helping seniors live well in later life

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Tag: Planning Change

  • Decluttering for Hoarders

    Decluttering for Hoarders

    Decluttering is difficult for anyone and it’s even harder for hoarders.  Hoarding is related to difficult experiences and feelings and it is not possible for a hoarder to ‘just get rid of things’.  

    Counselling is recommended before commencing any decluttering otherwise the anxiety and pain for the hoarder will be very high and it will be difficult to make any progress towards the end goal.  

    We have found that having a very specific reason to take a step to declutter and, in conjunction with counselling taking things very slowly, makes the end goal possible.    If a hoarder needs to move home and downsize due to the home being inaccessible or finances becoming difficult, then this is a good reason to start the process.  But it will need to be taken slowly.  We recommend that the counselling starts first but if that isn’t possible, then beginning with a small room for just an hour or two to understand the process can be beneficial too.  Often we have found that hoarders will take much of their belongings with them, but seeing it in a new home can have a positive effect in helping them to gradually part with things.

    Support can be found at:
     https://hoardinguk.org/support/services/

    https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/hoarding/helping-someone-who-hoards

  • Attendance allowance

    Attendance allowance

    Have you heard of Attendance Allowance? 

    It is a government benefit that helps with extra costs if you are over state pension age and need someone to help look after you.

    It might be that you feel you don’t need financial support now, but it is a non-means tested benefit, and it might be something that you could be very pleased you have in the future if you need to pay for carers or a stair-lift, for example.  Or it could be something you could use now to pay for taxis if you can no longer drive or get public transport, or if you need help with cleaning or meal preparation.

    Most importantly, Attendance Allowance helps you remain independent for as long as possible.  Our friends at Grey Matters Consultancy are experts in claiming this.  Why not head over to their website and find out more, or we can put you in touch with them.

    https://www.grey-matters-consultancy.com/services/attendance-allowance

  • Having a community around you

    Having a community around you

    Many things I’ve read and heard recently herald the importance of having a community around you as you get older.  Those living in isolation tend to live shorter, less happy lives.  A community can be friends and neighbours or people you see all the time.  Here are some examples of community or places where you can find communities in your local area:

    These places will keep you smiling and ensure you are keeping your brain active and, in several of the above, your body too.

    If you don’t know where to find a community near you, your local council should have a list so get in touch with them.

  • Planning for the inevitable

    Planning for the inevitable

    The inevitable will happen to all of us and it’s good to get planning and talking about it before we go.  The inevitable might be that your attorneys need to act for you or help you during your lifetime or it might be information for your executors when you die.  There are some great resources available and we wanted to let you know of the ones we like:

    For attorneys and executors

    Peace of Mind Planner – a comprehensive workbook to fill in containing details that anyone dealing with your estate would like to know about https://amzn.eu/d/8NaEsOY

    Life Manual from https://www.grey-matters-consultancy.com/life-manual/ another, smaller, workbook in which to record your details.

    If you are a client of St James’s Place Partnership they also have a similar manual which you can fill in.

    For executors and useful in advance to start planning

    White Balloon https://www.whiteballoon.co.uk/ a resource for life’s end from funeral directors to florists, counsellors and musicians and much more.

    Using the information from the life manuals above, you can close, freeze or transfer all of your loved one’s accounts from one place, for free.  You can also set it up in advance. https://lifeledger.com/

    Planning doesn’t have to be sad or morbid, it ensures that you make life easier for your loved ones and that your wishes are respected when you are gone.

  • Getting Care At Home

    Getting Care At Home

    So, you’ve decided that the best thing for your loved one (or you) is to get some help with care at home.  It could be help with meals, or with personal care, cleaning or companionship, or a mixture of all of these things.  If you have more than £23,250 in savings you have to pay for the care yourself.*

    We’ve noticed that lots of people seem to think that those providing care at home are expensive, intimating that the extra costs involved rather than privately paying a carer, aren’t worth the money.  Here are some things we think are worth thinking about when considering the options:

    Employing someone privately means you are responsible for sick pay, holiday pay and finding cover when they’re not there, as well as finding the right person in the first place through adverts and interviews, and then getting employment contracts set up.  You might need to find cover at short notice when it isn’t practical to do so.  The carer should also set up a care plan for your loved one (or you) but the practicalities of the time they have might mean this falls by the wayside.  In short, you might be lucky, but the legal, financial and practical responsibilities can be onerous.

    Using a care agency means that you have a management point of contact to sort all sorts of queries and concerns that you may have.  They are responsible for training staff and ensuring all legal protocols are covered for compliance and best practice.  They will make sure a care plan is in place and regularly reviewed.  They also have insurance and will provide any cover for holidays and sickness and ensure their carers are paid.  They can inform you of changes to legalities relevant to your situation.  They also often put on seminars for family members, such as dementia awareness sessions and other relevant information.

    If you are not sure if care at home is the right thing for you, then we can put you in touch with https://eldercareconsultant.co.uk/.   We can also help you with agency recommendations in your area.

    (Note reforms are due to come in in 2025 and you can read more about what this means financially here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-our-plan-for-health-and-social-care/adult-social-care-charging-reform-further-details)

  • Tax in retirement

    Tax in retirement

    HMRC should send you a PAYE coding notice each year, unless they believe that a source of PAYE income is not chargeable to tax, or if you do not have a liability to tax on any PAYE-source income.  Being retired doesn’t stop you from being liable for tax or from receiving a tax code. 

    If you usually get one and don’t have one yet this year then you should get in touch with HMRC to find out what happened to it.

    If you usually get a tax code notice you should check it when you receive it to make sure it is correct!  If you need help in understanding it this is a great link to help you and a great website in general for help regarding tax issues for older people.
    https://taxvol.org.uk/index.php/your-tax-code-notice-pensions/

    We can recommend accountants and tax specialists to help you with your tax affairs if you have questions or need a tax return done on your behalf. 

  • Choosing your attorneys

    Choosing your attorneys

    Last week we talked about the importance of powers of attorney.   So if you have decided you want to make them, you need to think about who might be the best attorneys for you*.  Some of the following might help you to decide:

    • They don’t have to be your relatives or your children.  Even if you have relatives and adult children, it’s your decision as to who should be your attorneys.
    • These are not permanent decisions; you can replace your attorneys later.  You can either put replacement options in the original forms, or you can redo the forms later.  If you redo them it will attract another fee by your solicitor and the Office of the Public Guardian where they get registered, but if, like me, your attorneys are all older than you, you will know that at some point you may need to change it. 
    • You don’t have to have the same attorneys for both health and welfare and finance.  You can have different ones.
    • The attorneys don’t have to act together (or they can) so you can decide how to structure this depending on how you think your attorneys will get on with each other.
    • You can pay your attorneys to do the job, and so you can pick people who are professional attorneys.  Solicitors will often take on the finance side of being an attorney.  At One Stop Organisers we can also do this in some cases for people who are already our clients and who we have worked with before.

    If we can help with suggesting solicitors to help you or your older relatives with the forms, do get in touch.

    *A power of attorney gives one person legal power to act for another person and the person acting is then called an attorney.

  • Power of Attorney

    Power of Attorney

    Have you written and registered your power of attorney yet?  We have done ours and many people might think we’re too young.

    But you’re never too young; it doesn’t matter what age you are, if something happens to you and you can’t make decisions, then life can get a bit tricky.  People often think that they are giving up their independence by appointing attorneys, but it doesn’t need to be like that.  It’s just there so when things start to get difficult, you can get some help from the people you trust most. 

    Your appointed finance attorneys can make decisions with you before you lose capacity, just to assist and make your life easier.

    The health and welfare attorneys can only make decisions for you if you have lost capacity.

    It is much easier to fill in your forms before you need them, and if you need to discuss this with a solicitor then we can recommend firms that can help you. 

    Next time we’ll talk about who to appoint as your attorneys.

  • Passports and identity

    Passports and identity

    Passports are not just for trips abroad.

    They are a very useful piece of ID and, if possible, make sure you keep yours renewed even if you don’t think you’ll be travelling soon.

    We have seen many cases recently of our clients needing to prove their identity to banks and this is often the only ID that can be accepted especially if you have stopped driving.  Without it we’ve seen clients locked out of their own banking, even in branch, as they cannot prove who they are when something has gone wrong or when a fraud flag has been placed on their account. 

    If you are moving home soon you’ll need to prove your identity to your solicitor and this will be the easiest way.  There are many organisations that are inflexible when it comes to ID requirements and keeping your passport renewed can take the stress out of things as you don’t always know you need it until you do.  

    And don’t forget, you can use it as ID for voting since there are now requirements for ID at polling stations.  There is now of course a special voter ID you can get if you don’t have a passport, and other items you can use like your freedom pass or blue badge.  You can of course always apply for a postal vote if going to the polling station is too stressful.

    If you or a loved one need help doing the online passport renewal (or new passport) application, we would love to help.

  • Getting your home ready to downsize

    Getting your home ready to downsize

    So you’ve decided to downsize and you are putting your home on the market.  So, what should you do to get it ready?

    •  Take advice from the estate agent you are using, but note they will all have different opinions on this!
    • If your home is likely to need a lot of work by your buyer to modernise it, feel free to ignore most of the rest of this advice, as it won’t make much difference to the outcome.
    • Tidy the front garden and make sure any issues with the front of the house (peeling paint, dirty or cracked pathway, weeds, etc) are sorted.  You can add some vibrant pots of plants.
    • If you live in a flat, do what you can to keep the communal areas clean and tidy.
    • Create the feeling of space in the rooms by removing clutter into cupboards or taking it away from the home.
    • If you are tempted to remove furniture, only do this if you are re-purposing the room  for prospective buyers.  And it is always good to have a double bed in bedrooms where possible to show how the room can be used.

     If you need help with choosing an estate agent or de-cluttering either before you go on the market or before the move, we would love to help.