot of Mexico. Weather is certainly an attraction, but the main reason appears to be financial – lower taxes, a cheaper cost of living and of course a great exchange rate on their US dollars.

So why don’t we see hawaiian-shirted conga-lines of Aussie retirees heading overseas to live?

Well for starters, Australia appears to have everything you could ever want in a retirement destination – a developed, English-speaking nation with clean air and water, mostly crime-free cities and towns, and of course a great climate.

How could you possibly improve on that?

Apparently you can.

Rob is a 66-year old who fled Brisbane two years ago after a messy divorce. He has now settled in Hanoi and is loving his new expatriate life.  “The cost of living here is about 60% cheaper here than in Australia. The people are friendly and I have made some terrific friends from both the local and expatriate communities” he says.

Rob travels regularly, taking advantage of the cheap flights on offer from the many discount airlines that service Asia. “Since I have been living in Vietnam I have visited Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos. I also go to Thailand with friends at least once a month” said Rob.

Other Aussies retire overseas for a variety of reasons:

Currency

The Aussie dollar is quite strong compared with our local neighbours. This positive exchange rate can instantly double or triple your retirement nest-egg when converted to a foreign currency. If you are on a pension this fact alone could significantly enhance your quality of life.

Tax

Australia is one of the highest-taxing nations on earth. There is nothing worse than seeing your hard-earned retirement nest-egg decimated by tax-hungry state and federal governments. In contrast, many of our Asian neighbours enjoy low levels of personal taxation.

Cost of living

The cost of living in many of our cities is probably about average in comparison with other developed, western nations, but much higher in relation to our Asian neighbours. The recently published Mercer’s Cost of Living 2010 report listed Sydney at number 24 and Melbourne at 33. Although below established Asian cities like Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, in places like Thailand, Malaysia or Vietnam your cost of living could be less than half that in Sydney or Melbourne.

Climate

Many people migrate north from the southern states of Australia to enjoy the warmer climes of Queensland in their retirement. Did you know that similar climates to Queensland can be found throughout southeast Asia?

Health Care

There is a popular misconception that we have great health care in Australia and that Asia is “third world”.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Doctors and hospitals in Asia are now so good, and so cheap, that it has spawned a completely new industry called medical tourism. Medical tourism is where people from expensive, developed countries like Australia fly to Asia for medical treatment – plastic surgery or dental work – and spend a few weeks recuperating by the pool in their luxury hotel. The treatment and two week holiday, including flights and accommodation, is typically much less than the price of simply getting the treatment performed in Australia (usually by a foreign-trained doctor anyway – almost 40 per cent of Australia’s 75,000 doctors trained overseas, with around 68 per cent of them working in major cities).

Cheap Travel

If you ever needed convincing about how over-charged Aussies are on air travel, research the prices on some of the budget airlines hubbing out of the major regional ports of Singapore, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur!

So where are Aussie retirees going?

Malaysia, Thailand, Bali, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

And how do our neighbours feel about Aussie retirees moving to their country? Great!

Malaysia even has a government-sponsored program to encourage foreigners to retire in their country – contrast this with our own attitude on immigrants!

There are some downsides however.

Leaving your family to live overseas can be daunting and forsaking established networks of friends that have taken years to build is a huge decision. It takes time to settle in a new place – even longer when the language and culture is different.

However, if you are thinking about retirement and yearn for a lifestyle worlds away from Aussie suburbia, then trade your local Westfield shopping mall for a village fresh produce market in Asia and consider a move overseas.

Do you know anyone who has retired overseas? How have they found it?

Where would you go if you retired overseas?

 

Postscript: I found this article recently which gives another angle on the decision to retire overseas.

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Many people are confused about the difference between a retirement community and an aged care facility, and I would certainly agree that the lines appear to be blurring between the two.

So what is a retirement village?

A retirement village is basically whatever is defined as a retirement village in your state or territory’s retirement village legislation. Typically, the legislative definition describes it as a property where retired or older people reside, and they purchase a right to occupy (usually via a lease or licence to occupy) and may purchase additional services for a fee. A village needs to be registered under the state retirement villages act in order for it to charge all of those weird and wonderful fees like deferred management or exit fees.

However, you may have heard of other retirement living facilities such as an Over 50′s or Over 55′s village, or a lifestyle resort. These complexes typically sell you the freehold title to the built structure (the house) and then lease you the portion of land it sits on. These developments come under the state or territory’s manufactured homes legislation, usually the same legislation that covers caravan parks and the like.

Other retirement-style facilities include freehold complexes, where you own the freehold title to the unit. These facilities may or may not be registered retirement villages and may or may not charge all of the same fees (such as deferred management or exit fees) that you will find in a village operated under the retirement villages legislation.

There are around five different types of purchase and occupancy arrangements for retirement villages and each one has its own framework of fees, charges and complexity. Generally speaking, the occupant pays an upfront fee similar to the freehold value of the property, then a small regular fee during their occupancy, and a larger deferred fee upon exit.

Retirement villages are typically targeted to retirees who can live independently, although many villages now offer some care services as well.

Aged Care on the other hand, comes under the one Commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997, which dictates how the charges and occupancy is arranged. There is still a fair bit of discretion on the operators behalf as to the quantum of charges, and you should be sure to get good advice from a financial planner skilled in the aged care area before you sign anything. As with retirement communities, certain aspects can be negotiated and you should never rely on the company sales agent to give you the right advice.

Under the aged care model a resident may be charged for the care and services provided, as follows:

• Basic daily fee – as a contribution toward accommodation and costs of daily living.
• Income tested fee – as a contribution towards the costs of care.
• Accommodation payment – as a contribution towards capital accommodation costs.
• Extra services charge – applies to residents occupying extra service places (both permanent and respite) for the provision of a significantly higher standard of accommodation services and food.
• Additional service fee – where the resident requests or agrees to additional services (such as newspapers and hairdressing).

Aged Care facilities are targeted to seniors who need an element of nursing support in their day-to-day lives. This can range from a little assistance through to full palliative care. You can find out more on the Australian Government’s aged care website.

I think the confusion arises where you have retirement villages which offer an aged care facility within the same complex as the independent living units. These villages are called “integrated villages” and seek to offer a complete spectrum of care to alleviate the need for its resident’s to ever move again. Well-planned complexes will have the aged care area well separated from the independent living area so that able-bodied residents don’t mix with those who are requiring care.

Integrated facilities typically offer aged care as an incentive to potential purchasers interested in the independent living units, because this is where operators make their money. It is worth noting however that there is usually no guarantee to an existing resident of the village that there will be a place for them in the aged care facility, and they may still have to go onto a waiting list for a place. You may also have to sell your existing unit to fund your aged care place, and the fees associated with a sale of your residence can seriously deplete your capital base.

The aged care facilities within a retirement village may operate under the Aged Care Act 1997 and charge the purchase and occupation fees accordingly, or they may simply charge a weekly/monthly rental, or they may operate under the same deferred management fee schemes as the independent living units within the retirement village.

The whole area of aged care and retirement communities can be a real minefield. I strongly suggest that you find a good financial advisor who can guide you through the process and make sure you get the best deal you can.

If you would like to know more about Aged Care, Noel Whittaker and Rachel Lane recently published a book called “Aged Care – Who Cares?”. To promote the book they are running a series of aged care seminars in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. The seminars are free and I would strongly encourage you to attend if you are interested in learning more about aged care.

The details for the general public seminar are attached here: WM Invitation – Aged Care Public Sessions 2011. Make sure you call to book your seat – previous seminars have booked out.

The details of the seminar aimed at aged care operators and industry is attached here: WM Invitation – Aged Care Industry Conferences 2011.

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I came across this comment recently from Barbara Morris, a US commentator on ageing issues:

Stay in the “real world” as you age, connected to productive people who support your mindset and lifestyle. Do not buy into a senior community, join senior organizations, or participate exclusively in senior activities. Becoming part of the traditional senior culture is the number one reason healthy [seniors] age prematurely.

Barbara has a website you can see HERE called “Put Old on Hold”.

Whilst I love Barbara’s philosophy on living life, I do disagree with her recommendation to avoid seniors’ communities, or as we call them here in Australia, retirement communities.

I think with Barbara’s statement here she misses some of the important reasons as to why people actually choose to move into a retirement community:

NEIGHBOURHOOD

One of the main reasons people want to move out of their home is because of neighbourhood problems: barking dogs, loud music, hotted-up cars, noise or changing suburb demographics such as an influx of immigrants from a particular ethnic group. Retirement communities have rules and restrictions that protect residents from stressful situations and this is very attractive. It is not unusual to want to live somewhere dedicated to your peace of mind, well-being and happiness.

HOME MAINTENANCE

Maintaining a large family home can be hard work, particularly for older homes. Mowing big yards, particularly in the summer, weeding, pruning, painting and watering can take up most of a retiree’s spare time and prevent them from enjoying their retirement. It is also quite likely that you will want to travel and you should be able to do this without worrying about your home – is it secure, who is clearing the mail box or mowing the lawn while you’re away?

DOWNSIZING

Often people find that their existing residence is too large for them or presents access problems with stairs, narrow access ways or multiple levels. Whereas retirement homes are specially built for easy access and maintenance.

SOCIAL LIFE

Retirement communities are full of like-minded people who generally want the same things out of life. This can make for a busy social life, if that’s what you want! Loneliness and isolation are big issues for retirees, particularly those who are restricted in their mobility or independence. a retirement community literally provides an instant social network.

In our experience, we can summarise the major benefits of living in a retirement community as follows:

• The companionship of like-minded people – if you want it;
• Security; and
• Smaller homes that are specially built for access and low maintenance.

What do you think? Does living in a retirement community make you age or keep you young?

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I am often asked by worried clients whether they can be kicked out of their retirement home, mainly because of sensationalised media stories like the one featured in Brisbane’s Courier Mail today.

Essentially, the story is about residents who are living in a retirement village in Ipswich (west of Brisbane), who have been asked to move out because the village has been sold. Understandably the residents do not want to move and the newspaper has taking the sensationalist route by painting the new buyers as “greedy developers” and the residents as poor victims of the system. What is even more concerning is the comments to the article – most of them abusing the “greedy developer” and questioning why the state government doesn’t “do something”.

In case you were interested, here are the facts of the case that should have been reported by the Courier Mail, but clearly weren’t because the journalist Robyn Ironside was either a) lazy, b) stupid, or c) decided not to report the facts in case they got in the way of a good “angle” on the story.

1. This is a rental retirement village. Residents occupy their unit under a standard residential tenancy agreement and is covered by the state Residential Tenancies Legislation. If your lease agreement has expired you have no legal right to occupy and can be asked to leave. If you want security of tenure, then sign a longer lease!

2. The rental retirement village model is broken and does not work, as evidenced by the fact that most of the operators of these types of villages are struggling financially. The residents would be far worse off if the previous operator had gone broke, as there would have been no-one around to prepare the meals or run the village. Avoid rental retirement villages wherever possible – they don’t work.

3. The Seasons organisation is a good, ethical operator of aged care facilities. They are not a “greedy developer” but provide a quality alternative to aged care accommodation available through the state and not-for-profit organisations. They are doing everything they can to assist with an orderly transition for the residents, but you will never please everyone all of the time. To abuse Seasons for simply carrying out their business (albeit in the kindest and most ethical way) shows the typical ill-informed, un-educated, half-baked, spoon-fed opinions held by the consumers of popular tabloid media. Heaven save us if that hot-air haggis Alan Jones get a hold of it!

What really riles me is the comments after the article, half of which carry that familiar hand-wringing refrain – “the government should do something!”

Why? Why should the government “do something”?

Where are the comments abusing the families of these seniors for not providing them with housing, assistance or support? Oh, that’s right – their families are too busy paying off mortgages on their over-sized McMansions, or the credit they used to stuff said McMansion with Plasma Screen TV’s and Jet Skis, or filling their fat progeny with food-court fast-food.

These nanny-state nut-jobs are the first group of people to complain when the government raise taxes or sell off “their” assets to pay down debt or fund other services. So on one hand they want the government to take more responsibility, then scream like stuck pigs when they get charged for it.

If you people continue to respond in such an emotional way to poorly-researched, tabloid articles you do yourselves an injustice and guess what – you will continue to get more poorly-researched, tabloid articles from the ambulance chasers at the Courier Mail. Please try and understand that there is usually more to the story than what is published in a Courier Mail article.

By the way, don’t bother leaving any comments here.

NOTE: For the record, I am not affiliated with Seasons in any way and have never done business with them. I do however, like and support their business model.

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Retirement Villages are insulting the intelligence of potential residents by failing to recognise the sophistication of their target market.

At Find My Retirement Home, we do research on more than a dozen villages per week and the overall level of marketing and professionalism, while mostly well-intentioned, is poor when compared with other industries. Even the basics, such as a 1300 or 1800 number, a good website and well-presented brochures are lacking in almost every case.

I would like to single out websites here for particular attention. In Australia, almost 60% of the 55-64 age group and 30% of the 65-74 age group use the internet, yet most retirement complexes either don’t bother with a website or have a very basic, outdated on-line presence. I believe this to be an insult to the intelligence and technological sophistication of the very market they are trying to attract. I can recall one website I looked at for a western Sydney property that didn’t have the village address on the website!

Seniors are typically stereotyped as being techno-phobic and slow to jump on the technology bandwagon, however according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the 65-74 age group shows the highest increase in overall Internet usage at more than 40% from 2004/05 to 2006/07.

Research in the US has shown that while older users aren’t as likely to watch videos, write blogs, play games or download music over the Internet, they do form a huge, and all-to-often underestimated component within the larger e-commerce market. According to the research, the three top reasons this group spend time on the Internet are to seek out information (92%), to stay in touch with friends and family (95%) and to shop online (73%).  Other high percentage activities include general browsing of the Web (95%), reading articles (91%) and researching products before purchasing offline (86%).

Furthermore, over 96% say they share information and details about new discoveries with their families, 84% with their children, 83% with their spouses and 71% among their co-workers, making this cohort one of the most active groups in the on-line marketplace.

By ignoring the Internet, village owners are also ignoring the fact that the purchasing decisions of seniors will generally be made in conjunction with someone else, such as their children. I can guarantee that if the parents aren’t doing their retirement village research on the Internet, then their children certainly will be. The opinions of family members have a significant impact on the purchasing decision and I just can’t understand why retirement village owners and operators ignore this very important aspect of their marketing.

I would encourage the potential purchasers of retirement homes to let the operators and owners of retirement communities know when they are unimpressed. The retirement industry has been slow to accept technological advancements and it has unfortunately fallen to the consumer to drive significant change.

As a minimum, retirement village websites should contain the following information:

• Location map
• Distances to key local places such as airport, hospital, shopping centre and public transport
• Village map
• Price Lists
• Key contract terms listing out all fees & charges, particularly for deferred fee schemes
• Unit plans, showing area sizes
• Lots of photos of the unit and the village

Tell us your story – do you feel insulted by retirement village websites?

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Retired?

Bored?

Want to earn a little extra cash on the side?

Here are a few jobs you may want to consider to keep your mind active and fund that next cruise you had your eye on!

Online Tutor

Are you a teacher, professor or an expert in a particular field? If so, then online tutoring may be the perfect retirement job for you! Online tutors set their own hours and work from home, coaching students throughout the nation and teaching online classes.

Check out these websites which match tutors with students:

• findatutor.com.au
• tutoringaustralia.com.au
• teachingallover.com.au

Obviously you will need a computer with internet access.

Freelance Writer or Editor

Are you an ex-journalist, copywriter, editor or English teacher, or are you a good writer than doesn’t bat an eyelid at punching out 500-1,000 words on a topic of your choice?

Well then why not continue as a freelance writer?

We live in an information age and there are thousands of print or online publications which have canyons of space to fill with quality content on a regular basis. Try submitting work for free to editors to get a name for yourself then you can start charging for your efforts.

Translator

Do you speak a second language fluently? if so, you could score a job as a translator.

Many government organisations and corporations need interpreters to translate other languages into English, either as written work or as a live translation over the telephone. If you have a computer, a high-speed internet connection, a quiet work area and a phone, you can work from home as a translator. Obviously, speaking and writing a second language as well as english fluently is job requirement!

Answering Service Agent

Have you ever called your doctor’s office at 9pm to hear a friendly voice chirp, “Hello, this is Dr. Dogooder’s answering service! How may help you?”

Answering service agents typically work from home and answer after-hours calls from doctors and dentist offices, travel agencies, animal hospitals and other businesses. The agent then records the caller’s info and either forwards it along to the doctor, dentist or business owner or follows some other pre-determined protocol. As long as you have a working telephone, a nice speaking voice and great people skills, you could land a job answering these after-hours calls.

Internet Business

I don’t think there has ever been another time in the history of the modern world where you could start a business so cheaply and with less risk than you can today with the internet. There are multitude of business models you can use, from selling products on ebay to selling advertising on your own website. Better still, there are plenty of ways to educate yourself about these businesses for free on the Internet. If you have a passion for commerce and are a little entrepreneurial, this could be the proch job for you!

Can you think of any other jobs that can be done by retirees from home?

Do you know a retiree who has a work from home business?

Tell us about it…

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