Money flies!

Once you have a parent or spouse go into care you will notice that money flies out of the window and honestly it flies out quickly.

Our economists have worked out how much people need to save in order to be able to have a good standard of living once they are retired.  Unfortunately this makes no difference for the carer. In New Zealand our Government helps with the fees when assets reach less than one fifth of what the economists recommend you need for retirement. Unfortunately this means that carers will not have the retirement life style we all dream of, for example travel. We will always be in the position of needing to watch every penny. Unfortunately more and more of us will be in this position. I must have been very bad in a past life to have been responsible for two, very costly.

Luckily George has dodged the illness in his home - fingers crossed! He is eating well but still very frail. When he first went in he often went out for a walk, not now! Carers in the home take the residents out for a walk when they want to go. They also have a nice garden area to go outside to wander around or sit in the sunshine. We have been having a very mild winter with lovely warm days.  George certainly feels the cold and wears a lot of clothes. This seems to be the same for a lot of the others too.