When to start the aged care conversation?

No-one likes to talk about getting old. But at what age should you start thinking about your aged care needs? The answer is simple - any age is a good time. This is regardless of whether you are in your early retirement years or well into retirement.

If you are lucky enough to still have your parents, starting the conversation with them while they are still healthy is also sensible. They might not be thrilled that you’re raising the subject but it gives your parents an opportunity to think about what is important to them and give you some instructions, so you have something to guide you if you need to make choices for them in the future.

Don’t accidentally fall into either of these traps:

1. Leaving it too late to have the conversation - once Mum or Dad can’t return home from the hospital, you’re in crisis mode. This is not the best time to be making life-changing decisions for anyone.
2. Thinking it will never happen - unfortunately the statistics say otherwise. On average, we can expect to live 17-25% of our retirement with a profound disability that may threaten our ability to live independently without care support. With those odds, you at least want to have a quality conversation about the options for aged care and importantly, how you would pay for it.