Ed B
Recycles dryer sheets
I have mentioned my mother's situation on one or two other threads. In a nutshell she had an aggressive back surgery in March 2016 that was badly botched. She lost the use of her left leg, suffered staph infections, and went into decline resulting in a feeding tube for a few months to keep her from starving to death. She nearly passing away three times. She has been in a skilled nursing facility since June 2016 with Medicare paying the first 100 days and private pay for most of the remainder. The team of physicians treating her told us she would not recover and the internists suggested hospice. We sold Mom's home to help keep her in a private room as long as possible.
The good news is she has gaining use of her left leg, is eating with the feeding tube and is now walking short distances with a walker. Four months ago it took two people "max assist" to move her from the bed to the wheel chair, from wheel chair to potty, and back. Now she transfers herself with no assistance. She is ready to graduate from skilled nursing to assisted living.
So here is where I need advice. Her income consists of ~$2550 per month from a modest pension and social security. The cost of the Assisted Living apartment, including things like laundry service, three meals a day, snacks, cable TV, activities and assistance (as needed) from nurse techs and nurses is slightly under $3400 per month. So we need about $900/month or $10800 per year from her assets to cover the cost.
She has $119,000 in liquid assets between her checking account and two savings accounts. None of which are earning anything worth mentioning.
I am considering taking $100k of her money and putting it into something like the Vanguard Wellsely or Wellington fund so she can get some kind of return. My thought is that the $19,000 we keep in her checking will cover her expenses for a year and a half (she moves into the assisted living apartment June this year). Then, starting January 2019 and each January thereafter we take out what we need for that year to cover her expenses. Rinse and repeat until her fund is depleted.
If we keep her money where it is she has enough, on paper, to pay for her assisted living for about 11 years. I am hoping to stretch that out even further, or if she recovers enough to move out on her own completely, to have a little more for her to use however she wishes.
Is the risk of investing in a fund like these outweighed by returns that should make her money last a couple of years longer? I know we will have to sell shares of the fund by year three to pay her yearly expenses, since the average returns from these funds produce about 4.5%. But 4.5% is far better than what she gets today.
Thanks in advance.
The good news is she has gaining use of her left leg, is eating with the feeding tube and is now walking short distances with a walker. Four months ago it took two people "max assist" to move her from the bed to the wheel chair, from wheel chair to potty, and back. Now she transfers herself with no assistance. She is ready to graduate from skilled nursing to assisted living.
So here is where I need advice. Her income consists of ~$2550 per month from a modest pension and social security. The cost of the Assisted Living apartment, including things like laundry service, three meals a day, snacks, cable TV, activities and assistance (as needed) from nurse techs and nurses is slightly under $3400 per month. So we need about $900/month or $10800 per year from her assets to cover the cost.
She has $119,000 in liquid assets between her checking account and two savings accounts. None of which are earning anything worth mentioning.
I am considering taking $100k of her money and putting it into something like the Vanguard Wellsely or Wellington fund so she can get some kind of return. My thought is that the $19,000 we keep in her checking will cover her expenses for a year and a half (she moves into the assisted living apartment June this year). Then, starting January 2019 and each January thereafter we take out what we need for that year to cover her expenses. Rinse and repeat until her fund is depleted.
If we keep her money where it is she has enough, on paper, to pay for her assisted living for about 11 years. I am hoping to stretch that out even further, or if she recovers enough to move out on her own completely, to have a little more for her to use however she wishes.
Is the risk of investing in a fund like these outweighed by returns that should make her money last a couple of years longer? I know we will have to sell shares of the fund by year three to pay her yearly expenses, since the average returns from these funds produce about 4.5%. But 4.5% is far better than what she gets today.
Thanks in advance.
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