The reality of modern life is that we are tending to live longer, fuller lives. If you have elderly relatives, you may be faced with deciding the best ways to support them as they age. While the preference of many will be to grow old gracefully at home and be financially independent, the reality is this may not happen.

A major focus at this stage is finding a nice place to live and to manage cash flow.

The challenges you may be facing:

• How to find an appropriate facility
• Whether to keep or sell the family home
• What are the up-front costs and how to fund it
• What are the ongoing costs and ways to minimise fees
• Any impact on Centrelink
• How to manage cash flow requirements
• What will be left for the family