Apply Financial Help For Seniors

The information about financial help for seniors and the different related programs are explained, in short, in the following article. The task of finding financial help should become a bit easier with the data presented below.Old age brings with it, if you are financially not stable, the necessity to find help from government and other sources. The life retirement can be very difficult for those who have not planned for it properly. As the senior citizens run out of money, it becomes difficult for them to sustain and spend rest of the life after retirement. There are few financial assistance programs for disabled people which the senior citizens can benefits from. Let us find about financial help for seniors in detail through this article. Apply Today!!



Financial Help for Senior Citizens

The options of financial help for elderly people are provided in the paragraphs below. These programs and benefits are useful for seniors citizens since, they are left with limited source of income in their old age.

Social Security: The benefits of social security can be availed by people who have worked for minimum 10 years. These people are eligible for retirement benefits. Spouse of person who has worked for 10 years can avail the dependent benefits. The disability benefits are also offered through the social security program. If a person becomes disabled before his retirement age, he/she can avail these benefits. If a retired citizen and his/her spouse both have worked for minimum 10 years, the couple can avail double-benefit. It means that both retirement and dependent benefits are offered to them to smooth the rest of their days.

Tax Advantages: There are few tax advantages/benefits enlisted in the IRS tax code which are useful for senior citizens. Those elderly/senior citizens above the age of 65 years and who have filed either of the tax forms, 1040 or 1040A can benefit from the tax credit called 'Credit'. People over the age of 60 years can receive counseling from volunteers that are IRS trained and they also get help pertaining to free tax return preparation.

Government Programs: The 'Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program' (LIHEAP) provides financial aid for seniors in the form of grants in order to pay utility bills. Discount for senior citizens is given in the process of availing services such as the telephone, water, garbage collection, satellite TV, cable, etc. One must provide the age-proof in order to gain the discount benefits.

Prescription Assistance Programs: People who cannot afford to pay for prescription drugs can benefit from this financial help for seniors. The 'Patient Assistance Program' (PAP) is offered by pharmaceutical companies. Doctors and pharmacists can help in gaining more information about such programs.



Senior Farm Direct Nutrition Program: The 'Senior Farm Direct Nutrition Program' (SFDNP) is used for providing senior citizens with checks. These checks can be used in purchasing Oregon grown vegetables, fruits and other herbs. Senior citizens interested in the program have to apply for it. Applications are processed at the SPD (Seniors and People with Disabilities) central office.

Senior Financial Care: It is a counseling program for senior citizens over 60 years of age. The different tasks in which senior citizens can be provided with assistance are bill paying, monthly expense management, bank statement reconciliation, credit counseling, medical insurance counseling, reverse mortgage counseling, credit counseling, fraud awareness, debt repayment and information referral. Information about obtaining financial help for seniors can also be found. The information about senior citizen discounts should also prove to be helpful.

The information about financial help for seniors is presented through different programs and schemes. Apart from the social security program and other government programs, there are private sources of funding and concessions available for senior citizens.

By Shashank Nakate

Source - buzzle.com/articles/financial-help-for-seniors.html



Tuesday 10 January 2012

Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability

Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability

Information

A housing adaptation grant is available where changes need to be made to a home to make it suitable for a person with a physical, sensory or intellectual disability or mental health difficulty to live in.
The grant can help you to make changes and adaptations to your home, for example, making it wheelchair-accessible, extending it to create more space, adding a ground-floor bathroom or toilet or a stair-lift. In some cases, the provision of heating can be included, but only under certain conditions. Contact your local authority for more details.
If you only require minor work you can apply for the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme instead. However, you must satisfy the means test. If you don't satisfy the income limits for the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme you should apply for the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability.

Rules

The grant can be paid to people in:
  • Owner-occupied housing
  • Houses being purchased from a local authority under the tenant purchase scheme
  • Private rented accommodation (the duration of your tenancy can affect grant approval)
  • Accommodation provided under the voluntary housing Capital Assistance and Rental Subsidy schemes
  • Accommodation occupied by persons living in communal residences
Your application will be prioritised based on medical need. There are 3 priority levels:
  • Priority 1: A person who is terminally ill or fully/mainly dependent on family or carer; or where alterations/adaptations would facilitate discharge from hospital or alleviate the need for hospitalisation in the future.
  • Priority 2: A person who is mobile but needs assistance washing, toilet facilities, bedroom etc; or where without the alterations/adaptations the disabled person's ability to function independently would be hindered.
  • Priority 3: A person who is independent but requires special facilities to improve the quality of life, for example, separate bedroom or living space.
When the local authority receives your application, it may ask for an occupational therapist's (OT) assessment. The local authority can arrange for an OT assessment, but you can hire an OT privately to carry out an assessment and recoup up to €200 as part of the total grant, up to the maximum you are entitled to.

Means test

The Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability is a means-tested grant. This means your total household income is assessed to find out if you qualify for the grant and the amount payable.
Household income is:
  • property owner's (or tenant's, in the case of private renting) and spouse's/partner's annual gross income in the previous tax year
The following is not taken into account when calculating your household income:

Tax clearance

If you get a grant of more than €10,000 you must have a valid Tax Clearance Certificate. If you intend to pay more than €650 to a contractor, you must get your contractor to submit their C2/Tax Clearance Certificate to the local authority.

Starting the work to adapt your home

The grant will not be paid if you start work before the grant is approved. However, it is expected that the work will start within 6 months of your grant approval.

Rates

Priority will be given to people on medical grounds. If your household income is less than €30,000 you may qualify for 95% of the cost of the works (up to the maximum grant amount of €30,000). The proportion of the costs to be grant-aided will be tapered from 95% to 30% which will apply when household income is between €54,001 and €65,000.
If you are unable to get a loan from a bank or building society to pay for the costs not covered by the grant, you may be able to get a local authority home improvement loan. If your house is less than 12 months old the grant will generally not exceed €14,500.
If you are a local authority tenant, the local authority will meet the entire cost of the works.

Source: www.citizensinformation.ie 
Posted by at 06:46

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)