Spending my pre-dotage occasionally commenting on OLO is more than a privilege for this punter. With a world renowned Submarine Matters website to boot http://gentleseas.blogspot.com.au/ .

Though I cannot claim to be a "superannuant" understood to be a species of rare dugong lungfish that covertly populates that artesian bore below Pine Gap.

Poida Esq.

plantagenet & Ross Elliot, one week ago i was downstairs cleaning paint off all the cars under the building. All had been splashed with artist paint by some alienated youth stolen from the local youth centre conveniently located where the gang can get together & terrorize the neighbourhood.

is everything invented by socialists, antisocial?

Dearest imacentristmoderate.

You are clearly a greeny, Trotskyite, commie person.

I voted for the Liberals/Abbott last election and will again.

Yours

Poida

plantagenet, i wasn't blaiming you, just telling the story.

A few weeks ago the hammer from heaven hit me turning all my 72 year old muscles that still worked ,hopefully occasionally, into jelly!

Living alone has some compensations, but not right then. As I lay on my floor barely conscious and wondering what the hell had just happened? I worked out that I lay just under my phone and may have been able to reach it and summon help. But realized that they'd have to break a door down to get in.

It was then I started the longest Marathon I'd ever completed. I'd run over fifty miles in a go regularly when I was younger, and before I hurt my spine.

The back door was only 40 odd feet from where I lay to the back door which I believed I could still open.

It took 3 Thoroughly exhausting hours to reach it, doing an amazing inch a minute. Using my atrophied and continually cramping hamies and my elbows, which still worked in a manner of speaking, so to speak.

Eventually a near neighbor, Sophie, arrived and having spotted me lying there, inquired if I needed an ambulance?

After that it was a couple of very strong and gut busting ambos, getting me up into a chair then a stretcher and off to hospital.

From where I was airlifted to a major regional hospital and some eye opening encounters and experiences! hard to believe and demonstrating anyone living alone and old needs to already have a power of attorney safely in the hands of a truly trustworthy friend or relative!

Given there are many ways to become a victim than just being old alone and relatively poor! And that is easily accomplished by being forced into early retirement by life changing injury and placed in a position where the outgoings were always more than that coming in from all sources including super! More later.
Rhrosty.

Don't take much notice of this doom and gloom, not enough accommodation, not enough super, not enough health care stuff; especially from people who have a stake in the 'industries' concerned.

The long-livers are just about finished. They come from the Depression, world war eras: tough old birds who led simple lives, without the rubbish food eaten today. Already, baby-boomers are popping their clogs right, left and centre - many not reaching 70.

And be particularly careful of anyone connected to the Property Council. Grasping, greedy buggers they are, who come up with these theories so that they can get more government help to build more and more housing.

One of those experiences included visiting hell and the most evil incarnate I've ever encountered. Evil co strong to be palpable and the most terrifying experience I've ever experienced.

Is this what you want? it inquired of me showing me a vision of a world where I could have anything,always providing I could just junk every moral conviction I've ever held as worthwhile and or of some value.

This world didn't have even as much as a single drop of the milk of human kindness; wasted nothing nor left any victim untouched ,when they could be harvested for their work effort, or recoverable assets, inclusive of their transferable organs, viable sperm or eggs, or just their gold teeth, human hair, including pubic hair, for which there seems to be a growing market?

It was a truly horrifying vision and a world we seem hell bent on creating?

Where the only goal seemed to become the spit lickle compliant servant of this monstrously evil entity! With words like ambition, aspiration or legal, made it all seem okay or right and still ringing in my ears?

I have no beef with honestly earned and deserved wealth; but not that that is even partly the product of slave wages, child labor, elder abuse, rip offs and patently manufactured unnecessary money for nothing scams?

Don't think of tax as an impost, but rather the price of privilege that lets one earn an honest dollar in the best country on earth! Remember one doesn't pay tax on their losses just the real after cost profits.

I can remember praying to dear God, don't let this intensely cruel world ever become part of any reality that I shared! You can say it was just a damaged brain producing some terrifying hallucinations; and it could have been!?

We'll never know, until we all reach an end point and ultimate justice from the pointing finger of the man in the mirror, the harshest judge of all!
Rhrosty.

Rhosty...

Good luck and get well soon!

Article:

As the cost of living increases much faster than the official version, for many on pensions, renting is now becoming an opt-out, not an option.

Housing affordability has become the quiet plague.

Australia increasingly advances into a country of rich conformists, versus a majority of poor Desperados; a situation set not to change anytime soon, towards any improvement to the lot of the poor!

glad to hear you are recoverying from a truely horrific experience Rhrosty. Sounds like the vision was or as bad as the physical pain. Thank God for your neigbour and ambos. Just spent some days in the big smoke at one of the major hospitals trying to help out a friend. Had mixed feelings about the health system as it is a massive wealth producer for many. On the other hand, I was thoroughly impressed by the doctors and nurses (including muslim) who were professional and displayed empathy for the patients.

Rhosty,

Sorry to hear about your medical problems, but at least from your recent post it does not seem as if you mental faculties have been harmed.

I am currently involved helping elderly people update their mobile phones, so that if they have an experience like yours they will not wait hours for assistance. I have been able to get the cost down to $15 for the phone, and 50 cents for the annual running cost (excluding any non-medical calls they would wish to make).

You may be able to explain why so many elderly people live alone, when having a companion or lodger could mean the difference between a quick trip to hospital and being found dead on the lounge room floor weeks later. Is it that they just cannot face the likely outcome of their lifestyle, or is there another reason?

This article is not completely true re residential care facilities, in that most of them have to have some 'concessional beds' for residents who are on full pensions and don't have a house to sell to pay for the bond into the facility.

So, there will always be Government funded places for most who need them, otherwise the hospitals would be full of people waiting for placement in aged care facilities.

Yes, there are already some aged people waiting in hospitals for placement, but there are also many more aged care facilities being built, and the Government is also widening the availability of community aged care packages for people to stay at home longer.
Mind you, one is better of being on a full pension when you retire than a self funded retiree, because the cost of aged care for self-funded retirees is awful.
If you own a house, put all your retirement money into that!

Thank you one and all for your kind thoughts and best wishes. I'm told I have made a quite miraculous recovery, and believe I owe that and all that I've retained to the chap upstairs; who I've never stopped believing in!

Just the organized religions who purport to know his mind and self select to speak for him.

Put your money into your home by all means Susan. But know this, you can be declared incompetent and your goods and chattels inclusive of a solely occupied home sold at public auction in order to recover the cost of the nursing home; that you can be placed in.

Even against your express wishes if you don't have the brains to organize a power of enduring attorney while you have all your marbles still rattling around in their proper place! Anyone can have a stroke at any time!

I chose to live alone given the level of reported elder abuse that seems par for the course in today's world?
Even so I'm not averse to finding someone I could care for and share with. If that should be part of my preordained destiny?

I'm still waiting! Although I would never ever chose to make myself someone else's burden however willing they were to shoulder it.

From a purely economic point, it costs the taxpayer far less to help an aging person to remain in his or her home, with the provision of services that private contractors can vye for. Than place them in care!

Some of which is adding to the already considerable wealth of private entities. I've always believed aged care should be provided by the not for profit sector, even if subsidized by the government to make it affordable?I just don't believe that the taxpayer can be milked in this way just to make some very wealthy folks much wealthier!
Phrosty.

Rhosty, I have worked in nursing homes and been involved at management level for 10 years. At no time was anyone deemed 'incompetent' so their house could be sold to pay the nursing home. It is extremely difficult to legally do this nowadays. There are far more aged people's rights and laws in place now to safeguard them.
In my experience it is almost always their 'loving' family who tries to fleece them of their money.

Unless your spouse is still living in the family home, then the Government works out your financial assets and let's you know how much you need to pay the nursing home for bonds and weekly payments for care. Most people need to sell their family home to afford these bonds and payments, but the family gets most of the bond money back after you die or leave the nursing home.
If you don't own much assets, then you will occupy a 'concessional bed', which is almost fully covered by the Government, and 85% of your pension.

The Government already does heavily subsidize aged care residential facilities ( nursing homes and hostels) and they don't make much profit at all. However, the retirement village operators do very well.
The most disadvantaged aged people are those on a full pension who rent.

"The most disadvantaged aged people are those on a full pension who rent"

The most discriminated against and disadvantaged are those who have struggled to buy their own home and to provide for themselves in their old age. Few are wealthy and have the income to maintain their quality of life.

I am sure we are seeing the last of the generations who have been able to continue their independent lifestyles in the home they raised their family. Unfortunately for most, the suburbs have expanded past them and their Council rates and utility charges have continued to grow exponentially.

Along with others I do voluntary work to help people maintain themselves in their family home, helping with no or low cost work about the house and garden. It is has become very apparent over the years that many miss meals to pay for the maintenance that has to be done, such as the replacement toilet cistern that will send them to the wall with water charges if they don't get it fixed ASAP. Referring to water and energy too where the old are concerned, both should be treated as a social and cultural good, rather than primarily as an ‘economic good’.

It has been well proved that it is cheaper for government to assist the old to maintain their independence in their own home. The problem is that since the public agencies have been corporatised and both sides of government no longer subscribe to the notion of community benefit and bearing mind the notorious lack of cooperation between tiers of government, the old are being squeezed out of their savings and out of their homes of a lifetime. The entrepreneurs knocking down established inner city suburbs for expensive apartments and their mates developing cheap land for 'retirement living' would think that is a good idea of course.

No OTB, after visiting many many retirees in their homes over the years, there is absolutely no doubt that full pensioners living in rentals are worse off financially.

From the same meager pension that many others who own their own homes also get, they must also pay often huge rents. The waiting list for state housing is years long.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how badly off most of them are, especially those living alone.

Sometimes I am reticent in telling my story, but in this case I believe I should comment on my recent life changing situation, one not dissimilar to what I believe Rhrosty may have experienced.

Approximately two years ago I was helping my then 6 year old son navigate a floating obstacle course (blow up pool slide thingy) when after safely letting him go down the two metre high slide at the end of the device, it collapsed and I fell head first into the 1.2 metre deep pool.

For a 47 year old man of some six foot four inches tall (now long as my wife says) I smashed my head on the bottom of the pool and subsequently began to drown as I could not get my head above the waterline for some strange reason. Fortunately my sister-in-law, also in the pool Realiised something was wrong and saved me from drowning at the last minute.

Needless to say I had shattered a number of vertebrae (partial c5, full c6, partial c7) and was airlifted to hospital for a life saving operation and eight months of rehabilitation.

Fortunately for me I had some good financial luck, or at least I thought so to start with.

My then full time employment allowed me to use up my annual, sick and long service leave to continue my full payment for approximately 6 months and luckily I also had access to 18 months of employee insurance payments ( roughly a quarter of my normal full pay amount). I also had my wife working permanent part-time throughout and caring for the kids 60kms south of my hospital bed.
(Cont'd)

(Cont'd)
Whilst I sat in my wheelchair as a new member of the tetraplegic club I began to wonder at the level of care and support my fellow patients in rehab were receiving.

I for one was considered lucky by my fellow rehab inmates, I had money coming in through work and some insurance money too (after threatening legal action because the insurer stalled and fought all the way to the end before coughing up), just what you need when your life is turned upside down.

Anyway, a few (at least three) others at rehab (all having either been on the dole, unemployed or seriously at fault in relation to their spinal situation) seemed to be getting by just fine with the state and federal government throwing money and services at them that I just could not seem to obtain.

In the end I did some digging and was informed that due to my income (leave pay and insurance payments) apparently I had too much money and therefore was not entitled to any government support, not that I really minded, I have never ever received any government support, something I neither expected or needed.

What really got up my goat was on a Friday afternoon when I sat contemplating my wife and kid's visit which was to occur on the Saturday, suddenly a large white van pulled up near to where I was parked. Out jumped two young women in their mid twenties, inquiring if I knew where a fellow inmate was. He arrived on the scene letting me know "isn't this great, my two carers have come to pick me up and take me out for the entire weekend, I'll see you Sunday arvo" then he was loaded up and gone.

I was a little miffed at the situation as the guy in question had been unemployed prior to his spinal cord accident, which was solely due to his own stupidity And here I sat with no such support because I had too much income (never mind my mortgage payments, and expenses raising a family).
(Cont'd)

(Cont'd)
Nevertheless I worked toward discharge and getting myself home to my family.

Here I am some 18 months later, running low on my own funds (probably run dry in June or July next year). Never mind, I am sure I can then join my old wheelchair mates sucking off the old government teat.

I remain in contact with these others I have mentioned above, marvelling at the level of free care they get, cares, transport, free medication and doctors costs, in one case receiving a shiny new purpose built disabled living unit, craned into his mothers backyard at no expense to him, gotta love those handouts.

Meanwhile I work on how we will get by once my super money runs out, I guess by then I will be entitled to the disability pension, provided the wife does not earn too much and our dwindling assets are not deemed excessive.

I think I will just become middle aged, poor and eventually lonley before making the transition to old, poor and lonely.

Just glad to see Rhrosty back onboard, I was beginning to wonder where he had snuck off to!

I would like to have written more, but typing with one thumb gets hard after a while and I have probably said enough. Thanks for reading such a long post,
Cheers Geoff

GOP

Your mates are playing "lay down misere". It's legitimate. You need to design your bad hand for a win...find a way!

Susan sweetheart, I never meant to imply/infer that nursing homes rip off the old and lonely. But rather those that may stand to gain from the disbursement of assets?

Where there's a will there's always a relative! And then not every time; and the person/victim needs to be vulnerable and not properly protected?

And the state can be quite pedantic regarding the cost of aged care or funeral costs.

As nice as these "retirement" homes can be along with the Angels who for far too little, run them; I would rather die than be confined in one slowly vegetating in front of a tele or community singsong; or organised thingamebob; as my father did!

And not all who look after the old and lonely are absolute angels as I'm sure you are? For some it's just a pay packet, with the elderly just an inconvenience that needs to be managed.

I've heard of horror stories, people managed with catheters in them, contacting golden staph in flea infested institutions that seemingly care only about "efficiency " and the profit curve?

Shifts that reportedly include 40 hours off and 200 on with a cot?

And overworked folks all but dead on their feet having run from one genuine crisis to another; and absolute angels all but dead on their feet, because of a genuine commitment to the care of their geriatric responsibilities or disabled partners.

Geoff talks about the government teat. All true Geoff, but it's a lot smaller and less of an impost on the taxpayer, if folks can be kepmanaged at home, and die surrounded by their own.

I fully agree with Susan about relatives, some of whom can be quite heartless, just concerned about getting as much money from the estate as can be extracted?

A single pension is jusT 25% of the male average And the 15% a generous system returns to the resident may be required for washing powder for the communal machine etc. and personal care items, replacement of worn clothing etc.

The trouble with nursing homes is they're filled with old folks.
Rhrosty.

Hi Geoff, it certainly sounds like you and your family have had an awful time of it.

I believe you will be better off if the Government decides to extend the areas involved with the new 'My Way' disability packages and services they are currently trialing in the Southwest and Perth Hills.
It has been set up with a huge injection of disability funds for those under 65 years who had originally not been dealt with as well as those over 65 years old living in the community.
It has been amazing how many hours of care and added extras have been given to disabled people who had previously not had enough care in their homes.

Unfortunately, up to now, it seems that only those critically injured like yourself in no-fault motor vehicle accidents, received anything near the support they needed to live in their own homes in the community.

Thanks Suseonline, I totally agree with your views.

I just feel disappointed I have to hollow out my life saving and existing Super before I am given any outside assistance, and I am not asking for much, a health care card would be great just to offset the ridiculous cost of my medicine.

I am very fortunate my wife has the necessary experience to care for me at home as well as run the house and care for our two boys aged 8 and 11. Without her I do not know what I would do?

Prior to my accident I was almost debt free and undertaking a tree change, now I have a three quarters finished house on 13 acres 1 hour south of Perth, not disability friendly, and have rented a house near Perth due to medical reasons. With my small mortgage and now rent plus additional living expenses I know we face some very tough decisions in the near future, such is life I guess.

I just get annoyed as I know with a little bit of support things may have turned out much easier.

In hindsight I would have been better off unemployed and just another slacker happy to suckle off the govt teat, unfortunately for me I am just not that way inclined, ironic isn't it!

Without wanting to sound contentious Susie but my wife has had direct contact with ' My Way' disability packages. They are not all they are cut out to be. Her brother with down syndrome was receiving 24/7 care. Now despite no family members living within hundreds of kilometres of her brother the family is told their is not enough in the trough for the needed care. Another good friend who has a severely disabled friend is being somewhat abandoned. I am not saying for one moment it should be all Government responsibility however I have been sickened by the fact that now some ngo's are picking and choosing who they look after. Wherever their is tax payer money the vultures are attracted.

Suseonline, all state, territory & local governments have during the mining boom built heaps of public housing. the only reason we have poor Australian pensioners on the waiting list is because left wing bleeding hearts insist on bringing in migrants.

I am sorry to hear about those people Runner. I know dozens of My Way recipients in the South West who are now far better off than they were before My Way was commenced.

The main problems have been with actually starting the disabled clients on a package, as it takes many weeks before they even get assessed for a package, let alone before they see any staff to give them care at home.

It has been frustrating, but still they have much more help than they had before.
You are probably right about the care providers picking and choosing who they take on, but no one seems to know how the clients are allocated.

Suseonline, i worked in disability services for years, had disability community leaders among my clients. With the NDIS there is even less money for front line services as even more money is going on admin. Many people are being pushed out of specialized services that worked better into generalized, under trained services that provide less & cost more at the same time.

Good luck to Rhrosty trying to find someone trustworthy enough to entrust with power of attorney. Giving EPA to anyone who might want those assets before you are dead is economic suicide. I wrote my book Doctoring Dying in 2008 after a horror run with one of these much abused documents. EPAs are being abused hell, west and crooked by younger people with a false sense of inheritance, or those approaching retirement who haven't paid off their mortgage, or those just fancying spending aunt or uncle's assets (and heaven forbid an older person who contemplates repartnering). And don't expect doctors to do the right thing. Too many are willing to sign off that you have 'lost it' - even if they have never seen you (let alone not made an assessment). Once you are deemed as lacking capacity, you have all rights revoked. You can't appeal, you can't engage a lawyer, you can't ask a doctor to reassess. You are silenced and, if you speak out, you are 'diagnosed' with behavioural symptoms of dementia and chemically restrained. Governments of all persuasions know EPAs and medical assessments are being abused, but don't change the rules to protect the (mostly elderly) victims - because governments want to see family homes sold off and the money liberated to stimulate their mismanaged economies.

Rhosty
I am glad I have friends and family who just pop in three or four times a week so I hope I won't fall down and not be able to get up.

I train in the gym for a bad back. My trainer keeps me moving, stretching, lifting because he says many older people can't catch themselves when they trip, so they fall and break a hip.

We must all keep vigorously exercising.

As for dying alone- this is how the article on "If You Are the One" ended: it's a fear many people have , and the show has captured the imagination of many.