Care-Years, a major part of 21st Century life—are you and your family ready for the journey?
A Community Seminar for interested citizens, clients, staff, associations and clubs

Long-term care-a silent, yet growing crisis in Canada--but if you think we have problems now, just wait another few years. Aging is now an inevitable topic and hand-in-hand with it is the question of caregiving. This presentation is for Canadian citizens who want to make sure that the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted—but it speaks directly to daughters and sons, especially those 40 years+, with aging parents and to today and tomorrow’s retirees and seniors who need to plan for their own up-coming care-years stage of life.

Long-Term Care—If the government is ‘the provider of last resort’ who is the provider of first resort? Me, my spouse my children? Am I prepared, have I planned, if not, why am I waiting?

Research tells us that caregiving of a family member is a “complicated and overwhelming task”. Patty calls the initial five years of their care-journey, her family’s “tsunami years”. What does one do if care is required, hour upon hour, day after day, year after year?

This seminar tells a compelling story, touching on: emergencies; at-home care; government assistance programs; environments and elder-safety; live-in caregiving; necessary family documents; medication-problems; caregiving from a distance; respite care; emotional decisions; carehome residency; end-of-life wishes; budgets for the shocking costs of care; life-altering risks to savings and investments; and finally, surprising changes in one’s everyday life.

We have been accepting responsibilities and making decisions all of our adult lives—why not also plan for what is required during our future care-years (you know, the less-than-glamorous stage of retirement that few of us ever discuss and few of us are ever ready for). The seminar also raises tough questions and concerns that each adult Canadian must address, that is the facts and the funding of their loved ones’ and their own long-term care.

 
Patty explains, in a powerful manner, why care insurance is one major financial planning tool we can’t afford to ignore, as she learned her care-lessons the hard-way. She lays out convincing research surrounding the issue, exposes common myths and attitudes, and sets the record straight on the ‘real costs’ of care. Although not a planner or insurance specialist, Patty’s experience offers several strong reasons why Canadians may well want to consider long-term care insurance as part of their care-years planning, reasons such as our independence--to avoid becoming a burden on our relatives usually our children, to avoid dependency on government programs; our desire for quality care--to ensure that we receive the level of care we need, when we need it and in a setting of our choice; and our need to want to protect our assets and gain financial security and peace of mind.

The message: Long-term care can happen at any age, it is dangerous to procrastinate--take control and make necessary decisions--now. Remember, care-years is a journey stage of life, not a destination, plan now to keep your independence and quality of life when (not if) the journey begins.