Silver Roller’s Toolkit: part 1

George Louw
By George Louw
10 Min Read

A topic often overlooked but inherent to growing old is a reduced income as a result of pension or the inability to work. With a few lifestyle changes, it is still possible to live off this smaller budget

As we move beyond the age where our hair turns silver, most of us start scaling down. Retirement insidiously creeps up on us. And before we know it the day arrives and, all of a sudden, there is a huge void where there used to be activity, stress and adrenaline. More often than not, this void is accentuated by another void: The void in our wallets.

So, before looking into the usual focus points covered when discussing the pitfalls of ageing, that of “mind, body and soul” (which we will cover in Part II), let’s first look at financial security.

There is an adage that goes: “Dying with money is better than living without it.” I have adapted this to: “Live in a way that you die at an age where you can still afford to live.” So I eat a lot of cheesecake so that I can die sooner…

On a more serious note, as we get older and are not able to work as productively as before – or at all – money becomes more of an issue. The factors that come to the fore include medical expenses, caregiver expenses, rent, water and electricity. We need more but we have less.

The government does not help either. If we earn below a certain amount, the government assists with a disability grant. When we hit 60, instead of adding the state pension to the disability grant, they replace the one with the other … Not much help, is it?

So what to do? There is no magic solution. The only answer is to be disciplined and wide awake. Don’t spend your money on things that don’t add value, and change the way you pay for things.

For instance the three things that we love spending money on freely are things that boost our vanity, that give us pleasure and that make us more comfortable. Everything else becomes a grudge purchase. We think twice before we spend money on electricity, water and healthcare. So if you have to choose between cigarettes and beer on the one hand and better healthcare on the other, consider your options carefully.

Here are a few practical tips that could make life easier:

Financial security once on pension

I’m not a financial planner so I cannot give you investment advice, but I went to school with a guy who now runs an investment company. Although he has written a host of books, one piece of advice from him has stuck with me: No matter what we earn, there is always someone who earns ten percent less and is able to cope with it. So become that person. Take ten percent off your salary and invest it. Start young. The earlier you start, the better the growth will be.

Another piece of advice: If an investment opportunity looks too good to be true, it usually is. Be very careful where you invest.

When the time for retirement approaches, look at your finances carefully and get rid of unnecessary and often hidden costs. Most important here is the bond on your house – get it paid up and cancel the life insurance that covers the bond. It saves you the monthly payment and usually there is an amount that is paid out to you.

Accessible living space

As you grow older, go smaller and fully accessible. Don’t worry about the eventual resale value of your home. The able-bodied elderly also become frail and appreciate grab rails and shower chairs as much as any person with SCI.

Look at prepaid electricity

Once the children are out of the house, electricity usage goes down and the bulk of costs is made up by the monthly service and capacity charges. With prepaid electricity the unit charges are a bit higher, but there are no service and capacity charges – so as long as the usage is low, you save a lot.

Don’t skimp on the things you enjoy. If you like TV, keep your DSTV if you can afford it, otherwise the evenings might become boring. Kafoefel does not come as naturally to the elderly with SCIs as we would like, so we need other distractions…

Smartly scaling down medical aid

When money gets tight, one of the things we scale down on is our medical aid, but we must do so intelligently. If we go for cheaper options, we get less benefits at a time when we need more. Remember the following:

• If you calculate the rand difference between contributions to a hospital plan and to a comprehensive plan, and if you then compare the annual contribution difference to the caps on day-to-day benefits, you will find that the total of the day-to-day benefits is similar to the annual contributions – so effectively it is rand out for rand in.

• We may struggle to pay for antibiotics, glasses or dental fillings, but an expensive hospital admission without good medical aid cover could bankrupt us. So if you need to buy down, rather go for a hospital plan. They usually come with reasonable chronic medication, pathology and radiology benefits, particularly for prescribed minimum benefit conditions.

• Make a list of all your specific high-cost needs and make sure your benefit choice covers it. As a person with disability, if you are earning enough to pay income tax, you can reclaim a portion of your medical aid contributions and self-funded and disability-related medical expenses from the taxman. There are forms to fill in and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is very strict, so consider asking a tax consultant to do it for you.

• Submit all your self-funded medical purchases, from Panado to bifocals, incontinence wear and your  wheelchair to your medical aid. They will record it and at the end of the tax year provide you with a tax certificate. SARS accepts this certificate far more readily than all your individual payment advices (but keep these as back-ups).

Lastly, be very careful of switching medical aids. Even if you go directly from one medical aid to another, there is still a three-month waiting period before you can claim (except for emergencies), and a 12-month waiting period for pre-existing conditions. However, if you are retrenched and forced to go off your employer’s medical aid, there are no waiting periods. So think smart, budget smart and live smart!

Ground-breaking ruling in favour of single-use catheters

The Council for Medical Schemes recently ruled in favour of medical aids funding single-use catheters for its members. It sets precedence for other medical aid members who suffer from recurring UTIs to switch to sterile single-use hydrophilic catheters. Under the ruling, members should not be penalised for using the product, thus no co-payment is required.

Read more on the ROLLING INSPIRATION website and catch the full story in the next issue!

 


Ida’s Corner is a regular column by George Louw, who qualified as a medical doctor, but, due to a progressing spastic paralysis, he chose a career in health administration. The column is named after Ida Hlongwa, who worked as caregiver for Ari Seirlis for 20 years. Her charm, smile, commitment, quality care and sacrifice set the bar incredibly high for the caregiving fraternity.
email: georgelou@medscheme.co.za

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George Louw
By George Louw Health Administration
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Ida’s Corner is a regular column by George Louw, who qualified as a medical doctor, but, due to a progressing spastic paralysis, chose a career in health administration. The column is named after Ida Hlongwa, who worked as caregiver for Ari Seirlis for 20 years. Her charm, smile, commitment, quality care and sacrifice set the bar incredibly high for the caregiving fraternity. email: yorslo@icloud.com
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