Our Services – How We Can Help
Before engaging us, you will have a one hour obligation free appointment with one of our Aged Care Specialists.Obligation Free Appointment
Before engaging us, you will have a one hour obligation-free appointment with one of our Aged Care Specialists. At the end of this, we can let you know if we can be of service or if you are already on track. Our fee for services is fixed and agreed on prior to our engagement. We can project manage as little or as much of the process as you require.
We are proud of the fact that this is often the only appointment some people need from us – we will NEVER recommend our service unless we believe that we will add value to your unique situation.
Funding Advice
We will examine your financial situation and compare funding options to help you decide the payment strategy that suits you best. This will include considering:
- The impact of selling, keeping or renting the family home on age pensions and aged care fees (this can make a BIG difference – take a look at our case studies).
- The affordability of care in your chosen facility.
- The best way to pay for your aged care.
- How your choices affect the resident’s estate. If the person entering care no longer has the capacity to update their Will, it is important to make sure that the decisions you make will still see their estate planning wishes met.
We will provide you with a Statement of Advice (SOA) which compares your shortlisted options side by side, so you can see the impact of each option on pension benefits, aged care fees, cash flow, tax and assets over time.
Residential Care Liaison and Negotiations
We will liaise directly with your residential care provider on your behalf, negotiating fees and providing them with the information they need to offer you a place in their facility and to prepare agreements.
If you are employing a placement service to help find a residential care provider, we are happy to work closely with them as well.
Services Australia / DVA Liaison
As part of our aged care advice process, we become Services Australia/DVA nominees for a period of six months. This includes checking that your fees have been calculated correctly by Department of Human Services (you might be surprised) and also providing quarterly updates to them regularly during this initial entry period.
In addition, we will also help you to complete the forms that Services Australia require, including a new age pension application if you are not already claiming. The SA457 (Request for a Combined Assets and Income Assessment) alone is 25 pages!
Third Party Assistance for Enduring Powers of Attorney
Acting as an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) for a parent, spouse or family member can be an overwhelming experience. Sage Care Advice can provide support to allow you to make the right financial decisions for your loved one. Our service provides transparency by providing available funding options to support your decision making.
Ongoing Services Australia/DVA Reporting Service
Services Australia recalculates Means Tested Fees and Daily Accommodation Contributions every three months, so it is essential that this information is kept up to date on their records. We also understand that work and family commitments can make this difficult.
Don't want to deal with Centrelink on an ongoing basis? To help with this, we also offer an optional service to remain as Services Australia/DVA nominees for the person in care. This means that, with your help, we can keep Services Australia up to date with your loved one’s assets and income and assist with any requests you receive from these government departments.
What Our Clients Say
Just like our name ‘Sage’, we are ‘profoundly wise’ and have a genuine desire to provide you and your loved ones with the best solutions. Here is some feedback from some of our clients.
Claire
In a very confusing, scary and emotional time for my family, when my Mum was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s and needed to go into Permanent Aged Care, SAGE were the thoughtful, helpful guiding hand that we needed. Their staff were kind and efficient and always happy to answer any questions we had, assisting us with the, what seemed like, never ending paperwork, and helping us to understand all the new terminology and rules. I would highly recommend their team and their services to anyone in need when dealing with the Aged Care Industry.
Wendy
Thank you for helping my parents and family through this transitional phase from independent living to aged care/retirement village accommodation. The patient and thorough explanations of the mystery maze which is Aged Care and Centrelink was fabulous and the financial modelling invaluable through this stressful time. Both parents are now settled into their respective new homes and as a family we know that the best financial outcomes were achieved and we can rest easy. Won’t hesitate to get in contact should their circumstances change again.
Russ
I would like to thank you all for the great amount of professional help and understanding you showed to us with mum and her transition into aged care. It was a great comfort to know that you were always close and available when I was unable to work out the many problems I faced. I will highly recommend sage to anyone in the situation I was in as the first place to contact. Thank you again for your caring and personal touch to what was a difficult time for us.
Cayleen
You will never know how much I have appreciated all that you have helped us with. I don’t really think I could have done it without you, Bruce and Haylee. I have also recommended you to other friends of mine. You guys truly are amazing. Thank you.
Chrissy
Just wanted to say a very big thank you to you all for the most wonderful customer experience we had with your company. All three of you are a tremendous asset to Sage Care Advice and hopefully the owners appreciate the effort you all put in. Thanks for putting up with my blonde senior moments. Had a few of late. Really appreciate the genuine compassion and caring you all showed to us while sorting out mum’s affairs. Made things a lot easier. Thank you again. Love your work don’t give up your day job ever.
Jon
Sage have restored our faith in humanity. Such genuine kindness is not always apparent in life and has allowed my mum to rest a bit easier at night so thank you for that.
Scott & Ross
Our family has been working with Bruce, Katie and the Team from Sage Care Advice for sometime now to ensure that our mother was comfortable and financially secure in Residential Aged Care. Unfortunately our beautiful mum Joy passed away on Easter Sunday in the middle of COVID 2020, and the Sage Care Advice team have gone above and beyond with their support and assistance during this difficult time. We are truly grateful for the friendly professional service that the team has always provided us over the years, and we cannot recommend highly enough.
John
From the very first phone call to the team, I was impressed by the professionalism and knowledge of the aged care industry that was displayed. When I met Bruce or our initial face to face meeting, we as a family had already decided that we wanted Bruce and his team to handle all the affairs around getting our Mum into the Aged Care facility of our choice. An engagement of a few months that we felt represented good value for money. In that hour meeting, Bruce and his team did work for us, that my family and I would have struggled with for weeks. I left that meeting feeling that we were in the best of hands. Unfortunately, the following Monday, our Mum passed away. I can’t speak loudly or long enough on the impact that his made to my family at a time of grieving. Thank you Bruce and team, not only do you have unique specialised advice, but you showed and demonstrated to me that you have compassion as well.
Caroline
The Sage team were all very receptive to our questions, were flexible and responsive and they all really care about getting the best outcome for their clients.
Jeff
You guys have been a God send for me thank you so much I definitely couldn’t of done it without you.