An elderly couple drinks coffee in their backyard

3 Steps to Help Aging Parents Stay at Home

As your parents age, mobility limitations combined with an increase in care demands often require the move to a long-term care facility. Though long-term care facilities have their benefits, many seniors prefer to stay in the familiar and comforting environment that is their family home. In order to accommodate this request for your aging parents, there are three steps that must be taken.

Step 1: Assess Your Parents’ Needs

Many aging parents are able to live active and independent lifestyles well into their elderly years. For others, physical and cognitive difficulties necessitate 24/7 care from a healthcare professional. It is important to assess your parents’ needs for support and care and the level to which they can continue to conduct an independent lifestyle.

There are some conditions that clearly necessitate care, such as Alzheimer’s disease or an accident that has rendered your parent physically incapacitated. In other instances, you will need to keep a vigilant eye out for behaviours that indicate that your parent needs assistance. These behaviours may include mobility difficulties, forgetfulness with medication and bill payment, and trouble with daily tasks like meal preparation or bathing.

Once you have a better understanding of your parents’ needs, you will be able to draft a plan for support and arrange an appropriate level of funding to keep them at home.

Step 2: Evaluate Support Options

Once you have identified the particular needs of your parents, next you must evaluate what support is required and what is available. Between family support, provincial home care programs, private home care services, volunteer organizations, and errand services, can all of your parents’ needs be covered?

Some parents may only need occasional family support with running errands and providing companionship, which costs nothing but time. Others will require a 24/7 live-in caregiver to stay at home. You may be able to access many free or subsidized services, but there will likely be additional expenses required to help keep your aging parents at home.

Step 3: Arrange Funding

If your parents require the use of private services, you can calculate the monthly cost. Long-term care insurance, if purchased by your parents, can be used to cover some or all of the care expenses. If not, you must make arrangements to cover the cost of private home care.

The Beacon Group at Assante Financial Management Ltd.’s financial planning services can assist you with evaluating how to manage these monthly obligations. Your parents may also require financial planning to manage their savings.

As you navigate this process with your parents, it is wise to look ahead to your own future. Should you also decide to live out your older years at home, the financial decisions you make now will make this possible down the road. For more information about retirement planning, contact the Beacon Group at Assante Financial Management Ltd.

Areal view of two people snorkeling in a tropical location

8 Tips for Arranging Travel Insurance

Purchasing travel insurance is a great idea because it reduces the financial risks of traveling. Potential issues like accidents, missed flights, lost baggage, illness, and theft can be mitigated with the right insurance plan. We have provided eight tips to help you choose the right travel insurance for you and your family:

Activity Exclusions

Make sure you read the fine print of your policy to make sure any amateur athletic activities you plan on participating in are covered. For example, some policies may exclude coverage for scuba diving or kayaking. These are the times where you are at the most risk, so make sure you are covered.

Disclose Medical Conditions

You need to be honest when disclosing all pre-existing conditions you have that require coverage. Insurers will look at your medical stability when determining risk. Stability refers to the amount of time you go without needing treatment, medication or hospitalization.

Don’t Rely On Credit Card Coverage

Credit card companies offer a much different product than a travel insurance policy. The “travel insurance” included with some cards have a lot of limitations that are unclear until you need to make use of the insurance.

Annual Plans

If you are a frequent traveler, it could make sense to purchase an annual travel insurance plan. By paying an annual premium, you are covered for all the trips you take during the year.

Avoid Up-Front Payments

If at all possible, it’s best to avoid relying on a plan that requires you to pay up-front before receiving compensation. You don’t want to be stuck paying out of pocket at a foreign hospital.

Worldwide Coverage Restrictions

Some plans don’t cover visits to certain areas of the world. Make sure you a certain you will be covered at your travel destination before purchasing a policy.

Use the Emergency Line

Insurers insist that you phone their 24-hour emergency line if you ever need medical care. The medical professional answering the phone will work with the attending physicians to determine the best course of action while mitigating instances of misuse of medical services. Some insurers may leave you liable for some of the medical bill if you do not call the hotline.

Trust Your Advisor

You should purchase a travel insurance policy that has been recommended to you by your financial planning advisor. The advisors at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd. are trained to ask all the important questions and find you a policy that will leave you fully covered and your finances intact.

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Why Group Benefits May Put Your Family’s Security at Risk

In 2013, 37% of Canadian families relied on group life insurance without any supplementary life insurance.[1] Group life insurance is an economical and convenient solution, but many families rely solely upon it and we don’t believe it offers enough to meet all of your family’s needs. Here is why we believe you should supplement your group plan with more protection.

Group coverage is not comprehensive coverage

The most important factor to consider when it comes to life insurance is the amount of protection it offers. The coverage amount through group plans is usually linked to your annual salary. Typically it is one to three times that amount. This is not enough money to help your family maintain its standard of living and the cost of future expenses like university education for your kids. Permanent life insurance allows you to set the amount of coverage you believe your family needs.

Permanent life insurance is true to its name

 Group plans offer term life insurance, which is only temporary coverage that expires when you are no longer an employee. If you decide to leave your job and start your own business, you will lose your coverage in an instant. Permanent life insurance can last a lifetime and isn’t linked to an employer, only to you and your estate.

Reasons to get permanent coverage

Permanent life insurance may be used to serve multiple purposes. Every person has their own unique situation, but we believe everyone can benefit from life insurance in some way. For example, it can be used to create an estate for your beneficiaries to receive upon your death. You can use it to pay for your final expenses, like funeral costs or outstanding debts. It can used to preserve your estates value by offsetting your tax liabilities, like capital gains. You can even use a portion of your coverage as a donation to a cause that is dear to your heart.

Have a financial advisor help you find the right coverage

 If you are in one of the 37% of households that rely solely on group coverage, you should talk to a financial advisor at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management, Ltd. Your financial advisor can conduct a thorough insurance needs analysis and advise you if you have the coverage you need. They can also go over your current group coverage to make sure you have appropriate disability and critical illness coverage.

Greg Snider provides insurance products and services through Lifetime Financial Planning Inc. in the province of Alberta. Wayne Hill provides insurance products and services through Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc. in the province of Alberta. Cory Gagnon provides insurance products and services through Lifetime Financial Planning Inc. in the province of Alberta, and through Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc. in the province of British Columbia. Lifetime Financial Planning Inc. is an outside business activity that may offer non-securities-related financial planning services. Any specific investment recommendations provided by Greg, Wayne, or Cory must be done through Assante Financial Management Ltd. (“Assante”), a registered mutual fund dealer. Although Assante is not responsible for any service or product supplied through Lifetime Financial Planning Inc., Assante will monitor for conflicts of interest and investigate any client complaints related to services offered by Lifetime Financial Planning Inc.

[1] LIMRA, Canadian Insurance Ownership Survey, 2013.

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Managing Finances and Siblings

Even the most tight-knit family can come to blows if there is a dispute over money. Family conflict surrounding financial matters is common-place, and there are no set rules or guidelines when it comes to managing finances with your siblings. If you are much better off than another sibling, they might see you as an interest-free bank. If you become executor of your parent’s estate, you may have to deal with siblings who don’t believe their inheritance was fair. We have provided you with an outline of what to consider if you find yourself involved in these two scenarios.

Giving out Loans

What do you do if one of your siblings comes to you looking for a loan? It’s hard to say no to a loved one during their time of need, but you need to consider what the money is going to be used for. You don’t want to enable a sibling if you know that they are troubled. Not to mention that in this situation you aren’t likely to get your money back. If your sibling is looking for help to send your niece or nephew to post-secondary school, you would be helping them immensely and you are likely to get your money paid back. Even though it is family, it is recommended that you put the loan and the repayment terms in writing. This helps legitimize the lending and help protect your relationship. Just remember that you should only lend money if you can afford to go without it if it’s left unpaid.

Dealing with Inheritances

It’s common practice to name one child as executor of an estate, but that can lead to problems if there are other siblings involved. The children left out may feel that all of the siblings should be involved in the decision-making, which can cause some conflict. The inheritance can cause a lot of friction, even if the assets were split evenly. It all depends on the situation and the people involved. These types of conflicts usually involve expenses and delays. When writing a will for a family with siblings, it’s best to anticipate your family’s unique situation and the personalities involved.

When dealing with financial matters within a family, communication is key. Talking and gaining an understanding of each sibling’s needs and wants can help prevent potentially disastrous family conflicts. For help with such matters, you should contact a financial advisor at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management, Ltd.