Episode 41 - How to Plan Senior Care Without Breaking the Bank
As parents age, many of us find ourselves stepping into a new role: caregiver, advocate, and decision-maker. In this heartfelt and highly practical episode, Deb Meyer is joined by Erin Dwyer-Busch, elder care consultant and owner of the St. Louis location of Senior Care Authority. Erin shares her personal journey from pediatric speech therapist to trusted advisor for families navigating the complex world of senior care.
Whether you're concerned about a parent’s driving, exploring assisted living options, or unsure how to start the conversation about long-term care, Erin brings expert insights. This is a must-listen for parents who want to care for their own children while supporting aging loved ones, without compromising financial stability or emotional well-being.
What You’ll Learn:
The signs it’s time to move from aging in place to professional care
How early planning leads to better choices, lower costs, and less stress during a crisis
What most families get wrong about long-term care insurance and how to make smarter policy decisions
The real costs of senior care today, including assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes
How to navigate tough conversations like taking away the car keys
“It’s not about age, it’s about skill and self-awareness. The sooner we plan, the more options we have.” – Erin Dwyer-Busch
Episode Highlights
(00:00) - Elder Care Transitions and Health Diagnoses
(05:28) - Navigating Elder Care Options and Driving
(14:15) - Long-Term Care Possibilities
(25:23) - Senior Care Options and Financial Planning
Connect with Erin & Her Team
🔗 Senior Care Authority - St. Louis
📞 314-451-2255
Connect with Deb Meyer
Website: WorthyNest.com/podcast
Full transcript
Deb Meyer (00:00.632)
Parents are such an important part of our formation when we are children. But as we age, our parents also age. And today's guest, Erin Dwyer-Bush, spent 17 years working as a speech and language pathologist before she started the St. Louis location of Senior Care Authority. She recognized that a growing number of baby boomers and their adult children want trustworthy guidance about senior care transitions. And aging in home isn't always the answer. Sometimes assisted living or memory care facilities are necessary.
Erin, welcome to the Beyond Budgets podcast! I'm excited to talk about not only your work at Senior Care Authority, but even just hearing how you made the transition from speech and language pathology to elder care. You know, it's pretty big leap. So can you tell me a little more about why you made that transition and why you're so passionate about helping seniors?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (00:34.766)
Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So yes, it does seem kind of like a big leap. Most of my experience in pediatrics and speech therapy was in pediatrics, but near the end of my active career as speech language pathologist, I was working with families who their parents were on Medicare. And so Medicare would stop coverage for therapy, even though they were doing really well.
Families would say, “but my dad is doing really well after his stroke. Why did Medicare stop paying for speech therapy?” They would call me and have me do some private sessions. So that made me think about, hmm, the older population, the older adults. Maybe I should consider working with older adults. There's a hole, there's a need there.
But really the impetus for me deciding to start my franchise, to buy my territory in St. Louis, was because I had a good friend of mine going through this with her parents. Her mom was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and trying to organize all the caregiving situations and she just didn't know what she didn't know. She didn't know how to vet a home care company. Then her dad who was the primary caregiver passed away suddenly. They were scrambling and trying to figure out. It really does take a village to navigate this care situation. And so her trials and tribulations are my why.
I didn't want any other family to have to go through what she went through just because she was in it, in the thick of it, emotionally attached, but she just, she didn't know the resources. She didn't know what was out there. She didn't know the questions to ask.
Deb Meyer (02:30.52)
Sure. Well, thank you for sharing that. I do think it's important, especially in her case, having that sudden health diagnosis. And it can be not only emotionally overwhelming, but even create some financial turmoil, perhaps, for a lot of families. How do you guys help navigate that very turbulent time when there is an unexpected health diagnosis?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (02:56.962)
What I love about our company in particular is we don't just focus on the residential placement. The senior communities aren't our only focus. We're able to meet the family where they are and walk them through. So if they wanna stay at home, great, we can do that. We have elder care consulting. We meet the family where they are, what their goal is, and we always say we have a plan A, a plan B, and plan C. It's never too early to start planning.
A lot of times a health crisis comes in and you're having to shift. So we did want to stay at home, but now mom is in a wheelchair after her hip fracture and the hallways are too narrow and now mom can't get down the hall or the bath, there's a bathtub. How do we get mom over? Sometimes you have to pivot and say, “I know you really wanted to stay at home and I wanted that for you, but now something has come and gotten in the way and now we have to pivot.” So we're able to walk them through all of that.
Deb Meyer (03:38.626)
Mm-hmm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (03:51.116)
And that's the good thing about calling us in early enough is that we can be the ones to talk to the hospital, talk to the rehab, to figure out a plan instead of just, mama's getting discharged tomorrow. What do I do? She can't come home. We can help in crisis. We can, but it's usually there's fewer choices when there's a crisis.
If you can call us early enough, we can walk you through how to navigate the healthcare situation, Medicare, how to appeal, what your rights are, what to say, what to ask for, durable medical equipment, all of that stuff. If we're called in early enough, we can help with that. So like I said, we can help in a crisis. It's just, it's preferred if you can call before that. We have those plans in place and can walk you through it.
Deb Meyer (04:35.662)
Yeah, and talking along those lines, guess, you know, for a lot of health diagnosis, they might not be this sudden onset. It could be something like dementia or Alzheimer's, an early stage of that. And I guess how do you navigate that differently than, you know, some of those more emergent situations? Are you typically retained as an elder care consultant for several years as the disease progresses?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (05:02.638)
Correct, correct. could be a long projection. And that's the good thing is we can, you know, it can be a couple of months, it can be a couple of weeks, it can be a couple of years. We really don't have a timeline. So if it's going to be a longer term relationship, that's where we really suggest the elder care consulting, because maybe mom just got diagnosed with Alzheimer's. That doesn't necessarily mean that she's going to, you know, take this downward turn. It could be years. We don't know. And so if you just need help right now on maybe making home safe,
for somebody with some mild cognitive impairment, for example, or some short-term memory loss, we can help with that. And then as the disease progresses, maybe mom is no longer safe to be at home because she's leaving home and wandering out. Well, that's no longer safe. So she can't be home alone. So then we're looking at either 24-7 care, which gets very expensive, or moving to a community and we can weigh those options and then we can pivot with the family. So if it becomes placement,
then that 99 % of the time is paid for by the community. So then we would stop the consulting and then switch to placement in that. So we're able to pivot with the families, which is great.
Deb Meyer (06:08.364)
Yeah, and it sounds like you really have a lot of different service offerings. You know, you're going from elder care consultant to potentially placement services, helping vet the providers that are going to be providing that care to the family member. Okay, good. So I guess one of my follow-up questions is just around that Beyond Driving with Dignity program, because I know you and I talked about that a little bit before our
interview today. Is there any specific age at which an elderly parent should really stop driving?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (06:43.726)
No, and I get asked that a lot, you know, is there a specific age or what's the youngest you failed and the oldest you passed? And I love that question because it really does show the range that there is no concrete cutoff. I always say over and over again, it's not age, it's self-awareness and skill. So if somebody is lacking the skills at 55, well, they shouldn't be driving. But if they have the skills at 85 and they're aware of, you know, maybe, oh, I don't drive at night anymore because my vision is not so great, but everything else is great.
why stop driving at 85? It's just a number. So that's what I always say. But our program Beyond Driving with Dignity, the cognitive tasks that we have them do are highly correlated to one's ability to drive. So these are just not randomly chosen cognitive assessments. These are actually scientifically proven to be correlated with one's ability to drive safely. So we're looking at all of that.
in conjunction with their health history and medications and their sleep habits and their social isolation, all of those things. So back to your question, I did have somebody diagnosed with early Alzheimer's at 56, but even though she was impaired verbally, she had some verbal aphasia, her cognition was fine. She drove great. But then you looked at somebody who was actually 57 and he had a massive stroke and he did not pass.
Deb Meyer (08:06.296)
Mm. Sure.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (08:07.864)
But I've had people 85 years old pass because they don't have that same impairment. They're just a little bit older in age, but their cognition is intact, their memory is intact. And sometimes what you did for a living has an impact. So I had a gentleman that he was a driver's ed instructor. Well, guess what? He knew those road signs backwards and forwards. He knew exactly all the rules on the road. He was great. It didn't matter that he was 84 years old. He drove very well.
Deb Meyer (08:25.484)
Okay.
Deb Meyer (08:32.216)
Sure.
He did it for a living, yeah.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (08:35.982)
Yeah, exactly. almost that rote memory, know, that muscle memory. So yes, it definitely doesn't matter about age at all. Our program is for older adults. So we're looking, you know, at 55 plus. That's just how my program works. But there is no definitive age when you should stop driving. It's more about skill and self-awareness.
Deb Meyer (08:38.648)
too.
Deb Meyer (08:53.888)
Okay, I guess as a follow-up question because listeners are coming from all over the U.S. They're not specific to St. Louis here. Are there other programs like the Driving with Dignity program in other cities and states and how would someone go about even finding that information online?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (09:12.056)
Sure. They can definitely always ask me. The good thing about Senior Care Authority is even though I run the St. Louis office, there are, we have them across the United States. We're in almost every state, almost every city now. So the Beyond Driving with Dignity is actually something that was created by Matt Gurwell. He's a retired highway patrolman and Senior Care Authority a couple years ago actually acquired the program. So it's branded for Senior Care Authority.
Deb Meyer (09:39.291)
great, okay.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (09:39.338)
But we're in almost every state, which is great. So I can connect you directly to somebody in your area. And if there is not somebody in the area, then I can give you resources for who we would contact in your city where your mom or your dad is or grandparents.
Deb Meyer (09:52.718)
Okay, okay, great. And I guess the other nuance to all of this, mean, state by state, the rules are going to vary as well in terms of when they have to retake driver's tests or if they have to retake driver's tests, right? It's not a universal, yeah, okay.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (10:06.018)
Yes, absolutely. No, so for example, in Florida, when you were new, you were new for 10 years. So a friend of mine, his mother is 91. So she renewed, she's good till 101. So do you think there's a lot that can change between 91 and 101? Yes. And oftentimes they don't even make you come back in and show that you can drive. It's just a vision test. Missouri, it's every three years after you hit 70.
Deb Meyer (10:23.394)
Yes.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (10:33.452)
Illinois is different. actually make you come in and take an on-road driving test, which I think is great. But every state is different, and that's why it's important to know your state rules and regulations.
Deb Meyer (10:43.79)
And in the situation if you're an adult child who is concerned about your parent driving just because of some of those cognitive factors you talked about, getting in touch with a driving with dignity rep, really going through that, this person is there to help provide that conversation, right? Because it can be a very difficult conversation to have with your parents. They were the one raising you, changing your diaper when you were young, and then to have to...
Erin Dwyer-Busch (11:06.43)
Absolutely. Yep.
Deb Meyer (11:11.544)
to say, hey, I don't know about, we might need to take away the car keys. That's a scary conversation, yeah.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (11:16.066)
that role reversal, it is one of the most sensitive subjects. People would rather, you know, move. There are so many things they would rather do than give up the keys. And so that's why we do this. We want to maintain the relationship, keep the child the child, keep the spouse the spouse, even keep the doctor the doctor. We want to be the ones to handle this difficult decision. We do it in a very dignified way, hence the name, but
were this neutral third party coming in. I am not the daughter who was taught to drive by dad, who dad says, you know what, when you were 17 and you got in a wreck, I didn't take your car keys away. We don't have any of that emotional family history. I am somebody coming in, giving my opinion. I write a summary report, but it's based on fact. I'm not just saying you're a bad driver or I think you should stop driving because you're quote too old. No, none of that. I'm coming in, but I also teach the family on how to have this conversation.
So a lot of times the spouse or the child will call me and say, okay, how do I even bring this up with my dad or my partner? So we walk them through how to have that conversation because it is a very difficult conversation. And I'm gonna say it's probably not gonna happen just once, that it's going to be baby stepped. You approach the subject, you have it repeatedly in a neutral setting and you make it about yourself. You don't say, dad, your driving is bad. You say, you know what dad?
Would you do me a favor? I'm just really worried about you. I love you so much. I don't want anything to happen to you. Would you consider meeting with Erin? You know, she's a speech language pathologist. She's a Beyond Driving with Dignity professional. She can come in and give us her opinion, but she's not gonna go tattle on you to the DMV or the doctor. This is a program for you. Will you just get it looked at for me? Would you do me a favor? Make it more about, you you and not about their quote, you know, their driving and things like that. But you keep it very neutral.
Deb Meyer (13:09.902)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (13:12.616)
and about your love for them and your concern for them.
Deb Meyer (13:16.59)
Sure, okay, great. So let's switch gears a little bit. I know for a lot of people, especially clients of mine, we talk about long-term care and there's a lot of different nuances to it, but a traditional long-term care policy, I'm not usually as big of a fan because I look at the premium dollars and the fact that they may not use these policies.
But I do sometimes look at long-term care and life hybrid policies for my clients. In your opinion, do you think long-term care policies are really worth it? Or can there sometimes be gotchas that people learn after the fact that maybe they're limiting the type of care, things like that?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (14:01.236)
No, and that's a great question. I am a fan of the hybrid policies as well. The standalones, I'm not such a fan of because then what if you don't use them? What happens to it? And then all of the, like you said, the little nuances on the specifications, you the elimination period, can it be used for home care? Can it be used for long-term stays in a facility? So, and I'm finding that fewer and fewer carriers are carrying long-term care insurance. So,
Deb Meyer (14:29.324)
Mm-hmm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (14:29.57)
I'm not quite sure where this is gonna go in the future. And then there's also communities that have life care plans where it's basically a pseudo long-term care insurance policy. So even if you don't have one, you can get it in other ways. But I always say, read the fine print. A lot of adult children will say, I think my mom has a long-term care policy, but I don't know where it is. Well, I can't help if I don't know what it says because every policy is different, every, you know, how it's written.
If it's an older policy versus a newer one, we need to see the nuances of what it says about the elimination period, how much it covers daily, is it home care or not, because they're all different. So if you can find that policy, we can look through it together, can help determine what it says. So it's not a black or white, are they good? That's a hard question. But again, I favor the hybrids just because I feel like you can do more with them and they're not just going to be lost. Even if people have them,
I find that they're almost afraid to use them. It's like they're just keeping them. I'm like, well, you paid into it. Why wouldn't you use this? know, get the claim going. Cause the home care companies and the, you know, the memory care and skilled nursing facilities can help you with those claims, but you have it. Why don't you use it? So I'm finding resistance even using the policy they've paid for for years.
Deb Meyer (15:34.382)
Right, right.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (15:50.974)
Or if it's lapsed, there are things we can do. I have resources for that about if it is lapsed, can we reinstate or can we sell it to a third party? But yeah, the hybrid policies to me personally are the way to go.
Deb Meyer (16:06.286)
Okay, okay. And again, it's gonna depend on each client's specific situation when they might be eligible to get the policy. Obviously, if they wait until they're already needing the long-term care at that point, it's probably fruitless to be looking for a long-term care policy. in their late 50s, early 60s, or even if you're someone in your late 50s, early 60s looking at this and you're like, hey, we have lots of longevity on our side of the family, yeah, maybe consider exploring what...
Erin Dwyer-Busch (16:20.622)
Too late. Too late.
Deb Meyer (16:36.13)
what one of those policies would look like. And also it's going to depend on asset level as well, because that's kind of a lead into my next question. I guess for those families that haven't really planned well for long-term care expenses and some of those medical bills are much higher than anticipated, a lot of people think of Medicaid as that kind of last resort, but are there any quote unquote good Medicaid facilities still left out there or?
you really putting your loved one in a compromising position if you're considering Medicaid support.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (17:14.286)
Good question. So from what we found, if you can plan even enough to be able to privately pay for a couple months at a facility that accepts Medicaid, we find that you get better care. It's basically you get what you pay for. So in all Medicaid facility where they even take Medicaid pending, we've found that those aren't always the nicest. You're probably not going to be as happy. But if that's your only choice, then that's your only choice. If mom can't move in with you.
and she's out of money, then that's your only choice. But that's why we say, please go and tour these places. Ask the questions regardless, because you still do have a choice. know, one might be better than another in terms of just the staff. I mean, maybe it might not be the most updated, but the staff is great and caring. You know, it doesn't look the best when you walk in. Maybe it's a little, you know, it's got a bit of an odor, but the staff is just great. To me, I take that any day over something that looks really clean, but you can't find a caregiver anywhere, you know, that just seems to be a ghost town.
Deb Meyer (18:00.366)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (18:12.598)
All right.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (18:14.114)
But the places that accept Medicaid after a period of time, know, five months, six months, eight months a year, we tend to like those better. So if families can pull together some money to pay privately for just a couple months and then get on Medicaid, those are the preferred way to go.
Deb Meyer (18:33.592)
So in that situation, if you're pulling the resources, let's say mom's out of money, the adult child in this situation has the funds to support paying that, at that point you're just, it's not even considered a gift because it's going towards medical expenses and care. So you're just truly trying to find some short-term solution, but don't feel like you have to be, if you're contributing your dollars as an adult child, don't feel like you have to be doing that long-term.
once you meet their minimums.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (19:03.086)
Correct. You're just supplementing. And that's what, when we sit down with the family, we're taking all that into consideration when we do our intake. We're asking all those questions. Do you have long-term care insurance? Is your mom on Medicaid or going to be getting on Medicaid? Is your parent a veteran? Do we have life insurance policies? Do we have POAs in place? We're trying to figure out. And then of course, where the kids are. Because you might have one that's like, nope, I'm out. I am not.
contributing financially or physically to mom's care. Okay, but then you might have some that are, yes, I would be, you know what, my mom was a great mom. I wanna help. I wanna get her the best facility there is. Great. So we had those conversations to figure out the dynamics of the family and if there is wiggle room anywhere in the budget and who might be willing to supplement.
Deb Meyer (19:52.942)
Okay, so let's talk about some of the care options. You know for a lot of seniors probably their top choice is aging in home. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of aging in home?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (20:05.634)
I would say most, high majority of people wanna stay at home, which is great. I think I'd be the same way. So we wanna help you with your goal. But some of the things to consider are, do you own your home outright? Are you still paying a mortgage? Because those things won't go away. If you need care, that's on top of it. Home maintenance things to think about. Personal property tax, paying insurance on your property, utilities, food.
If mom is housebound, how is she getting nutrition? Maybe she has Instacart delivered, but then is she able to physically go to the door and then get the items and put them in the refrigerator? Or does it come in and just sit in the box and then they just spoil? So these are things we think about. Do we have people to help with that? Delivery is great, but is it going to get to the fridge to be safe? Is it going to get cooked? Are we at the point where mom can only use microwave?
Deb Meyer (20:37.955)
Mmm.
Deb Meyer (20:58.35)
Mm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (21:01.592)
Do we need microwave ready meals? Do we need the family to come together to prep meals? Do we literally need the food served to mom? Does she need help with feeding? There's a lot to consider with staying at home. I always say there's aging in place successfully and then there's aging in place not successfully. So someone who's sitting at home all day by themselves in a dark home, barely eating because they don't cook anymore, don't know how to cook, and they're socially isolated, they're not having any conversation or stimulation.
That's not aging in place successfully. But if we can have people in and out of the home, if you're coming and getting mom and taking her out and she's socially engaged and she's not just watching TV all day or laying in bed all day, then that's aging in place successfully. So we're talking through those things. Can mom or dad navigate the home? Is the bedroom on the second floor? And then they're going down to the basement to do laundry and my goodness, the basement's dark and it's concrete.
You know, you're talking through all these things. Some things are fixable with technology, lighting, maybe a stair lift, but a lot of times people can't afford that or they worry about revamping a bathroom or putting a stair lift in and then resell value. Are you in somewhere where you're only renting? You know, is it truly yours? Can you do those things, know, transformations to the home or are you renting and you have to clear it with the landlord? So there's a lot to consider for something like
Deb Meyer (22:12.248)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (22:24.866)
the landlord.
Mm-hmm. I'm glad you brought up those points because I do think, you know, obviously the ideal preference in people's minds and the reality of what their situation looks like can be two very different things depending upon how social they are. And so I guess same kind of question for assisted living facilities or if the care is really extensive nursing home and maybe even just the nuance of, you know, in that
Erin Dwyer-Busch (22:36.152)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (22:56.598)
situation where someone is aging and home, getting that home health aid and where does the financial breakthrough happen when they switch over from home health aid to assisted living or nursing facility where it's already on site? Is there a balance there of where it just doesn't make financial sense to continue aging and home?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (23:17.806)
Correct. And we have a worksheet for that. So that's something we sit with the family and say, maybe now when you only need care here and there, you know, at 35, 36, $37 an hour, not bad. You can handle that. You can handle all the costs that come along with staying in your home, the utilities, the food. It's fine now. But then as you decline or your care needs increase,
and you're becoming more 10, 12 hours a day or God forbid 24, seven, at $36 an hour, that gets really expensive. And yeah, so we're literally balancing going, now it's actually more economical to move into assisted living because you have your meals covered, you have all your care needs covered, there's no utilities, you might have a landline phone or cell phone, but everything else is covered and there's no one there to...
Deb Meyer (23:50.754)
That adds up.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (24:13.134)
to not come, not, like there's, the caregivers are all there. So there's not gonna be a chance of the caregiver not showing up and you're in a lurch at home going, uh-oh, the caregiver was supposed to come, but her car broke down and no one's coming to help mom. She's gonna be alone. you know, you're weighing those options. So yes, there is a balance where it does become actually more economical to move to assisted living, but we help them walk through that and figure that out. So.
Deb Meyer (24:37.664)
Okay, okay. Yeah, I know I'm asking a lot of questions about cost, but this being a financial podcast, very, you know, just interested in some of those cost benefits. Could you share a little bit, given that you're in the St. Louis area, some of the market rates for an assisted living facility versus a nursing home? Like, what are some of those distinctions on average? Because I think the numbers are a lot higher than people realize, typically.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (24:42.35)
No.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (25:02.636)
Sure, sure.
Yes, we get sticker shock, we call it, or shell shock. When you say the price, they're like, what? Yeah, they get very, very concerned, which I understand, I understand. That's why planning is important. So in Missouri, we have independent living all the way to skilled nursing. So that's the spectrum in Missouri. And again, states are different with the regulations, but Missouri is highly regulated in their assisted living on up, which is great. It's good for the consumer.
Deb Meyer (25:07.638)
Yeah.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (25:31.694)
So independent living is not state regulated. So they can kind of get away with almost anything and it tends to be the least expensive, but you also don't get any care. So if you want care, you're gonna have to pay for it. You're gonna have to bring in your own care or you're gonna have to pay for the caregivers that might be in that community and pay for them. So assisted living on up, generally we're seeing about $4,000 a month-ish. Can you find it a little cheaper?
Yeah, if you go out way west or way south, but again, just if we're talking general St. Louis averages, the average price for assisted living in Missouri is $4,500 a month. So if someone doesn't have around that much, then we're gonna be talking about other options because you can't use Medicaid to cover assisted living in Missouri. So that's when we're getting creative and trying to figure out who else can supplement. Memory care is just a type of assisted living with higher staff ratios.
So you're gonna have more caregivers because somebody's gonna need more prompts. Maybe they're not gonna remember where the dining hall is and they're gonna need help to get down there. Whereas somebody in assisted living will be, oh, yep, I'll meet you at the dining hall. So again, it's higher staff acuity, so you're gonna be paying for that. So you're gonna add on 1,000 to 1,500 per month for a memory care. Skilled nursing, we're finding generally 8,000 to like 12,000 a month.
Skilled memory care is the highest level you can get to and that's some of the places are 14 grand or more a month. So that's a pretty penny. Yeah.
Deb Meyer (27:05.646)
Okay, so those are good numbers to have in mind. And again, that's why we're trying to plan proactively before those items arise, right? It's really figuring out, what are the assets available to mom or dad? And how can we make sure those assets are being managed fruitfully during their retirement years so that there is a good amount of...
Erin Dwyer-Busch (27:16.173)
Yes.
Deb Meyer (27:35.064)
funding available towards the end of life. So in terms of averages and stays in some of these facilities, I mean, I know it can vary widely, but typically, again, in talking to some insurance guys, I've found usually like three years is the typical timeframe to kind of think about for an event, someone that doesn't have like Alzheimer's or dementia, but is that usually still a pretty good framework of
Erin Dwyer-Busch (27:37.293)
Yes.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (28:03.566)
Two and a half to three years I think is pretty safe. Yes, yes.
Deb Meyer (28:04.845)
two and a half to three years. okay. Yeah, so anytime we're building out a financial plan, we're modeling two years, but I guess we could probably go up a little bit more on doing two and a half or three years to be safe,
Erin Dwyer-Busch (28:16.312)
just to be safe. And this is where folks like us, know, senior care advisors depend on you to help us with how do we make this stretch? How far can their money go? You know, I can find the numbers in the budget, but how do we make it stretch? And so that's why, you know, we work really well together. You can help us figure out, where can we afford? We don't want to tax somebody's money and have them run out, but you don't want to be too conservative either where they're like, well, mom could have gone to a little bit nicer place near
near where I live instead of 45 minutes away just to save some money. So it is this moving, breathing thing and trying to figure out the nuances. It can be a challenge, but it's like a puzzle. So you're trying to figure it out. So I enjoy doing it.
Deb Meyer (28:57.006)
And then obviously to do this work that, mean, what you're doing is such a noble cause because it's so necessary and valued. How do people actually engage your services or what's the fee structure look like? You know, if someone's saying, hey, I know we need an independent viewpoint on this, how do they get started and get talking with you?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (29:21.166)
Sure. Usually it starts with a phone call. You get a phone call from, it's rarely the senior themselves unless they're looking for independent living to downsize that kind of thing. So it's usually the spouse or the child that calls you. And so you just kind of get a little bit of information and then you find out if we can have a meeting and do our intake. I prefer to meet the senior client if I can. If I can't, if they're in the hospital or something, I understand that. But it's really good to meet the person. I want to know what they want.
Deb Meyer (29:32.931)
Mm-hmm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (29:48.686)
just as much as the spouse or the adult child. But then after that initial consultation, which is always complimentary, then we kind of decide where we're going to go. Is this going to be a consulting case because mom and dad don't want to move or, you know, they can't move or for whatever reason, it's going to become more consulting than we would go the consulting route. And that is fee for service. So and either way, we have a client engagement letter, but we sit down with the family and we say, OK, here's how we work.
Deb Meyer (29:48.78)
Mm-hmm.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (30:17.772)
I'm gonna leave you our brochure and our client engagement letter. Think it over. If you have any questions, let me know. I'm not gonna pressure you. But when you're ready to sign this, then that's the indication that I'm to go forward and do the research and start to do the process. So if it's residential placement, meaning we're finding independent living, memory care or assisted living, that we get paid by the community, assuming we're the first ones in the door.
Deb Meyer (30:41.344)
Okay, sure.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (30:42.838)
So if the family has gone and toured a bunch of places or gone online and put their information in to these online lead aggregates, then that blocks us from working with them. But assuming we're the first ones working with them, the first ones in the door, our placement services are at no cost to families. So we set up the tours based on their information. So it is tailored to the family. Their budget, do they have a pet? We're not gonna take them to a pet free or say they're a smoker. Okay.
That's actually a very hard thing to find is assisted living that allow smoking. But that could be a deal breaker for some people. my dad has to be able to smoke and he can't go 100 yards to go smoke. So we need to know all those different things, the budget, the geographical preferences. Do we want to be by sister? Do we want to be by brother? Or do we want to be in where we grew up? We ask all of those questions. So we pick a few choices, a few options that work and we set up the tours and go with them on the tour.
Deb Meyer (31:39.276)
Nice. Yeah.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (31:39.82)
We can provide them the questions too. If you've never toured Senior Living, you might go, I have no idea what to ask. We can give you those questions. We're also the liaison in between the senior community and the client. So if you are promised something and you feel like it hasn't been delivered once you move in, well, guess what? We can be the one to work on that and see why that's not happening. We can negotiate rates. Again, we don't work for the community, we work for the client. So.
Deb Meyer (31:46.83)
Sure.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (32:07.052)
you know, looking through the contract saying, I want you to know if you don't use their home care that invalidate your buy in. Did you know that? No. Well, guess what? We're going to tell you those things because we don't work for the community. So we walk through them every step of the way. We get them moving resources. So a lot of times the house, the stuff that's very overwhelming. So I say, guess what? I have I have people for that. So don't worry about it. You know, we can do a state sales. We can do, you know, just leave it as by as is whatever you want to do. Don't worry about the stuff.
We'll get you moved. And then also, like I said, we're that advocate and liaison once they do move in to make sure everything is, you know, is copasetic.
Deb Meyer (32:45.87)
That's amazing. I'm in awe.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (32:48.174)
Thank you. It's a whole process. They become like family. You know, they really do. They become like family. We really get to know these clients and these families.
Deb Meyer (32:56.79)
Yeah, and obviously you're a very busy woman running the franchise location, but you have other people on your team to support client families, right? Yeah.
Erin Dwyer-Busch (33:02.988)
I do. I have a team of three fabulous senior care advisors. The great thing is you don't just get me, you get all four of us. So if you have somebody that, you know, we have a question about durable medical equipment, well, guess what? Angie used to do that in her previous life. She was a respiratory therapist. And so, and you know, we have somebody that has her SRES. She specializes in senior downsizing. We all come together and talk about, you know, a case, especially if it's difficult, and you're going, okay, we've got all these factors, let's come together.
It's great to have that team approach and to distribute the work because I can't do it all. And I love to focus on the driving. That's really my passion is the Beyond Driving with Dignity. It allows us to cover more ground having a team.
Deb Meyer (33:52.91)
Okay, great. You said as a next step, if people are interested in working with your team, phone call or going on the website, could you give the website address?
Erin Dwyer-Busch (34:02.574)
Yep. Absolutely. So it's SeniorCareAuthority.com. You can fill out a form there. You can call us at 314-451-2255. Search us on the web. However we'll get you. Yeah, we'll find you, but thank you. Thank you so much.
Deb Meyer (34:23.83)
Okay, all right, I'll link to that in the show notes as well. Awesome, thanks so much for joining.