The differences between Aged Care & Retirement Village are significant, & you should make sure you understand which one you are committing yourself to, & the financial implications before you proceed.

A Retirement Village is primarily self-care, i.e. you look after yourself, & choose to make the move to a Retirement Village (if you are over 55 years of age).An aged care facility requires the potential resident to have an ACAT assessment, & usually involves some level of care, either personal or nursing care.

Aged Care comes under Federal (Australian) Government legislation & regulation, whereas Retirement Villages are governed by State Government rules & regulations.

The Federal Government subsidises Aged care & they also guarantee the Accommodation payment when you pay it as a RAD (Lump Sum), so it is very safe. But Retirement Villages are fully paid by the resident, & not guaranteed by any level of Government.

The Centrelink treatment for pension purposes is also quite different between the two.

There are numerous Retirement Villages that also have an Aged care facility on site, but the financial rules around them is different even though they are co-located, so make sure you are clear as to which type of accommodation you are moving into.

When a couple reside in a Retirement Village, & one of them needs to move into residential aged care, it is quite a worrying time for many, as they have great concerns about being able to afford the aged care fees and be able to fund the living expenses of the one still in the Retirement Village. However, it is often not as bad as most people think, once they understand how to get the best out of it.

Moving into aged care may provide pension benefits and tax benefits, and depending on your financial situation, the Government may provide additional funding assistance for those with limited means.
The funding arrangements around Retirement Villages and Aged Care are complicated, confusing & quite bureaucratic. If you don’t understand how the rules impact you, and correctly complete the Centrelink forms (Aged Care) can end up costing you more money than it needs to.

If you need expert help in navigating the Aged Care or retirement Village mazes, we can help, we have specialised in this area for 15 years & helped 12,000 people to make a good decision. Call Balance Aged Care Specialists on 1300-556287