Oct 8, 2024
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Long-Term Care: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Many in the Korean-Canadian community in Toronto are concerned that Rykka Care Centres is poised to take over its beloved long-term care home after 115 residents died in COVID-19 outbreaks in three Rykka facilities.
Hae Kee Min says one of the best decisions she ever made was getting her husband a bed at Rose of Sharon Korean Long-Term Care Home after caring for him on her own for 22 years.
Her husband was paralyzed in a car accident in 1994 and Min, 82, cared for him for as long as she could by herself. Seven years ago, she needed extra help and put her husband on the waitlist for a bed at Rose of Sharon. The couple waited for more than three years, but Min says it was worth it.
"Since then, my husband is so settled. He likes it here and I am so happy," she said in an interview in front of the home near Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue West [in Toronto].
Min is also the president of Rose of Sharon's resident family council and says she, along with other family members and the larger Korean-Canadian community, is deeply concerned that Rykka Care Centres is poised to take over Rose of Sharon.
Rykka, which is an operating partner of Responsive Group, has seen a combined 115 COVID-19-related deaths in three of its homes. Responsive Group operates 11 long-term care centres and three retirement homes in Ontario.
Assisted living seems like the solution to everyone’s worries about old age. It’s built on the dream that we can grow old while being self-reliant and live that way until we die. That all you need is a tiny bit of help. That you would never want to be warehoused in a nursing home with round-the-clock caregivers. This is a powerful concept in a country built on independence and self-reliance.
The problem is that for most of us, it’s a lie. And we are all complicit in keeping it alive.
The assisted living industry, for one, has a financial interest in sustaining a belief in this old-age nirvana. Originally designed for people who were mostly independent, assisted living facilities have nearly tripled in number in the past 20 years to about 30,000 today. It’s a lucrative business: Investors in these facilities have enjoyed annual returns of nearly 15 percent over the past five years — higher than for hotels, office, retail and apartments, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care.
via New York Times.
Related Reading:
America’s long-term care crisis is worsening.
Long term care is something most of us will need as we grow older…
…Unfortunately, this type of care is extremely expensive, and for many Americans, downright unaffordable. Most seniors simply don’t have the average $100,000 a year for a nursing home, $45,000 for assisted living, or $33,000 for in-home care…
…With millions of seniors and their families struggling to acquire — or provide — much-needed long term care, the time to act is now.
Why Music Therapy?
Why not?
Bridging the gap between being creative and helping others comes into existence in the form of Music Therapy.
Are you looking to become a music therapist? There are currently four programs of study across Canada. These include:
- Acadia University (BMT or Certificate)
- Canadian Mennonite University (BMT)
- Concordia University (MA or GrDip)
- Wilfred Laurier University (BMT or MMT)
There are many resources to help caregivers, friends, families, and students understand what music therapy is and what it can do for those in your community.
Here are a few useful websites to use:
- www.musictherapy.ca
- www.musictherapyacademy.com
- www.musictherapyontario.com
- www.atlanticmusictherapy.ca
- www.mtabc.com
5 Must-Have Estate Planning Tools for Wealthy Investors
When you’re actively working toward building wealth, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re taking steps to protect it. Taking the time to develop an estate plan is a must for wealthy investors and the sooner you get started, the better. If you don’t have an estate plan in place yet, you can take a look at some important tools that you can use to safeguard your nest egg.
1. A Last Will and Testament
A will is the most basic element of any estate plan and it’s particularly important when you have a large estate and/or minor children. Besides allowing you to spell out the exact distribution of your assets to your heirs, a will gives you the power to name an executor and specify guardians for your kids. A will is subject to the probate process so if you have assets that you want to exclude from probate, consider the next tool on our list.
2. A Trust
A trust is a legal entity that allows you to transfer control of certain assets to a trustee. You can act as your own trustee during your lifetime and name someone else to succeed you after your death.
The trustee’s job is to ensure that the assets in the trust are managed according to your specific wishes. For example, you can spell out the terms under which your children can inherit their share of your estate or arrange for charitable donations to be made from your estate.
A trust can take effect during your lifetime or upon your death. You also have a choice between a revocable and an irrevocable trust. The former allows for assets to be transferred in and out. But property transfers with an irrevocable trust are permanent. The type of trust you’ll need will depend on how large your estate is, how many beneficiaries you have and what you want done with your assets after you’re gone.
3. Beneficiary Designation
If you have money invested in a 401(k), IRA or another account, it’s important to be very clear on who you want the beneficiary to be. Generally, when you open these kinds of accounts, you’re asked to designate someone as your beneficiary. But if you haven’t chosen one yet, consider adding that to your to-do list.
When you die without listing beneficiaries, your heirs have to wait out the probate process before collecting whatever you’ve left them. At that point, the money would be distributed according to your state’s inheritance laws. Making sure you have the appropriate beneficiary designation forms on file for each of your investment accounts can eliminate any problems or delays down the line.
4. Long-Term Care Insurance
Medical costs can easily eat into your savings and purchasing long-term care insurance can offset some of the expense. This kind of insurance is designed to pay out a daily benefit when you require eldercare so you can avoid having to spend down your assets to qualify for Medicaid. If you’re worried about seeing all your investment returns go up in smoke, it might be worth it to spend a few thousand dollars a year on a long-term care policy.
5. Life Insurance
You might be thinking that if you’ve built up a sizable base of wealth you don’t need life insurance. But that’s not necessarily true. Life insurance can be used to pay down any lingering debts owed by your estate, cover funeral and burial expenses or pay for your child’s college expenses later down the line.
If you figure out how much life insurance you need and purchase a policy, you’ll be creating a fund your heirs can draw on to settle your estate.
The Bottom Line
Mapping out your estate plan is an important part of building and preserving wealth for the long term. Taking an in-depth look at the five tools we’ve outlined here is a good starting point if you’re not sure where to begin.
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/monkeybusinessimages, ©iStock.com/Natallia Karol, ©iStock.com/PamelaJoeMcFarlane
via twitter.
Related Reading:
America’s long-term care crisis is worsening.
Long term care is something most of us will need as we grow older…
…Unfortunately, this type of care is extremely expensive, and for many Americans, downright unaffordable. Most seniors simply don’t have the average $100,000 a year for a nursing home, $45,000 for assisted living, or $33,000 for in-home care…
…With millions of seniors and their families struggling to acquire — or provide — much-needed long term care, the time to act is now.
Long term care is something most of us will need as we grow older.
We might develop chronic diseases, mobility issues, Alzheimer’s or other conditions that prevent us from fully caring for ourselves. (Long term care includes everything from assisted living to skilled nursing facilities to in-home care.) According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, 52% of adults reaching age 65 today will require long-term assistance with daily activities such as eating, dressing, and bathing during their senior years.
Unfortunately, this type of care is extremely expensive, and for many Americans, downright unaffordable. Most seniors simply don’t have the average $100,000 a year for a nursing home, $45,000 for assisted living, or $33,000 for in-home care.
Read more from our new op-ed by clicking here.